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FEATURE
Since launching in 1960, the Adelaide Fringe has grown to become one of the world’s biggest and best festivals of its kind. In 2015, The Adelaide Fringe hosts around 1110 events in 376 different venues covering cabaret, music, comedy, circus, dance, film, design, theatre and visual art. The Adelaide Review proudly presents its inaugural Adelaide Fringe feature.
–Adelaide–
FRINGE 2015 CONTENTS
The Age
Fear & Delight
(26)
Listings
(27)
Smashed
(28)
Camille O’Sullivan
(34)
Puddles
(37)
Too Much Light
(40)
Scotsman
TWO-TIME BEST SHOW NOMINEE Melbourne Comedy Festival
S CO E TH
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TSM AN
T EL E G
RAP
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T HE UK
N WITH T S A D C L OW
HE G OL DEN
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13 FEB – 15 MAR
SPAGHETTI FOR BREAKFAST Comedy Supa Nova ~ Palace Nova 250 Rundle St | 3 ~ 15 March
GARDEN OF UNEARTHLY DELIGHTS
GARDEN OF UNEARTHLY DELIGHTS 13 FEBRUARY – 15 MARCH
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VOICE
26 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW FEBRUARY 2015
FEATURE
Gastronomical Circus The company that gave us smash hit shows Limbo and Cantina will deliver the world premiere of an immersive and multi-sensory theatre and dining experience this Fringe season.
BY DANIELA FRANGOS
M
arrying elements of live music, circus performance, culinary art and a nighttime club setting, Fear & Delight is a literal feast for the senses. Show creator and Strut & Fret director Scott Maidment tells The Adelaide Review he wants to offer a multi-dimensional experience. “It all started from the type of experience that I’d like to have – go out for a super funky meal, see a show and party on after that,” he explains. “I started exploring these types of shows; I went to New York, Vegas, London, just seeing different shows that were
combining different experiences and then I started developing the concept of Fear & Delight. “Having done shows like Cantina and Limbo we’ve had quite a good track record of creating shows that Adelaide audiences have loved, and I really just wanted to push the envelope a little bit further.” Described as “Willy Wonka meets Heston Blumenthal in a burlesque bar” the show will meld the talents of boundary-pushing food architects the Dutch Food Slingers (Didier Prince and Roy Wiggers), who will
create sensory-based courses from entree to dessert, and culinary scientists Bompas & Parr, known for their immersive, flavourbased installations. “There’s going to be some crazy things that are inspired by the terms ‘fear’ and ‘delight’,” Maidment hints. “[Bompas & Parr] do things like cooking with lava and lightning, and they did a scratch and sniff version of Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and her Lover. They’ve also done things like a walk-through mist of gin and tonic, and hallucinogenic tea.” Maidment describes Adelaide as a town of “good food and good drink” and says he wants to offer something completely new to the gastronomically spoilt city. “We know what an amazing food culture South Australia has, and we wanted to tap into that with Fear & Delight and give local audiences something they’ve hopefully never experienced before.” Restricted to 100 people per night, the innovative dining experience will take place under the stars before the 14-metre square dining table transforms into a stage, giving
–GALLERY 1855–
Pocket art Miniatures and small scale works produced by 19 visual arts and craft practitioners. Opening: 2pm - Sunday 8 February 2015 Exhibition Dates: 11 February - 21 March Gallery open: Wednesday – Saturday, 12noon – 5pm Image: James Edwards, Photobottles, 2014, cool ice porcelain, decal, dimensions variable.
A’ Sheela & Nayima Show 240 Franklin Street
Gallery 1855, 2 Haines Road, Tea Tree Gully www.teatreegully.sa.gov.au/ gallery1855
Sheela Langeberg & Nayima Hassan A spellbinding Tanzanian and Egyptian dance showcase presented by two masters of the cultural dance of their ancestry. A story like no other as their poetry in motion captures the divine female spirit in sacred dance devotion. An awakening from ancient lands that the circle of life begins and ends with the hypnotic drum beat that immerses our hearts and souls. Be transcended as these desert flowers take you on a journey to the exotic night of Cairo and heights of Kilimanjaro. ‘The African Queen’ meets ‘The Jewel of the Nile’. Friday, February 20 & Friday, February 27, 8pm ADELAIDEFRINGE.COM.AU
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW FEBRUARY 2015 27
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guests front row seats for the show. The show itself will feature an international cast of performers including renowned dancer AnneCaroline Boidin, aerialists Nick Beyeler and Saulo Sarmiento (La Soiree), acrobatic trio 15ft6 and clown Spencer Novich (Cirque du Soleil).
