unFRINGEd

Alexis, Mo and Vick had just enjoyed watching the last performance of The Famous Maurice Flea Circus. Mo thought it had been “entertaining the whole way through”, while Vick abstained from commenting because she is biased – her brother Tom is part of the cast. “It was good to see some of their new stuff being performed,” she admitted. Next, for Vick, is Landing to see Owen Salome who is both a flautist and composer.

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Word of mouth about Clammy Glamour From The Curio Cabinet successfully attracted a number of audience members who were attending their first fringe show, even as the festival is drawing to a close.

Murray found it difficult to find the time to see the shows he wanted, but was familiar with the works of Aerialize, and didn’t want to miss Clammy Glamour. He was impressed with Akousmaflore, an installation piece in the Carriageworks foyer consisting of hanging potplants that give audible reactions to being touched. “It is very clever. The people were all wondering how they have done that.”

Lindy was just starting her Fringe experience and was planning on following up with a visit to A Tiny Chorus because of its success in winning the 2009 People’s Choice Award at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Sally Chance is visiting from Adelaide and came to see Clammy Glamour, as it was co-directed by Simone O’Brien, a fellow student in the Masterclass in theatre-making being hosted by Chiara Guidi.

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The audience wasn’t just toe-dippers trying their first Fringe performance, though.

Brad has been taking in a number of shows, including Retinal Damage, Sexy Tales of Paleontology (“a very funny show”) and Pearls Before Swine (“recommended”). It was Trapture that first jumped to his mind when I asked for his favourite. “It was shocking and surprising – and I am not often shocked or surprised. It was an authentic, hard-core Fringe experience.”

I found Heidi Hillier waiting in queue as well. She hasn’t had much of a chance to see fringe shows, until her own Lost And Found show completed its run, but she has now seen Working Class Sheilas. “It’s a heart-warming story and had beautiful caricatures. It’ll be appreciated by anyone who grew up in regional Australia.”

Vox Popcorn is a series of quick interviews with fringe-goers about what they are seeing.