Category: Theatre


Sydney Fringe Festival 2010 announces its award winners!

Filed Under: Digital Arts, Film, Music, Other, Theatre, Visual Arts by Larry Heath — Leave a comment
November 1, 2010

Everything is wrapping up at Fringe central as we farewell the 2010 Sydney Fringe and get cracking on next year’s festivities.

The first year of the Fringe saw 260+ events, with our festival judges getting out to as many as possible in order to give out the inaugural Sydney Fringe Awards. We congratulate all of our winners, knowing that these are only a small percentage of the enormous number of events that astounded, surprised and delighted us.

Our awards night on Wednesday was a huge success with friends, artists, dim lighting and free wine making it a night to remember! Have a look below at our list of winners.

See you on the Fringe … next year!

2010 AWARD WINNERS

GROLSCH BEST OF FEST PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
Rip Whitening’s Synchro Destiny Experience

THE SYDNEY FESTIVAL AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT ARTIST
Aerialize

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD MOST THRILLING THEATRICAL EVENT AWARD
SandS through the hourglass: Trapture

SYDNEY AIRPORT EXCELLENCE IN NEW THEATRE
The Hideous Demise of Detective Slate

DRUM MEDIA SHOW-STOPPING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE AWARD
Blake Erickson for “Pearls before Swine”

PETER LEHMANN WINES FEAT OF PHYSICAL ASTONISHMENT CIRCUS /BURLESQUE/ PHYSICAL THEATRE) AWARD
Skye Gellmann for “Retinal Damage”

TIME OUT SYDNEY BEST MUSICAL MOMENT AWARD
Tubular Bells for Two

PURPLE GOAT DESIGN VISUAL & DIGITAL ARTS VISIONARY AWARD
Magic Wallpaper Project: Hideous Beauties Collection

AVANT CARD – BODIES IN SPACE DANCE AWARD
Collapse

CANADIAN CLUB ROFL COMEDY AWARD
Sexy Tales of Paleontology

SYDNEY BARTENDERS ON-THE-HOUSE AWARD FOR BEST FREE EVENT
Pop up Festival Tour of the City

BYTECRAFT EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION AND DESIGN AWARD
Clammy Glamour from the Curio Cabinet

SYDNEY BUSES GREEN PERFORMANCE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABILITY
Landing

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS!

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Sydney Fringe Festival announces 2010 award nominees! Did your favourite get nominated?