Fringe veteran Maidment has been coming to the festival since his debut as a performer in 1994. In 2002 he, with Buxton Walker, started the Garden of Unearthly Delights. Maidment says he has seen many changes over his 20 years with the festival, including a shift from the west to the east end of the CBD.
“There’s performers flying in from Paris, the Ancillary Islands, Zurich and Belgium,” Maidment says.
“When I first started coming to the Fringe it was all in the west end, near the Lion Arts Centre, and there was nothing near Rundle Street,” he says.
The performances will be backed by the music of electro-swing duo The Correspondents, ex-Adelaide vocalist Simone Page Jones and drummer Holly Madge (Cee Lo Green, Robyn, Duran Duran). Fear & Delight guests will be able to choose from three ticket levels: The Complete Experience, The Show, and the Devil’s Lighthouse. The premium ticket includes a decadent and sensorial journey of dinner, drinks and a
show, and entry to an after party at The Devil’s Lighthouse – a plank-by-plank reconstruction of a deep south gospel church, located at the northern entrance of Rymill Park. The late
night haunt will feature a line-up of DJs and bands and a specially curated cocktail list by Bompas & Parr. “It’s a multi-layered experience and once people know what it is it’s going to be super exciting,” Maidment says. “It’s not just like going to see a show for an hour – if you do the complete experience you could possibly be there from 8pm till 1am or later.”
Tangentleman Thebarton Theatre Ross Noble Ross Noble is back showcasing his talent in his brand new show, Tangentleman. With an on-stage presence like no other, his exuberance, spontaneity and cerebral style have established him as one of the world’s best-loved comedians. The master surrealist uses an infinite imagination and plenty of tomfoolery, which is sure to have
“Now it’s been – in the last few years – really focused in the East End, but I think Adelaide has grown big enough where it can have a really strong east end, it can have stuff in Victoria Square, and I think there’s going to be a big push to have stuff in the west. The audiences are big enough where it can really take over the whole city, I think.”
Fear & Delight Garden of Unearthly Delights Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 15 fearanddelight.com gardenofunearthlydelights.com.au
audiences in fits of laughter. Famed for his fiery and fluid freewheeling style, Noble creates comedy gold from tiny particles of random nonsense. Known for improvising vast swathes of his act from night to night depending on what, or more likely, who, sparks his fertile imagination. This is your chance to see one of the world’s most critically acclaimed stand-ups in a hysterical night with Tangentleman. Tuesday, March 10, 8pm TICKETMASTER.COM.AU
adelaidebaroque.com.au
Adelaide Baroque gratefully acknowledges the support of the Government of South Australia through Arts SA
28 The Adelaide Review February 2015
FEATURE / ADELAIDE FRINGE
The art and science of juggling With its use of contemporary dance, theatre and mathematical notations, Smashed is a juggling experience like no other.
Café Zimmermann V Burnside Town Hall Ballroom Cnr Greenhill & Portrush Roads, Glenside Adelaide Baroque Café Zimmerman recreates the music and atmosphere of 18th century café life in Leipzig. At his café, Gottfried Zimmerman hosted the Collegium Musicum, a society for chamber music and pleasure. At
Zimmermann’s café, Bach and Telemann often performed their recent secular compositions. They had an appreciative audience for both their music and the new elixir, coffee! Enjoy shared tables with BYO supper and drinks while experiencing great Baroque music including the exhilarating Brandenburg Concerto No V of Bach and orchestral works by Telemann and Graupner. Saturday, February 14 and Sunday, February 15, 7.30pm
BY DAVID KNIGHT
S
ean Gandini and his wife’s (Kati YlaHokkala) troupe, Gandini Juggling, has been breaking juggling boundaries for more than 20 years, and Smashed is the first show the UK company will bring to Australia. An homage to famed German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch, the awardwinning production has been running since 2010 and explores conflict with its nine jugglers on stage who not only juggle crockery and apples but smash them as well.
