Adelaide Fringe. Adelaide Town Hall. 15 Feb 2014
If asked to name the classic subject matter for a cabaret show, life, death and sex should be high up the list. In ‘The Dark Garden’, Paul McDermott touches on all of these, but lingers on death, taking his audience through the five stages of grief: Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Acceptance, and… cross-dressing?
This is a return season for the ‘The Dark Garden’, which made its debut in the 2013 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. From it’s beginnings as an art installation in last year’s Fringe Festival, it’s only fitting that it is running in this more evolved form a year later.
McDermott has done well to translate the work from one-dimension to three. Taking the music he wrote while producing the artwork (on show in the backdrop of the Adelaide Town Hall stage), he interweaves it with storytelling and his trademark aggressive humour to produce a show that is truly unique.
The music is introspective and emotionally charged; the sad and rueful ‘Her Agoraphobic Hands’ draws you in, while the turmoil conveyed by others is visceral. Using art as a catharsis for mental distress is not exactly new, but it’s rare that you get a chance to have such insight into the inspiration behind artistic work.
The audience is treated to many such insights as McDermott paints the stories behind the songs, and while he never strays far from the dark corners of his mind, the mix of emotion-drenched music and irreverent comedy balances the piece perfectly. Even when obviously moved by reliving difficult memories through his songs, McDermott’s cheeky humour raises the mood and is clearly part of his coping mechanism.
Swearing his way through a hilarious array of anecdotes, he showcases his ability to spin a yarn and invites as much audience reaction and interaction as possible. You won’t struggle to join in.
Nicole Russo
When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Town Hall
Bookings: Closed
Adelaide Fringe. Gluttony – The Bally. 16 Feb 2014
Warning: If you ARE NOT into Shakespeare, this show is just perfect for you. For the price of a single ticket you get a very funny introduction to iambic pentameter and to no less that two of the Bard’s classic tragedies and it’s all mixed together into a highly improbable but oh so funny vaudevillian performance par excellence. They enjoy bantering with the audience and ‘surprising’ each other with unrehearsed lines and antics.
Another warning: If you ARE into Shakespeare, this show is even MORE perfect for you! Test your wits and try to disentangle intertwining Shakespearean quotations from the two plays, from contemporary references to the sci-fi classic Total Recall and the never-ending TV series Game of Thrones. Be delighted by the deliciousness of their very bad puns – they’re really very good. (For you science geeks out there, the ‘Coriolanus Effect’ was my favourite!)
And one more: There is NO gratuitous bad language to offend, so be warned. This is intelligent comedy!
The perpetrators of all this nonsense are Sound & Fury. They are three super bright, well-read and consummate comedians who hail from LA, and they have come up trumps with this latest mash-up of classic literature. As usual they blend in local references to great effect and dish up a never-ending barrage of high and low humour, but it always stops short of crossing the line (despite what they might say!)
By the way, all performances of this fantastically inventive and absurdly funny production are at 11am, so make whatever arrangements you need to get to see this one. You will not regret it.
Kym Clayton
When: 15 Feb to 2 Mar
Where: Gluttony – The Bally
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Adelaide Fringe. Presented by Gravity and Other Myths, and Aurora Nova Productions. Royal Croquet Club – The Panama Club. 15 Feb 2014
Go and see this one - all the advertising can be believed. They’ve been to the Adelaide Fringe before and won awards in 2011 and 2013.
This is human physical circus with a difference. Yes there are the usual dazzling displays of agility and strength, and drop dead buff gorgeous bodies to die for, but it’s what it doesn’t have which makes the difference.
As the name of the show suggests, everything is stripped back to the bare essentials. The set is nothing more than a stage (suitably padded and sprung of course) and some simple lights. There are no dazzling costumes or makeup or special effects as we have come to expect in other circus acts. This show is really minimalistic, but there is nothing minimalist about what the troupe of eight gets up to.
The program is a celebration of playfulness. Competition and one-upmanship amongst the troupe is a consistent feature of the sequence acts. The games include a rapid skipping competition, for which the guys strip down to their underwear, and the last man standing goes all the way, but with his back to audience in deference of his modesty and presumably to stop the hearts of the ladies (and some of the men?) in the audience from fluttering too rapidly!
