Best of the Melbourne Fringe, part 3
It’s the last weekend of the Melbourne Fringe; it’s time to go hard and see as much as you can because when you wake up on Monday, it’ll all be over. And it’ll be time to dive into the Melbourne Festival.
Prehistoric
Elbow Room and Speakeasy
Northcote Town Hall
to October 5
Prehistoric made me want to take drugs, see bands and scream at middle aged people like me.
Already seen at the recent Brisbane Festival, director and writer Marcel Dorney’s work looks at the 1970s Brisbane punk band scene through the magnified lens of now. We’re reminded by the actors – who weren’t even born in the 70s – that this was a time before history began, before what we had for breakfast was photographed and recorded, and when music recordings had to be physically found and bought.
It’s hard to remember that Queensland was considered a police state in the 1970s and early 80s. The super conservative Bjelke-Petersen government were corrupt and the police were unaccountable and violent. Kids in bands were beaten up for being kids in bands and community station ZZZ was the heart of rebellion.
It was also a time that created some amazing bands. Imagine 1970s and 80s music without the The Saints or The Go-Betweens!
But this work is so much more than nostalgia. By jumping in and out of 1979 and now, it creates a palpable memory of being 19 and 20 and being angry, lost and voiceless, and of finding friends and finding power, hope and a voice in music.
Angry Sexx
Fringe Hub, Upstairs at Errols
to 4 October 2014
Angry Sexx, by Rachel Perks and directed by Bridget Balodis, is created by young women who are rightly angry about the barrage of sexism and objectification they face every day.
With texts, chats and IRL conversations, two friends fail to see the hell that the other is going through and unknowingly encapsulate everything that contributes to the other’s suffering. One doesn’t want sex with her boyfriend and starts running; her friend says she needs a good shag. The other is shagging strangers; her friend thinks she’s a slut who’s asking for it.
Anger comes from hurt. We don’t get angry until the hurt becomes too much to bear. And when the anger’s too much to bear, we act without being able see the consequences. This space between anger and consequences makes for great theatre.
And there are futuristic monkeys in holagram plastic tunics who look at relics of women from now; I’m still note sure how the stories work together.
After Ever After
Fringe Hub, North Melbourne Town Hall, Rehearsal Room
to 4 October 2014
Rama Nicholas’s After Ever After grim Grimms may be the funniest fairy tale ever.
Nicholas knows that the original tales recorded by the Brothers Grimm are far from the happy-ever-after blah blah of today’s bedtime stories, so she’s written the ultimate sequel that’s feminist, filthy and sexy.
Set in a post-happily-ever-after village, Red Riding Hood is in ninga training in preparation for Wolfie’s release from gaol, Snow White’s daughter is chatting with the mirror that tells the truth, Rapunzel’s up the duff again, and Hansel’s got really fat and trying to woo Red.
As a solo work, Nicholas plays all 20 characters without a hitch – and there are songs to make every Disney Princess reclaim her power and march into the world demanding so much more than a dull prince.
Its Fringe season finishes on Saturday. And it’s on in the same room as Rowena Hudson’s super-gorgeous A-four-eyed-guide-to-the-galaxy, Sarah Collins’s adorable bucket-sexy Bucket’s List, and Jono Burns honest and hilarious Jono Wants a Wife. What better way to finish the Fringe than a four-show night. There’s no need to run between venues and there’s enough time to pop into the Warren or the Fringe Club for a drink in between shows.