ADELAIDEBAROQUE.COM.AU “We open with one of these Pina Bausch parades where the performers do a simple bit of juggling but everybody is very much in time,” Gandini says about the opening of Smashed. “We look out at the audience and there’s a kind of hello and welcome. One shouldn’t give it away, but in a way that welcome is promising a world we’ll go to. The first 15 minutes of the show sets up an environment that we then break.” Smashed explores gender politics, as the male performers tease and harass the two female jugglers.
Donkey Comedy Super Nova, Palace Nova, 250 Rundle Street
Faulty Towers the Dining Experience Ambassadors Hotel, 107 King William Street
Hannah Gadsby Multi-award nominee Hannah Gadsby returns to Adelaide with a brand new hour of standup about her new bike, Donkey, and how she will never ride the same way again. Last year, Gadsby sold out shows in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Canberra and Brisbane before heading over to perform in the Edinburgh Fringe and record her own BBC radio series. She also gave the small screen a whirl with her brilliant ABC arts series Hannah Gadsby’s Oz receiving rave reviews and her acting debut on Josh Thomas’ Please Like Me. Donkey is classic Gadsby… but not as you know her.
Produced by Interactive Theatre International They’re back! Basil, Sybil and Manuel return for their eighth “food snortingly funny”(Fringe) with a fresh format and a souped-up menu (Australian Stage). In a show that’s two-thirds improvised, no two performances are ever the same... so expect the unexpected as these three infamous hoteliers serve a three-course meal along with trademark Faulty service and a good dollop of mayhem. “Laugh till you cry through two riotous hours of food, wine and impeccable comic timing,” (The Great Aussie Bite, Sydney Opera House 2014). “It is brilliant,” (Adelaide Now).
Tuesday, March 3 to Sunday, March 15, 7pm (excl Mondays)
Saturday, February 14 to Sunday, March 15 Daily (excl Wednesdays), various times
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“That doesn’t come in until about 20 minutes into the show. I think there’s one scene in particular, which is a real breaker, where you go, ‘Well, okay, I’m not watching a variety show anymore’. In a way I quite like that because it’s a little bit like, I think, a horror movie or where you’re watching one kind of film and then all of a sudden you’re like, ‘Ahhhh’.” Gandini was raised in Havana by his communist parents who moved to Cuba when he was four. From an early age in Cuba, Gandini’s interests were in the seemingly disparate fields of magic and mathematics. Why maths and magic? “I was thinking about this the other day,
and ever since I was about five or six I just had this yearning to perform and it has kind of been with me my whole life. My dad is a scientist, so I guess I got maths from him and in a way ironically there’s a lot of recreational jugglers who are mathematicians or physicists and I don’t know why that is.” Maths plays a part in Smashed. “We use mathematical tools to compose juggling – that sounds a bit complex but there’s been a mathematical notation called Site Swap that has been around for about 25 years. It’s just a marvellous tool for quickly writing juggling sequences. Since we present Smashed with nine jugglers, there’s a scene where everybody is sitting on chairs and the juggling is all in time with the music and it’s very easy to score with these mathematical systems but it’s no more mathematical than, say, music notations.” Gandini says that the audience won’t necessarily get this sense of mathematics when watching Smashed but the latest show they premiered (4x4: Ephemeral Architectures) is more imbued with mathematical structures. “That one is more pure than Smashed, whereas Smashed has a theatrical side and this is, in a sense, almost a dance piece. It has four ballet dancers and four jugglers and we commissioned a string quintet. It is very beautiful and we are very happy with it.”
Smashed Royal Croquet Club Saturday, February 14 to Sunday, March 14 gandinijuggling.com
Abdullah Ibrahim
presents
ADEL EXCLUA I D E SIVE
THE WORLD’S FESTIVAL
SEE WEBSIT FOR FUL E L I N E -U P L
Presenting Partner
Revered pianist and composer, Abdullah Ibrahim has been hailed as the greatest exponent of Cape jazz. His solo concerts create a very special and intimate atmosphere, heart-stopping melody combined with a powerful spirituality. Presented by Arts Projects Australia in association with Adelaide Festival.