Filed Under: Digital Arts, Film, Music, Other, Theatre, Visual Arts by Larry Heath — Leave a comment
October 20, 2010
We had a fantastic year one response, with 35,000 tickets being sold for Fringe performing arts events, with an additional 15,000 tickets sold for partner events (such as music), and over 50,000 attendees at dozens of other official Fringe events, which included such smash hits as the Changing Lanes festival, the Carriageworks visual arts exhibit The Awkwardness of Belonging, the Your Big Backyard event at Sydney Park and the Mobile Screenfest at the Factory, amongst dozens of events.
We didn’t know what to expect from the first year – ticket sales aren’t the only measure of success, but it’s nice to know there is an audience in Sydney for alternative arts.  It is an audience we’re committed to building for the second year. We had a mix of shows selling out, with other less commercial shows reaching smaller audiences – though, we’d like to think that’s exactly what you want in a Fringe.
Multiple shows and events sold out across the Fringe, including Candy Royalle: Love Spectacular, Sexy Tales of Paleontology, Changing Lanes, Jeffree Star, Van Park with John Paul Young, Monica Trapaga’s Monica Goes to Rehab and My Private Parts: An Inside View of Fertilisation. The musical Bare played to packed houses, as did Words & Music from Life’s A Circus…and More, the Hideous Demise of Detective Slate, Intertwine and the CarriageWorks hit, Clammy Glamour from the Curio Cabinet, as well as many others.
In other news, we’re proud to announce the nominees from the Award program!  We had representatives of the Fringe seeing shows across the event, so we could get feedback about every show.  This jury included Fringe and venue representatives, industry professionals, staff representing our funders, and others.  Here is a list of the shows they felt should be offered further acknowledgement for their excellence in Fringe 2010!
The Sydney Fringe 2010 Award Nominees
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD MOST THRILLING THEATRICAL EVENT AWARD
Burlesque Assassin
The Hideous Demise of Detective Slate
Lunamorph
Retinal Damage
SandS through the hourglass: Trapture
SYDNEY AIRPORT EXCELLENCE IN NEW THEATRE
Appleloft
Fat Boy Dancing
Erth & Nick Cave’s “Murder Ballads” puppetry piece
The Hideous Demise of Detective Slate
Off The Shelf’s Boiler Room series (programmed by Augusta Supple)
DRUM MEDIA SHOW-STOPPING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE AWARD
The Alchemical Cabaret – Jason Hodgman
Bitter/Sweet – Lena Cruz
Candy Royalle: Love Spectacular – Candy Royalle
Pearls before Swine – Blake Erikson
Retinal Damage – Skye Gellmann
SYDNEY BARTENDERS ON-THE-HOUSE AWARD FOR BEST FREE EVENT
The Awkwardness of Belonging
Black Friday
Fighting Fire
Pop up Festival Tour of the City
Projector Bike
TIME OUT SYDNEY BEST MUSICAL MOMENT AWARD
Changing Lanes
Lane Hinchcliff
Pugsley Buzzard
Sonic Canvas
Tubular Bells for Two
CANADIAN CLUB ROFL COMEDY AWARD
The Hideous Demise of Detective Slate
Rip Whitening’s Synchro Destiny Experience
Sam Simmons Failed
Sexy Tales of Paleontology
Zoe & Penny’s Very Short Attention Span
PURPLE GOAT DESIGN VISUAL & DIGITAL ARTS VISIONARY AWARD:
The Awkwardness of Belonging
Lunamorph
Magic Wallpaper Project: Hideous Beauties Collection
Newtown in the 30′s
Scars, Tattoos and Skateboards: The Rise of the Phoenix
PETER LEHMANN WINES FEAT OF PHYSICAL ASTONISHMENT (CIRCUS/BURLESQUE/PHYSICAL THEATRE) AWARD
The Famous Maurice Flea Circus
Clammy Glamour from the Curio Cabinet
Retinal Damage
AVANT CARD – BODIES IN SPACE DANCE AWARD
Collapse
Intertwine
Three Steps Towards
SYDNEY BUSES GREEN PERFORMANCE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABILITY
Landing
Magic Mic: “Rubbish!”
The Red Rattler
BYTECRAFT EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION AND DESIGN AWARD
Clammy Glamour from the Curio Cabinet
SandS through the hourglass: Trapture
Three Steps Towards
GROLSCH BEST OF FEST PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
Bitter/Sweet
Bygone Error
Freddy and Eden present Beautiful Things
Rip Whitening’s Synchro Destiny Experience
Walk Me!

