Melbourne Cabaret Festival: Anne Edmonds – Ever Since the Dawn of Anne

One evening spent with Anne Edmonds and you’re ready to call on her as a dear friend.

Presented by: Melbourne Cabaret Festival
Venue: South Melbourne Town Hall, The Lamond Room

Thursday, 21 July, 2011

One evening spent with Anne Edmonds and you’re ready to call on her as a dear friend. She is delightfully warm, buoyant and she is an open book. Her self-deprecating charm does not reek of self- pity or resentment but instead she is almost celebratory about her failings and this makes her positively endearing and utterly entertaining.

Currently playing at the Melbourne Cabaret Festival, Ever Since the Dawn of Anne is Edmonds’ sixty minute musical comedy and confessional of sorts. Throughout the show she embarks on a recount of her sins – but not in a dark or regretful manner, as comedians are typically accustomed. The show is more a commemorative piece, and the audience is invited, and heartily take up the offer, to celebrate and laugh with Edmonds.

Accompanied by pianist Amy Bennett, songs are interspersed throughout the show. Finely crafted and with a definite story-telling voice, the songs emphasize the hilarity of events in Edmonds’ life and allow her to fully enact them. For instance, her dramatic drunken rendition of ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings’ is a snap shot into an unfortunate event in Edmonds’ life, but is thoroughly amusing all the same.

From taking up smoking at the tender age of eight, arrest at fifteen, and boy obsession to the point of stalker, Edmonds’ tale is one of woe. Her honesty, however, is received with open arms as certain proceedings are eerily relatable to all.

The intimate setting in The Lamond Room at the South Melbourne Town Hall suits Edmonds’ comedic styling to perfection. While there is no doubt that she could entertain a large auditorium, the close quarters of the room add to the sincere rapport the audience is able to develop with Edmonds.  Her appeal is that she leaves the audience feeling as if they are in a ridiculously candid but hilarious conversation with a good friend.

Having won a number of awards such as Best Emerging Comedy nominee at 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival and Highly Commended (Best Comedy) at the 2010 Melbourne Fringe Festival Awards, it is guaranteed that Anne Edmonds in Ever Since the Dawn of Anne will get laughs. It is a must-see show currently playing at the Melbourne Cabaret Festival.