“When he plays, melodies tumble out effortlessly, as he slides from theme to theme like a laid-back South African reincarnation of Thelonious Monk.” The Guardian
Tuesday 10 March, 8pm Adelaide Town Hall
BOOK NOW!
abc.net.au/adelaide
You are cordially invited to a tea party that you will never forget… A mesmerising mix of circus and theatre, inspired by the work of Pina Bausch.
“Bubbling over with invention... Just fantastic.” Metro (UK )
“A fruity mix of maths, movement and mayhem.” The List
adelaidefringe.com.au 13 Feb–15 Mar 2015 Royal Croquet Club – The Panama Club Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga
BOOK NOW
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14 Feb –14 Mar 2015 Royal Croquet Club – The Panama Club Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga
30 The Adelaide Review February 2015
FEATURE / ADELAIDE FRINGE
Generation Hahndorf Academy, 68 Main Street, Hahndorf Astra Parker Astra Parker’s steel forms are derived from a fascination with species regeneration, life cycle and the interdependence of natural forms. Her sculptures embody patterns of growth and cycles of regeneration existing within life forms and interpret processes of seed germination,
cell division and the release of new life. She considers the creation, or selfreplication of seeds and cells and their predetermined biological blueprint and external environment changes in the generation of new life. This is reflected in the making processes of the work in finding the relationship of one part to another and how each fits within the greater whole. Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 22 HAHNDORFACADEMY.ORG.AU
Trinity Sessions ADELAIDE’S INTIMATE CONCERT VENUE “the only thing you hear is the music”
Feb 08 Shane Howard CD Launch, 6pm with Halfway to Forth dramatix.com.au/trinity tix $30/$25
Shane’s 13th solo album, ‘Deeper South’, features songs full of music and poetry that are deep and dark yet illuminated by great shafts of light. From Solid Rock in 1982 to the unique southern coast in 2015.
Feb 20, 21 Jo Quail (UK), 7:30pm
110 mins . adelaidefringe.com.au tix from $23 Jo Quail plays a bespoke electric cello combining traditional playing methods with extended technique to create rich orchestration, and percussive sounds added to create ‘majestic soundscapes’.
Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition 2015 Drill Hall, Torrens Parade Ground, Victoria Drive
Germein Sisters - Because You Breathe Aurora Spiegeltent, The Garden of Unearthly Delights 2014 saw South Australia’s Georgia, Clara and Ella (aka Germein Sisters) take their unique brand of pop/folk/rock around the world and promote their album Because You Breathe, which was recorded in Ireland with The Corrs producer Billy Farrell to audiences far and wide. Now preparing for their Adelaide Fringe show, these local girls will inspire and entertain the audience with their well crafted songs, intricate melodies, topped off by their beautiful sibling harmonies. Tickets to their last three Spiegeltent Fringe shows sold out.
G E N E R AT I O N Botanical inspired sculptures by Astra Parker
Australian-born, Juno Award winning songwriter from Winnipeg, Canada and a founding member of the internationally-renowned trio The Wailin’ Jennys.
318 Goodwood Road Clarence Park info ph. 0401 122 256 | Licensed Bar - Food available
FEBRUARY 13 – MARCH 22 OPENING FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY AT 6PM
image: Astra Parker, Egress, Steel and Adelaide granite.
Beautifully written songs, charming stage presence and voice of an angel – Edwina has opened for Jools Holland and Van Morrison.
HELPMANNACADEMY.COM.AU
GERMEINSISTERS.COM
120 mins . adelaidefringe.com.au tix from $28
with The Fiddle Chicks dramatix.com.au/trinity tix $25
Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 8, 10.30am to 4.30pm
Friday, March 6, 7pm
Feb 26 Ruth Moody (CAN), 7:30pm
Mar 22 Edwina Hayes (UK), 6pm
The Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition is the landmark exhibition for graduates from South Australia’s tertiary art institutions. This unique exhibition showcases the talent of our top emerging artists from Adelaide Central School of Art, Adelaide College of the Arts (TafeSA) and School of Art, Architecture and Design (UniSA).