We had a fantastic year one response, with 35,000 tickets being sold for Fringe performing arts events, with an additional 15,000 tickets sold for partner events (such as music), and over 50,000 attendees at dozens of other official Fringe events, which included such smash hits as the Changing Lanes festival, the Carriageworks visual arts exhibit The Awkwardness of Belonging, the Your Big Backyard event at Sydney Park and the Mobile Screenfest at the Factory, amongst dozens of events.
We didn’t know what to expect from the first year – ticket sales aren’t the only measure of success, but it’s nice to know there is an audience in Sydney for alternative arts.  It is an audience we’re committed to building for the second year. We had a mix of shows selling out, with other less commercial shows reaching smaller audiences – though, we’d like to think that’s exactly what you want in a Fringe. Multiple shows and events sold out across the Fringe, including Candy Royalle: Love Spectacular, Sexy Tales of Paleontology, Changing Lanes, Jeffree Star, Van Park with John Paul Young, Monica Trapaga’s Monica Goes to Rehab and My Private Parts: An Inside View of Fertilisation. The musical Bare played to packed houses, as did Words & Music from Life’s A Circus…and More, the Hideous Demise of Detective Slate, Intertwine and the CarriageWorks hit, Clammy Glamour from the Curio Cabinet, as well as many others.
In other news, we’re proud to announce the nominees from the Award program!  We had representatives of the Fringe seeing shows across the event, so we could get feedback about every show.  This jury included Fringe and venue representatives, industry professionals, staff representing our funders, and others.  Here is a list of the shows they felt should be offered further acknowledgement for their excellence in Fringe 2010!  The Sydney Fringe 2010 Award Nominees SYDNEY MORNING HERALD MOST THRILLING THEATRICAL EVENT AWARD Burlesque AssassinThe Hideous Demise of Detective Slate Lunamorph Retinal DamageSandS through the hourglass: Trapture  SYDNEY AIRPORT EXCELLENCE IN NEW THEATRE  AppleloftFat Boy Dancing Erth & Nick Cave’s “Murder Ballads” puppetry pieceThe Hideous Demise of Detective Slate Off The Shelf’s Boiler Room series (programmed by Augusta Supple) DRUM MEDIA SHOW-STOPPING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE AWARD  The Alchemical Cabaret – Jason Hodgman Bitter/Sweet – Lena CruzCandy Royalle: Love Spectacular – Candy RoyallePearls before Swine – Blake EriksonRetinal Damage – Skye Gellmann  SYDNEY BARTENDERS ON-THE-HOUSE AWARD FOR BEST FREE EVENT  The Awkwardness of BelongingBlack FridayFighting FirePop up Festival Tour of the CityProjector Bike  TIME OUT SYDNEY BEST MUSICAL MOMENT AWARD Changing LanesLane Hinchcliff Pugsley BuzzardSonic CanvasTubular Bells for Two  CANADIAN CLUB ROFL COMEDY AWARDThe Hideous Demise of Detective Slate Rip Whitening’s Synchro Destiny Experience Sam Simmons Failed   Sexy Tales of Paleontology Zoe & Penny’s Very Short Attention Span  PURPLE GOAT DESIGN VISUAL & DIGITAL ARTS VISIONARY AWARD: The Awkwardness of Belonging LunamorphMagic Wallpaper Project: Hideous Beauties CollectionNewtown in the 30′s Scars, Tattoos and Skateboards: The Rise of the Phoenix PETER LEHMANN WINES FEAT OF PHYSICAL ASTONISHMENT (CIRCUS/BURLESQUE/PHYSICAL THEATRE) AWARD The Famous Maurice Flea CircusClammy Glamour from the Curio Cabinet Retinal Damage  AVANT CARD – BODIES IN SPACE DANCE AWARD  Collapse Intertwine Three Steps Towards    SYDNEY BUSES GREEN PERFORMANCE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABILITY  Landing Magic Mic: “Rubbish!”The Red Rattler BYTECRAFT EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION AND DESIGN AWARDClammy Glamour from the Curio CabinetSandS through the hourglass: TraptureThree Steps Towards  GROLSCH BEST OF FEST PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDBitter/SweetBygone ErrorFreddy and Eden present Beautiful ThingsRip Whitening’s Synchro Destiny ExperienceWalk Me!

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Tears and Pin Curls: The Glitter of Noir Revue

Filed Under: Theatre by Bettie Brimstone — 1 Comment
September 29, 2010

Burlesque is one of those art forms that has high standards that many fail to meet. Really good burlesque is not as common as you’d think; there’s lot of cheap imitations out there, and dancers who lack the impossible to pin down ‘it factor’. They shimmy but they don’t sparkle, and you’re just not convinced down deep in your stomach – like you should be.

Good burlesque, however, creeps over you, straddles you and lights your cigarette. Before you know it, you’re paying for the cab and you don’t know why. Good burlesque is glitter and smoke and heavy hips with a twist of heel that you just can’t look away from.

