It’s that time of the Fringe when you feel like you’ve seen all the big shows in the major hubs. There’s a week left, surely there’s more to the Fringe than the Garden. Now’s the time to venture further out to smaller venues such as Tandanya, Tuxedo Cat or the Producers. It’s upstairs at the…
The Chemsex Monologues is a 2016 play written by British playwright Patrick Cash and performed by London Ensemble, Dragonflies Theatre. It is a confronting look at the anonymous underground world of gay sex parties in London. The narrator (Richard Watkins), sitting in a chair on a bare stage launches into graphic description of his night on drugs and…
Settle. Despite the misleading title of the show, Nick doesn’t actually set himself on fire. Looking past that slightly disappointing fact, what he does do is make you laugh. On Fire is the quintessential Aussie stand-up show. No-one is safe. Bogans, Hooligans, his mum – they all cop it in this show. And it’s funny….
What do you ask an artist who is not only so prolific and influential, but an incredibly assertive, humble, and passionate talent? How do you discover, or even uncover something new about an artist whose career spans over 30 years? These were just a few of the thoughts bumping into the edges of my mind…
It’s time to dust off that schoolboy French and put on your dancing shoes because Blanc de Blanc has come to the Adelaide Fringe. The beautiful Magic Mirror Spiegeltent is the perfect setting for this show. A wrought iron staircase leading to a balcony overlooks the main stage and the audience is seated in the round. Blanc…
As we take our seats in the Black Forest at the Royal Croquet Club, we spot a lone figure in a flowing red dress slumped over an onyx grand piano. Around her three other figures are cleaning and sweeping. Oblivious to the crowd around her, she begins a piano melody, a sad song about loneliness….
I almost didn’t want to write this review. Something about the idea of trying to sum this performance up with words repulsed me. It seemed pretentious, inauthentic and completely at odds with what I experienced on Friday night at an unassuming little bar named Jive in Adelaide. Wanderers, formerly known as the Wasted Wanderers, are…
Ever sat in the living room watching music videos and wondered to yourself, “What the hell is going on here,”? Well, Dave Callan has. And in his riotous fringe show for 2017, he takes you deep into the weirdness that is music videos. Some would say MTV have a lot to answer for. As a…
The Kinsey Sicks are “America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet” and it’s easy to see why. With patriotic red white and blue costumes straight from the fifties, and four part harmonies of your favorite songs over the last twenty-three years, these girls know how throw to party. A tupperware party, that is. The four girls: Trixie, Trampolina,…
Little Death Club is not like most cabaret shows. The slightly twisted and strange collection of acts is what would be classified as Fringe by people who complain that the fringe has become too safe and mainstream. Dressed in black sequins and feather, MC Bernadette “Bernie” Byrne wanders through the crowd, greeting the seated guests…
Set to hit the Adelaide Fringe Festival later this week is foals [art exhibition], which features work exclusively created by kids between the ages of 3 to 16 from around the world. Ahead of the event, we caught up with the exhibition’s curator Sofie Kim to learn more about it. Can you tell us a…
Anyone who has done a minute’s research into popular music history understands that if you attempt to trace pretty much any style of contemporary music back to its roots, you end up at 1920’s Blues. It’s generally considered that that’s because as these originators of guitar driven music pushed lyrical and melodic boundaries, they influenced…
It’s passed 5pm on a Saturday afternoon in Adelaide. Away from the sun-kissed public-crawling surrounds of the Royal Croquet Club, Briefs Creative Director Fez Fa’anana sits in a dressing room, meticulously applying makeup. A corporate gig has been lined up for the Adelaide Fringe Festival favourite, meaning it’s all systems go. And that’s just the beginning of his night….
It’s not without some trepidation that I accepted an invitation to the Wank Bank Masterclass. Adam Seymour, aka Rural Ranga, perfected the art of Taoist massage during his stay in New York and has presented this class as a way of improving the art of genital stimulation. We are ushered into the tent and given a bag containing…
The first thing you need to know about Amy Hetherington is that she’s possibly the happiest person you could come across. Spend an hour in her company and you’ll come away feeling like you’ve been injected with a ray of sunshine itself. This is exactly what her Adelaide Fringe show, Terminally Positive, aims to do….