Hahndorf Academy, 68 Main Street, Hahndorf 10am – 5pm 7 days Contact: 08 83887250 www.hahndorfacademy.org.au
Join the conversation at BankSA’s TalkFringe.com • See live, streaming commentary from social media channels • Get the hot gossip on artists and shows • Read and review shows • Prizes up for grabs for most popular TalkFringe contributors
BankSA – A Division of Westpac Banking Corporation ABN 33 007 457 141 AFSL and Australian credit licence 233714
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32 The Adelaide Review February 2015
FEATURE
Jo Quail Church of the Trinity, 318 Goodwood Road, Clarence Park Presented by Trinity Sessions London-based Jo Quail plays a bespoke electric cello combining traditional playing methods with extended technique to create rich orchestration, and percussive sounds added to create ‘majestic soundscapes’. Each performance is a journey, an invitation to explore a musical landscape that Quail
creates fearlessly from her interaction with the cello. Those that have witnessed one of Quail’s concerts will know that she is a musician with a formidable presence. In the current climate of withering attention spans where style so often seems to overcome substance, Quail’s music follows its own singular path. Friday, February 20 and Saturday, February 21, 7.30pm JOQUAIL.CO.UK
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PRIZE
GIVEAWAY Brand South Australia and The Adelaide Review have teamed up to offer a monthly giveaway!
Le Gateau Chocolat ICONS
WIN
The Deluxe, Garden of Unearthly Delights, Rundle Park, East Terrace
ENSEMBLE GALANTE
Memento Mori: Remember You Are Mortal The prize for Feb is: 4 x tickets to the preview of Soap and a family pass to Smashed Valued at $197 Both shows are part of the Adelaide Fringe.
Enter at:
www.facebook.com/BrandSouthAustralia
Masterpieces of Vivaldi, Bach & Haydn with a projection of art images exploring the joy and beauty of life in the face of its ultimate conclusion. Performed by the acclaimed period instrumentalists of Ensemble Galante. “What a treat for the ears!...an outstanding group of musicians...exquisite period instruments... sparkling performance” (Radio Adelaide) The Jade Monkey 140-160 Flinders St, ADELAIDE Friday, Saturday & Sunday, March 6, 7& 8 at 7:30 pm.
“Brendan Fitzgerald Quartet is a very impressive unit” (Cabaret Broadway World, 2013)
Tickets available from Fringetix: adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix 1300 621 255 or at the door (unless sold out) $25/$20
BAR AND DOORS OPEN 45 MINUTES PRIOR TO PERFORMANCE
www.ensemblegalante.com
120 MINUTES INCLUDING INTERVAL.
Opera and Lycra loving cabaret sensation Le Gateau Chocolat storms back to Adelaide with the world premiere of his new work, ICONS. Walking the tightrope between his public and private personas, Le Gateau Chocolat explores relationships with our icons – the people, the moments, the books, the relationships that have come to shape us, or the ideal we aspire to. Expect an eclectic mix of music; pop to opera, Kate Bush, and Whitney, Elvis to Wagner and Shirley to Gershwin as Le Gateau investigates his own objects of worship through the songs and music of his personal icons. Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 15, 8.30pm (Daily excl Feb 16 and 23 and Mar 2 and 9) GARDENOFUNEARTHLYDELIGHTS.COM.AU
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ADELAIDE FRINGE Limbo
WINNER
WINNER
WINNER
BEST CABARET
BEST PRODUCTION
6 AWARDS
Aurora Spiegeltent, Garden of Unearthly Delights, Rundle Park, East Terrace The ultimate party, staged somewhere between heaven and hell, is back for a limited season with circus that’s wild, wicked and out of this world. From the creators of Fear & Delight, this record-breaking, awardwinning Spiegeltent sensation is back by popular demand to bring you the greatest party between heaven and hell. This is a dirty and dangerous celebration of otherworldly proportions directed by Scott Maidment and set to Sxip Shirey’s thrilling live score. Don’t miss your chance to see the show so hot, Madonna came twice! Go again and relive the magic, or if you missed out on a ticket last time, this is your chance to see what all the fuss is about. Friday, February 13 to Saturday, February 28, various times (excl Mondays) GARDENOFUNEARTHLYDELIGHTS.COM.AU
WINNER
YANA 2013 GREENROOM AWARD
2013 GREENROOM AWARD
2010 GREENROOM AWARDS
2014 HELPMANN AWARD
BEST CABARET
ALANA BETWEEN THE CRACKS
“ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S BEST CABARET STARS” ARTSHUB
Memento Mori : Remember You Are Mortal
the joy and beauty of life in the face of its ultimate conclusion. Performed by the acclaimed period instrumentalists of Ensemble Galante. Friday, Saturday & Sunday, March 6, 7 and 8, 7.30 pm
The Jade Monkey, 140-160 Flinders Street ENSEMBLEGALANTE.COM Ensemble Galante Masterpieces of Vivaldi, Bach and Haydn with a projection of art images exploring
“IF YOU SEE ONE SHOW IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE, SEE YANA ALANA BETWEEN THE CRACKS” CATHERINE DEVENY
LIMITED SEASON 13 FEB - 1 MAR | 9:45pm
34 THE ADELAIDE REVIEW FEBRUARY 2015
FEATURE
Camille O’Sullivan Due to cancelled flights, Camille O’Sullivan’s journey to Australia took the Irish chanteuse almost three days, but the self-taught singer will make the most of her two-month Australian stay.