Noir Revue showcased that kind of burlesque. Dramatic without spilling into drama, with artists who knew how to make their skin work to tease, and acrobatics and vocals that were understated bliss – Noir hit all the right notes, and hit them hard.

The showcase was directed and designed by the striking and ridiculously talented Sarina del Fuego who opened the show with her slow, grinding and weaving smoking dance. Lithe and bold she moved through the audience, peeling her beaded outfit away like snakeskin, dipping and perching on knees. Her heady puffing had a sleepy quality that lulled us into submission and readiness for what she’d curated for us.

Each act was as strong as the last. They were broken up by the divine and immaculately dressed Chantal’s slightly gritty renditions of cabaret standards and soulful classics such as “Blue Moon” and “Crazy”, accompanied on the house piano.

Each piece had a strong narrative, all tinged with flirtation or tragedy. There was the woman who receives a letter of rejection from a lover who toys with different methods of dispatching him until settling upon poison. There was the woman who attempts to pack and leave her absent sweetheart, but ultimately stays, but not before thrashing ever-so elegantly in distress about the theatre.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a revue without a fan dance. The decadently draped and sequined blonde minx who cheekily swayed and peeked at us from behind her gorgeous peacock fans didn’t disappoint. Tiny and perky in pin curls and low heels, her steps were sure, her movements fluid and delicious. She managed to flirt with the audience with every turn of her wrist as she drew shapes with feathery magic.

The acrobatics were stunning and erred on the side of languid and controlled. We were treated to a hoop routine from the pint-sized Kelly Ann Doll that literally made my companion gasp and a dusky, moody, autumnal-themed trapeze bar piece in the later set from a dark haired elfin performer (whose name unfortunately escapes me). The two came together later to perform a masculine, emotionally charged chair-dance in simple black and white that set the crowd to a roaring applause.

Noir Revue was a polished and thoroughly enjoyable old-world buffet of talent and sizzle that had me all aflutter. I left the theatre most assuredly wooed. I could have easily taken seconds, and gobbled them down.

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Flashy Trashy Fun: Van Park Reviewed

Filed Under: Theatre by Bettie Brimstone — Leave a comment
September 29, 2010

‘Well, that was a bit of fun!’

As I sauntered out of Van Park, I heard about six different people say the above. The audience was dominantly middle aged and older, with few of what my mother would call “young people” to be seen. Well, there was me, and my friend who blew in from Newcastle for the show.

‘A bit of fun’ is a pretty apt summary of the soft rock musical I saw. I think the demographic says a lot about how Van Park is supposed to be consumed. Sometimes, things are just not aimed at you. I’d say this was definitely the case here.

Van Park is the story of a bogan ex rocker (played by John Paul Young) who has washed ashore in a caravan park where he ekes out his days on a diet of beer and bad manners. His young, unsure and girl-shy spawn Curly lives with him and boasts a strong talent that is as yet unexposed to the wider world. His wife, Gypsy Fire, runs the local kiosk and has questionable relations with the local shaman-guru-sex god, who may or may not be the father of Curly.

The narrative is your typical “boy gets girl” arc, which was uninspiring but entertaining enough. The set and lighting were fun and competent and the songs were melodic and pleasing. I quite liked Curly’s song “I wish I were a girl” – it had a catchy little hook and was rather cute.

The rendering of the characters was hit and miss. Some performances were hilarious and reasonably strong – the shaman and Gypsy Fire being the examples that spring to mind. The majority of the others were stilted and unconvincing, or downright irritating (in the case of confusing, wildly annoying and over-acted British tourist) but they weren’t helped by the dialogue – it had a sledgehammer approach that lacked subtlety. But perhaps subtlety wasn’t what they were going for.

I think Van Park was a play that was supposed to evoke nostalgia, and serve up some fun music you could tap your foot to while revelling in some down and dirty Australiana. Unfortunately, that’s not my thing, so I didn’t get much from it. There were too many cock jokes, too many “oh noes! I have an erection!” moments and empty cans of beer rolling around. It felt more like a show I would have seen in a caravan park as “family entertainment” on holidays as a kid.