The marvellous Clairy Browne returned to Adelaide to take charge of the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent as part of the 2017 Adelaide Fringe Festival! Chad Lofts brings us these photos from the event. [print_gllr id=34221] ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on The AU Review: Music and may have formatting errors – images…
The Bedroom Philosopher leaves the 86 Tram behind in favour of a furry performance at the Tuxedo Cat for the Adelaide Fringe Festival, introducing us to an entertaining run of songs about cats. Yep, you read that correctly. The Cat Show is a comedic musical projection for the performer to involve the crowd in a special…
Adelaide’s own Germein Sisters brought their renowned live show to The Garden of Unearthly Delights for a special weeknight gig at the Magic Mirror Spiegeltent. What a way to spend a night out at the Adelaide Fringe Festival! Chad Lofts brings us these shots. [print_gllr id=34236] ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home…
The Chooky Dancers achieved overnight success when Frank Djirrimbilpilwuy uploaded a video clip of the group dancing to “Zorba the Greek” on YouTube in October 2007. After touring extensively around the country and in places as far flung as Canada, China and Europe, Djuki Mala are now part of the Adelaide Fringe, performing in the…
Betty Grumble returns to Adelaide for the 2017 Adelaide Fringe Festival, as she describes, ‘the delirium of the non-stop art experience that infects artist and punter alike’. With her new show Grumble: Sex Clown Saves The World, Betty is continuing to entertain, push boundaries and leave the audience with memories they won’t want to lose in…
The 2017 Adelaide Fringe Festival is off and running, with the heart of the city now brimming with activity; from circus performers to cabaret artists, musicians and drag, everyone in between – there’s something for all punters to get involved in. We checked in with the ladies behind Fringe Wives Club to find out what’s led…
An artist who has performed in a castle in Poland, an orphanage in the Angolan jungle, and a field in Malaysia, Anna Lumb is no stranger to the surreal. Lumb’s unique blend of theatre, circus and physical comedy has taken her to some of the world’s farthest corners. Ahead of her hometown appearance at Melba…
Here at the AU offices, we go through all your spruces and gooses and have collated the best events in this, our monthly look at the best the art, theatre and cultural world has to offer this month for the month of February 2017. Go out and enjoy one of these little events around Australia,…
The legacy of Tom Green is one marked by a no-holds-barred approach to bold and often bonkers comedy. A preeminent influence on prank culture on MTV and YouTube, from his web series, to his cult-favourite film Freddy Got Fingered, his comedy walks its own path for its sheer absurdity and willingness to explore the unpredictable….
John Goodridge takes us to the Adelaide Fringe Festival, bringing us photos from the show A Simple Space at the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Photos were taken on 2nd March, with shows until 13th March. You can find out more details here. Here’s how they describe the show, however: Simultaneously raw, frantic and delicate, seven skilled…
The two members of EastEnd Cabaret, Jennifer Byrne & Vicky Falconer-Pritchard, are currently in Australia performing their show Yeti’s Demon Dive Bar – a musical sketch show which delves into the lives of characters enjoying themselves within a bar set-up on stage. “We did three sort of work-in-progress shows back in London at Soho Theatre,…
Alright, so the Adelaide Fringe Festival is now in its third week and the city and its dwellers are pretty well settled in and comfortable with the madness the festival brings. No longer is it a novelty to see performers spruiking their shows through the east end of the city. Nor is it a shock…
Matt Tarrant is straight up with the crowd gathered in The Octagon tent on a warm Sunday evening; he’s loved magic ever since he was a kid wanting to be pulled up on stage by the first magician he’d ever seen perform. His Adelaide Fringe Festival show Honestly Dishonest is about perhaps giving that feeling to any…
I knew that PAPILLON was one Adelaide Fringe show I couldn’t miss out on for another season, so squished in to The Octagon on Saturday night for one of what is sure to be many sold out shows, I knew I was in for a good one. The show is described as being a bit of circus, a…
It’s difficult to know what to expect from a tribute band. You’re enticed by the idea of hearing all of your favourite songs. You attempt to remain objective, understanding that it’s a tribute, not the real thing. Yet somehow, you’re always a little bit disappointed that it doesn’t sound like the originals. Or should I…