BY DAVID KNIGHT
“
It was like 66 hours of travel,” O’Sullivan says, “and with a baby, [but] she kept her spirits going. I think there were three cancelled flights due to fog, in Abu Dhabi and London. We got to Hong Kong in the end and, by that stage, our luggage – we were trying to trace it, it was lost – but we got the luggage last night.”
Luckily, O’Sullivan secured her luggage before her first show in Sydney, the night before this interview. O’Sullivan performed her show Changeling as part of the Sydney Festival, which she will bring to Adelaide for the Garden of Unearthly Delights. O’Sullivan is a raw and sensual performer
known for her cabaret renditions, but the theatrical performance style of O’Sullivan is as much influenced by Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen as Weimar cabaret. Changeling, a show based on her 2012 album of the same name, is the album that saw O’Sullivan move from cabaret standards to renditions of late 20th century artists such as Radiohead, Cohen, Cave and Nine Inch Nails. The former architect, with a background in acting, who decided to pursue a singing career after a near fatal accident, has wowed Adelaide audiences as part of the Adelaide Fringe and Cabaret Festivals, and this tour will be a “best of” as well as songs from the Changeling album. “There are some very old songs that people mightn’t have heard before, like the lovely Leonard Cohen song Anthem; and Galileo by [Declan] O’Rourke, who has Australian ancestry, is one that stands out for the audience here; and, of course, [Look Mummy No] Hands is an old favourite, as well as songs from the album - All the World is Green [Tom Waits] and Revelator [Gillian Welch].” Recently, O’Sullivan released an album of the project she performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Rape of Lucrece, which she says puts that collaboration to bed. While in Australia, O’Sullivan will perform in a show dedicated to the music of David Lynch films, In Dreams: David Lynch Revisited, and she is part of the Adelaide Festival’s Tommy extravaganza by Eric Mingus and Hal Willner, in which she’ll play the mother. “They offered me that part, which means I’ll do the Fringe and then I come back, I think a week or two weeks later, and do the Festival, in a part I’ve never done. I’ll just go for it and have a laugh. Then afterwards – it’s the way it goes when you interpret other people’s work or act: you can get these bits where you are added as a guest - is with the Barbican in London, who are doing it in conjunction with Sydney Opera House,
Pocket Art: charms, miniatures and small scale multiples Gallery 1855, 2 Haines Road, Tea Tree Gully Exhibition of small scale works by 19 visual art and craft practitioners. Artists: David Baker, Catherine Buddle, Gary Campbell, James Edwards, Keith Giles, Frances Griffin, Sally Heinrich, Alan Jury, Alison Main, Holly Marling, Janet Neilson, Julie Pieda, Jessamy Pollock, Lee Salomone, Margaret Sanders, Regine Schwarzer, Ewa Skoczynska, Niki Sperou and Rachel Young. Opening: Sunday, February 8, 2pm Exhibition: Wednesday, February 11 to Saturday, March 21. Gallery open: Wednesday to Saturday, 12pm to 5pm TEATREEGULLY.SA.GOV.AU/GALLERY1855
the music of David Lynch, so that will keep me there until mid March. I’m excited about that; I love doing my own shows but it’s so nice to be a part of somebody else’s project.” With the Lynch project, it won’t be the original music that Lynch has recently recorded but songs from his films and former Bad Seed Mick Harvey is also part of that project. On the topic of the Bad Seeds, O’Sullivan says she’s always wanted to record a “very unusual take” of Nick Cave’s music, as well as an album of original compositions. “That’s been in my head for 10 years; I just keep running away and singing other people’s songs.” Until those projects see the light, O’Sullivan is one of the most acclaimed performers of other people’s work, as her dramatic renditions breathe fire into the songs to make them her own. “I used to be embarrassed of being someone who didn’t write their own songs, and someone who sang others’ work. The incredible stories these composers have written excite me, and most of them are really emotional. That’s where music adds to a lyric, which is potent already, and to perform it on stage is really... sometimes it feels like my real life is happening up there and in my private life it’s not happening. I think those songs are the songs that make me feel that I’m really present. They are kind of like magnets; you hear them and they just connect to you and you’ve got to do it.”