But you know what? I’m pretty sure my Mum and Dad would have loved it. Different strokes, as they say.

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Daughters of Whores Pays Poorly

Filed Under: Theatre by Bettie Brimstone — Leave a comment
September 27, 2010

Daughters of Whores opens with a young woman cheerfully telling us about her mother. She was, you see, a sex worker.

The daughter chooses to call her a whore, though. She uses it in the way some do; it puckers her face and pricks at her tone with an acidity that twists the meaning into something bitter and harsh. There is no love, or pride, or even acceptance in it and this sets the tenor for the rest of our time. There is a deep vein of disgust and discomfort with sex work that pulses throughout.

The small cast work somewhat clumsily through a narrative in which we follow this woman’s fractured relationship with her mother. She is laden with issues around sex and men; hungry and addicted, she also reviles them and rages at her boyfriend. She is bitter towards her mother, who is presented as a vain, mild mannered but altogether abstract being of whom we only know two things: she was a whore, and she is this woman’s mother.

As a person who is a sex-worker ally, and is pro sex-work, I found this play difficult to watch without walking out. It was, to be quite blunt, whorephobic from start to finish. I got the impression that it was trying to hold some of these views to the light for us to critique, but those attempts were so confusing, vague and impossible to decipher from actual whorephobia that I ended up feeling frustrated and alienated by the piece.

Almost every poor stereotype about sex work and sex workers was present here. We are told “there are no fat whores” (far from the truth). We are told sex workers are obsessed with their looks. We are told that their clients are grubby sad men. But the key implication is that sex workers damage their children by their choice of work. The protagonist’s deeply flawed psyche and clearly fractured relationship with herself, her body, sex, her partner and her parent speak to confirm what we’re all supposed to believe: sex work makes you a bad mother, and will produce bad children.

We hear from the sex worker who is the supposed root of all this evil about halfway into the play. I anticipated some humanity, some revelation and contrast that would help us intellectually rebuff the narrative that was being constructed by the daughter’s tortured persona. Instead, she told us that she was abused by church clergy as a little girl. I almost groaned aloud – of course, all sex workers are damaged and desperate souls, right? The stereotype of the sex-worker-as abuse-victim was being reiterated for all to see, with no deconstruction of the fallibility of that alleged causal link.

The one bright light amongst all the negativity was the sweet, young and self confident sex worker that we first meet giving the mother-whore botox at a beauty clinic. She gets into the industry so she can save for a trip to Europe, and we see her during her first booking – with the daughter-of-whore’s boyfriend. She is nervous, shaky, and a bit dorky. As she gives him a blowjob, he begins to denigrate her verbally, asking “you enjoy sucking cock don’t you, you dirty little whore?” She responds with a chipper “yep!” to each of his epithets, unfazed.

She evolves into a confident, self possessed woman who navigates the pitfalls of the sex industry. She happens to meet the daughter-of-whore by chance at the end of the play, in a park. In a final act of viciousness, the daughter has baked her mother’s ashes into a loaf of bread and is feeding her to ducks. But, that’s okay, because “she was a whore, you know”.

The young sex worker is stunned by both her actions and her words. “It’s just a job,” she tells the daughter-of-whore, and eventually she walks away, but not before offering genuine condolences about the mother’s death in a traffic accident.

This scene is then followed by a closing dialogue between the daughter-of-whore and her boyfriend as they talk about their pending progeny: she is up the duff. They discuss the child’s future (“you don’t want her to be a slut, do you?”) and the young sex worker passes them. They both recognise her for different reasons, and then fall into a loving embrace as she fades from view, neither of them acknowledging her.

And so order is restored, with the hetero-normative ideal at centre, the whore sublimated and fringe-dwelling once again. All’s well that maintains the status quo, I guess.