Then there is a holding breath competition with one guy standing on his head and not permitted to move until the winner is determined. And another skipping demonstration, where this time the rope is a person! Swinging from the high bar is always impressive in gymnastic competitions, but what if the uprights are comprised of stacks of guys?
Even the muso gets in on the act and becomes a human percussion machine.
It goes on. It’s an action packed sixty minutes filled with breath taking displays of human physicality laced with liberal amounts of understated humour. It makes you feel great to be alive!
Kym Clayton
When: 15 Feb to 9 Mar
Where: Royal Croquet Club – The Panama Club
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Adelaide Fringe. Holden Street Theatres. 13 Feb 2014
Ancient Japanese street theatre delivered via South Africa. It sounds very "Fringey" and, indeed, it is.
Even the name, ‘Epicene Butcher’, is puzzling. It makes no sense at all until one has seen the story told which only happens after the Chalk Boy has warned on the blackboard that this item is definitely not for vegetarians.
‘Epicene Butcher’ is Jemma Kahn's show but she has a stage assistant who, despite the red Lolita glasses, lipstick and nail polish, we are assured is essential to this form of Japanese performance called Kamishibai. It is the early forerunner to Manga - illustrated story telling or "paper drama". It was once the provenance of monks. Now, under Kahn delivery, it is definitely an out-there moveable feast which roams from the philosophical to the raunchy to the mythical to the political.
The Chalk Boy punctuates the stories by writing a few key intro words on a blackboard. He also presents each audience member with a sweetie.
Kahn appears as a vivid cross-cultural creature with fluffy pink leggings, shorty short skirt, chain and skeleton necklace... Her South African accent is not immediately evident. She's a beautifully-trained performer with a rich voice, absolute enunciation and very good timing. This is why, of course, she can hold an audience in thrall with a box full of drawings.
The audience is seated on the stage of The Arch, gathered around Kahn and her picture box.
It is proximate theatre.
First she tells the story of the monk and the carp which does not prepare one for the erotica which is to follow. Then again, there is a deliciously quirky analysis of cat dreaming which features the famous YouTube cat, Maru. And, there is a tale about Mario of the early computer game. Epicene, it eventuates, is a geisha pursued by the royal butcher in a strangely sweet tale about cannibalism. A little cameo about Nelson Mandela largely delivered in Japanese is least successful of the collection while a wordless depiction of tsunami-ravaged Fukishima brings a tear to the eye.
In less than an hour, Kahn has taken her audience through a rich range of experiences and a wealth of wonderful artwork, much of her own creation in collaboration Gwydion Beynon.
It is so different, so intimate, arresting and intense that it will live long and happily in mind's eye.
Samela Harris
When: 16 to 28 Feb
Where: Holden Street Theatres - The Arch
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au
Adelaide Fringe. Paradiso Spiegeltent – Garden of Unearthly Delights. 14 Feb 2014
Dr Dan Von Dandy and his gorgeously gaudy wife Kitty Witless are lost in time. Living in the Roaring Twenties, they were happily touring speak-easies and cabaret bars entertaining audiences with their delightful and original tunes, when disaster struck. Caught in an untimely avalanche, they were frozen solid.
Recently thawed into the current day by global warming, they have emerged to discover that their best numbers have been unceremoniously usurped by modern musicians, without so much as a nod to their creative genius. In an effort to set the record straight, Dandy and Witless are now touring the world showcasing a selection of their greatest hits as they were “meant” to be.
Making it’s Australian debut in the Fringe, ‘The Vaudevillians’ is the creative offspring of rapidly-rising drag star Jinkx Monsoon and cabaret performer Major Scales. It’s not-stop ham mixed with swinging versions of familiar songs such as Madonna’s “Music” and DJ Kool’s “Let Me Clear My Throat”.
The true gold in this show is the hilarious and well-executed banter between the pair, who work off each other seamlessly. The musical numbers are less consistent but get better as the show progresses. The high point is the show's penultimate song, a brilliant performance of 'I Will Survive", which had most of the audience in stitches.
Monsoon and Scales are both incredibly talented. It's clear that they have put a lot of love into crafting the show's story and characters and it translates in a really enjoyable piece of theatre. It does have its flat points, and could benefit from some direction to tighten up the loose spots but it is, nonetheless, absolutely worth seeing.
Nicole Russo
When: 14 to 16 Feb
Where: Paradiso Spiegeltent
Bookings: adelaidefringe.com.au