Camille O’Sullivan The Garden of Unearthly Delights (Aurora Spiegeltent) Friday, February 13 to Sunday, February 15 camilleosullivan.com
THE ADELAIDE REVIEW FEBRUARY 2015 35
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ADELAIDE FRINGE Ruth Moody and Band Church of the Trinity, 318 Goodwood Road, Clarence Park Presented by Trinity Sessions Ruth Moody is an Australian-born, Juno Award winning songwriter from Winnipeg, Canada. Founding member of the internationallyrenowned trio The Wailin’ Jennys, she has performed in sold-out venues around the world and made numerous criticallyacclaimed albums. Moody’s world tour in support of her sophomore album saw her open for Mark Knopfler. Moody will be performing with her band; Adrian Dolan on fiddle, mandolin, viola, mandola and vocals; Adam Dobres on guitars, ukulele and vocals; and Sam Howard on upright bass and vocals. Thursday, February 26, 7.30pm RUTHMOODY.COM
Soap Royal Croquet Club, The Panama Club Presented by Arts Projects Australia Out of five bathtubs a cast of acrobats splash about in choreographed majesty, an opera singer offers soaring arias amid a chic soundtrack that morphs from Sia to Handel and Tool to Beethoven, and the most skilled circus performers in the world transform the stage into a splash-filled bathroom of sexy, seductive and sublime contemporary cabaret. Soap – one of the must-see shows of Adelaide Fringe 2015. Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 15, 8.30pm ADELAIDEFRINGE.COM.AU
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36 The Adelaide Review February 2015
FEATURE Spaghetti For Breakfast
Sam Simmons 2014 was a stellar year for Simmons – he was nominated for the Foster’s Comedy Award in Edinburgh, won the Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performance and the Festival Director’s Award at the Sydney Comedy Festival. Now based in LA, he is making a name for himself overseas with appearances on Conan and Adam Devine’s House Party. Don’t miss him on home turf before he disappears onto the international stage for good. Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 15, 9.30pm (excl Mondays) ADELAIDEFRINGE.COM.AU
Photo: Benjamin Bayliss
Garden of Unearthly Delights, Umbrella Revolution, Rundle Park, Cnr East Tce & Rundle St
Spirit Festival 253 Grenfell Street Presented by Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute Spirit Festival is South Australia’s premier Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts & Culture Festival presented annually
Take Five The Dave Brubeck Story Brighton Concert Hall, Brighton Secondary School, 305 Brighton Road Brendan Fitzgerald Quartet Brendan Fitzgerald Quartet recreates the world of iconic jazz musician Dave Brubeck, his genius, his relationships, his humanity and popular acclaim. In 1959, Dave Brubeck Quartet’s album, Time Out, became the first platinum jazz recording. Their composition
by Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute. Over five days Spirit Festival will showcase the best in local and national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance, music, workshops, theatre and more, designed to appeal to all age groups. Wednesday, March 11 to Sunday, March 15 SPIRITFESTIVAL.COM
Take Five is the highest selling jazz instrumental of all time. Fitzgerald narrates the story at the piano with a projected montage of images from Brubeck’s life. Andy Firth and Peter Raidel, internationally acclaimed saxophonists, perform the music of Paul Desmond, Brubeck’s creative ally and sometime adversary. This ensemble comprises four outstanding musicians, as Satomi Ohnishi (drums) and Quinton Dunne (double bass) join the quartet for this unique event. February 19, 21 & 22 and Saturday, March 14 (various times) BRENDANFITZGERALD.COM
The Adelaide Review February 2015 37
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FEATURE
Le G at e au C ho col at
I Pity the Clown For a clown that doesn’t talk, this seven-foot downbeat jester has a voice of gold.