Overall, Daughters of Whores presents a fairly unsophisticated, oft-seen view of sex workers that left me feeling less entertained than disappointed. I think the same play, with some reworking, could present a much more delicate handling of what it is to be the child of a sex worker; but unfortunately this was not what we received. Profundity gave way to cliche, despite the best of efforts.

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‘The Event’ – Review and Photos!

Filed Under: Theatre by Dave Cheng — 2 Comments
September 25, 2010

‘The Event’, held at the School of Arts in Newtown could be considered an exploration of the realities we construct – or at least convey to those around us.

As the self-aware protagonist, Nick Pelomis guides us through the myriad of ruses that we encounter in theatre, reflecting at the same time upon the words he speaks to us.

‘The Event’ simultaneously exposes its methods to connive whilst giving us something more to think about. As we are convinced of the artificial nature of the theatrical experience we can’t help but accept an honesty that is portrayed.

The well-written monologue never leaves the audience behind; every line is followed by a reflection on the delivery and meaning of the whole endeavour. The crowd laughs with the protagonist as he recites his musings. Often simply being made aware of the deliberate illusion of theatre produced smiles and laughter. What should be a disorienting experience is smoothed by the protagonist’s words of comfort, that none of it is real.

‘The Event’ is brilliantly ingenious theatre.  It is personal, honest in its dishonesty, and genuinely funny. One is left to question and reflect on performance, both on and off the stage.

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“I put towels up against the door to stop cockroaches coming in”

Filed Under: Other, Theatre by Lynsey Bonell — Leave a comment
September 24, 2010

Practical? Yes. True? Yes. Secret? Well, it was until tonight when this clandestine behaviour it was brought to life and transformed into the character of a crazy, germ-fearing, spore-hating dude, who’s life became one pane of smashed glass after another in Dirty Laundry.

Absurd, you bet? But the man was kept company by a hammer-happy, man-loving baseball player, a scouse flirt who got more than excited by the rocking motion of a train, a fake-tanned within an inch of his natural skin colour poser and a voyeur who never let his binoculars down.

Each of the characters were created on the spot based on a secret from the audience and spun into a tale of sex, lies and love by the players.

Panda Smackdown aired their first Dirty Laundry on Thurs 23 and had some real corkers of secrets from the crowd, including “My upper right arm is covered in stubble” which led to a story about an Italian family, with wookie / ewok, or “ewookie” heritage, and the dream of one hairy boy just wanting to make the swim team.

Another confession of “I find German really accents hot” turned into the tale of four Germans reducing one Deutsch man with to ecstasy just by their charming conversation, pretzels and tandem bike riding.

It’s different secrets each night and the players take them off to places you never dreamed they could go.

Check out Dirty Laundry at Red Rattler, two shows left – Fri 24 and Sat 25 Sept.

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Definitely not clean but still fun

Filed Under: Other, Theatre by Guy Hobbs — 1 Comment
September 23, 2010

I’ve often thought the main problem with acrobatics, and most physical forms of expression for that matter, is a lack of grubby, punk mentality and drunkenness. Thankfully Melbourne’s Caravan of Doom has answered this public demand with Good Clean Fun. As I enter, a roller-skating, rake-thin, tattooed man in women’s underwear offers my girlfriend and I champagne. As there is only one glass left I content myself with having the spilt leftovers on the tray poured into my mouth. Delicious. This sets the scene for the entire show: Funny, irreverent and vaguely unhygienic.

The beauty of Good Clean Fun is that it is a wildly punk variety show. There is stuff here for everyone: someone jumping through a hoop, a motorbike striptease, a techno mayhem scene, a parody newscast and a woman dressed as a star being piloted around the room by the crowd. Having said this however, beauty is a highly subjective notion and one of the performers does something I’ve never before seen live, or really care to see again. I won’t ruin it for you but it is heavy shit.

While the acrobatics are impressive enough it’s the DIY, punk, necking-Wild-Turkey-out-of-the-bottle attitude that creates a genuine sense of danger. In fact, at times the whole act seems to be hanging by a thread, held together by sheer will and energy. It does come unstuck in parts though. The precarious sense of danger surrounding the more physical acts turns out to be actual danger as Wazza, one of the performers, falls from the top of an acrobatic set piece and busts his lip on the concrete floor. While he retreats, cursing, followed by his fellow leading man the third performer is left standing in the middle of the crowd, seemingly unsure of how to proceed. Luckily, the quick thinking stage-hand creates a diversion by shooting a small burst from the smoke-machine, obscuring the crowd’s feet.

The whole show has a great sense of anarchical energy about it. From when I first entered and was ushered to sit on the floor the whole thing reeked of crowd participation, something I dread for a variety of reasons I won’t go into here. However, apart from being accidentally hit in the head by one of the performers during the techno mayhem scene, participation was painless and actually quite enjoyable. Good Clean Fun is definitely worth a look. It’s best enjoyed while at least partially intoxicated.

Good Clean Fun is on Friday and Saturday night at Red Rattler. More info at:

thesydneyfringe.com.au/shows/good-clean-fun

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Apples, Turkeys and 0% Marketing Budget: an interview with Appleloft

Filed Under: Music, Other, Theatre by Maeve Marsden — Leave a comment
September 23, 2010

Interview with Appleloft by Lisa Banks

1.    What is Appleloft?
Appleloft started as a performance night in Wollongong, hosted by Applespielers and friends in garages, living rooms and backyards. It started as a facilitator for performers, artists, writers and musicians to show their work in the local community. The Appleloft being produced for The Sydney Fringe is an amalgamation of short works that Applespiel members have created over the course of almost two years of garage experiments in Wollongong, along with new works developed specifically for the Fringe. People can expect a night of games, performances and lots of baked goods.

2.    Where did you come up with the name Applespiel and who makes up the collective?
The name Applespiel came from the first work we did as a collective for the Wild Card section of Short & Sweet, almost two years ago. We created a piece that was a bit of a ‘screw you’ to the festival, mostly us doing things we thought were fun. The piece was called ’Applespiel’ because Nathan sat for ten minutes and methodically taste-tested apples and rated them from ‘most delicious’ to ‘least delicious’. We also played golf with a brick, Emma did stand-up about Wollongong birds dressed as a ghost, and Rachel stripped Troy and basted him like a turkey. Then we spend five minutes mopping up basting oil and bowing – to tumultuous applause (from the lighting operator, an instant Applespiel fan. I’m not sure the audience applauded much). After that the name stuck as a sort of label when any members of the group did any performance work. In this way it’s a loose name for our collective of artists, and we use it whether we do
works as a group or as individuals. The regular Applespielers are Simon Binns, Jarred Duffy, Joseph Parro, Nathan Harrison, Nikki Kennedy, Emma McManus, Troy Reid, Rachel Roberts and Mark Rogers.

3.    Where did you draw your inspiration from for the production?
We really wanted to produce a performance that was fun and interactive for the audience as well. Something where we weren’t trying to shock or disturb the audience at face-value, but rather establish a comfortable working relationship with them and create an atmosphere were both performer and audience are involved and having fun – similar to the relaxed atmosphere of the garage/lounge room Applelofts. All of the works you will see in Appleloft have been created or reworked by Applespielers, so the inspiration for specific performances are individual, but there is a common themes that draws the night together.

4.    I saw on your blog that you have some links to FBIradio, PACT and other youth orientated organisations and groups. What impact has community organisations like these had on you guys creatively?
We are in many ways beholden to PACT and the Quarterbred gang for their ongoing support. Ever since Tiny Stadiums, the planning stages of which began in 2009, they have been wonderful and their place in the Sydney performance scene is vital to emerging artists. We look forward to continuing our association with PACT. Media groups such as FBi have supported us a few times, starting during Tiny Stadiums, and it’s wonderful to get a chance to talk about and promote our work with a radio station that has great arts programs and really friendly people. Creatively, the assistance and often just the presence of supportive organisations such as PACT have, i think, encouraged us to keep things real and honest and personal, and to focus on the work and networking as being of greater value than promotion or hype.

5.    Do you use social media to gain publicity for your gigs and performances?
Yes, it’s free advertising, who wouldn’t? We love social media; we use our blog, twitter and facebook to spread the word about our upcoming shows. People are always happy to pass on links and email eFlyers around to help us out and that’s wonderful. It’s economical and environmentally friendly, rather than contributing to the plethora of paper flyers. We came into the Fringe with little-to-no budget, and decided to work with a $0 marketing campaign for our show, using our blog and youtube ads to spread the word. Since being supported as part of the PACT Presents… program, we’ve been lucky enough to receive extra promotion through PACT along with the other PACT Presents… shows.

6.    How did you all meet?
We met at University of Wollongong. We were all in the same year of the Bachelor of Creative Arts Performance course and decided we wanted to continue performing together. Since the three-year course finished, we’ve gone our separate ways, spreading through England and the US to complete electives, start Honours degrees and Dip.Eds. By the end of
October all nine of us will be back in the country and ready to knock everyone’s socks off.

(Rachel Roberts and Troy Reid, of Applespiel)

APPLELOFT (by Applespiel)
Thurs 23 – 6:30pm | Fri 24: 8:00pm| Sat 25  6:30pm

All Tickets: Full Price $22 Concession $18 available from www.thesydneyfringe.com.au

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Factory Theatre – Combat Fatigue (Review)

Filed Under: Theatre by Inner West Live — Leave a comment
September 22, 2010

Most people have been through the twisted and dark world of a breakup. Once you brush past the facade of normality you can see into the impossibly scarred history of a past that you wish could be saved, as the characters flounder from blow to blow, desparate to repair and return to what once was.

Combat Fatigue exposes this disturbing situation through the world of Pippa and Sam . . and with depth that perhaps exposed the personal experiences of it’s cast and writers. A heady performance that far outweighed the small stage, spartan surroundings and personal investment I had made. (Tickets are $20). This is an opportunity to see a top quality performance in the Inner West.

The story centres on this slowly unravelling relationship . . a facade of contentment and focus on a career and life, stimulated (or is it stabbed) through the escapism of alcohol, arguments, affairs.  All the whilst trying to reach each other . . . before an inevitable barbed comment or change of topic when they finally get close.

The audience is taken into this detailed and dark dialog through the strong perfomances of it’s actors and a script that is brilliant. In many a movie (or soapie) we have seen the cliche of the damaged partner, but not many have moulded the ugly, twisted rawness of a life falling apart and a slow descent into madness.

(How the fuck did they get that down on paper . . . and what did the cast draw on for such emotive and clearly effected performances.)

As this world unravels, we see that all has not been good in the world of Pippa and Sam. The unspoken memory of a child lost, an artist who can no longer paint, a husband who loses himself in his work . . and a retreat into schitzophrenia of it’s lead player as she wrestles with her darkness.

 . . . . painted dark by the overtones of an obsessed killer, who’s appearance further draws the life from the couple as they struggle to survive the blows of another affair.

This will not end pretty . . . .it is clear someone will need to die before this ends.

The performance of the actors was superb, a spartan set and a darkened room put seasoned professionals to the original plot and it’s complex script. The emotion of the lead actors evident in containing the characters they were burning into the audience. There was no cliche, no wooden performances . . and no passengers. Dialog that cant be forgotten. I was left considering my own actions in past loss.

A 9:30 start time on a Wednesday night pulled a respectible audience and there was no one who left untouched. The sinister evil lurking in the mind of it’s characters would readily move to a short film. I was left wondering if that would be attempted.

 . . . . . Walking home I was asked by a friend ”Who hurt the writer . . how did she know”

Combat Fatigue is playing at the Factory Theatre for the remainder of Fringe.

 Further interview with writer, Alison Rooke here.

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