m et r o
‘A stand out act’ t h e a dv e rt i ser
BY ANNA MAZZONE
F
rom Atlanta, Georgia, Puddles the Clown will be bringing his unique performance to Adelaide Fringe for the first time this year, joining a lineup of other cabaret performances at the Garden of Unearthly Delights.
So why the long face? Much about Puddles remains a mystery. Always in costume and never speaking a word, this pouty clown is best seen to be understood. It seems like Puddles is also curious about what to expect from Adelaide Fringe.
Singing covers of rock ballads and pop anthems, it was his YouTube performance of Lorde’s Royals that gained him recognition around the world and over eight million hits online. The Kiwi heroine even praised Puddles’ cover, saying it was her favourite rendition of the song.
“I’ve heard things can get a little wild. Like the time when Stobie The Disco Cuttlefish [the 2014 Fringe mascot] had a Darwin stubby too many, chucked a wobbly and came a cropper in the middle of the dance floor. What a cot case!”
The Puddles Pity Party has captivated audiences around the world, from Montreal’s Just For Laughs to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Puddles toured the US and Europe with rock band Eels, and even punched lead singer Mark Oliver Everett on stage at a concert in Austria. He’s done it all. “I once sang my nation’s national anthem on a news program with Richard Simmons and the US Hot Dog Eating champion at a bowling alley during a snow storm at 7 o’clock in the morning. I had a pizza, six hot dogs, apple pie, an imperial pint of stout and a terrible cup of coffee for breakfast,” Puddles says (via email). “That’s my most memorable memory.”
The Puddles Pity Party is a performance that resonates with all types of crowds and belts out a diverse repertoire of hits. “I don’t think it’s good to go to any party with particular expectations. But I tell you that it will be a night filled with song and sadness and awkward camaraderie that will hopefully result in gladness, or at least a little less sadness.”
Puddles Pity Party Garden of Unearthly Delights Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 15 puddlespityparty.com
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g ar denofune arthly delights . com . au
38 The Adelaide Review February 2015
FEATURE / ADELAIDE FRINGE Through the Looking Glass Red Poles Gallery, 190 McMurtrie Road, McLaren Vale Artists include George Angus, Hannah Carlyle, Andrea Fiebig, Brendan Garrett, Jesse Hamilton, Fruzsi Kenez, Emma Klau, Philipa Kruger, Sara-Jayne Prince, Ellen Schlobohm, Belinda Shaw, Janice Vitrovsky. Works respond to Pablo Neruda’s poem Ode to Broken Things. Artists explore life through the looking glass – its patterns, its twists and turns and where sometimes the thread is broken.
The Secret Garden Party Turkey Flat Vineyards Cellar Door, Bethany Road, Tanunda Holly Throsby supported by Kaurna Cronin and Echo and the Empress The Fringe will close in true Barossa style – with the perfect picnic in a secret garden, an afternoon nestled amongst the vines of
Saturday, February 7 to Wednesday, April 8 Turkey Flat’s Bethany vineyard graced with the beautiful melodies of Holly Throsby, Kaurna Cronin and Echo and the Empress. The party includes delicious picnic fare from Barossa’s Tracy Collins, a few lawn games and, of course, a glass of Turkey Flat’s finest. Price includes delicious picnic boxes, which are designed to share, a glass of wine on arrival and show.
REDPOLES.COM.AU
Sunday, March 15, 1 to 5pm TURKEYFLAT.COM.AU
Yana Alana Between the Cracks The Deluxe, Garden of Unearthly Delights, Rundle Park, East Terrace Join Yana Alana, feather ruffler, rabble-rouser, and cabaret provocateur for a bent night of blues, burlesque and blame. From poetry to unexpected musical numbers and wearing
little more than a slick of blue paint, no topic is safe from the ineffable Yana Alana. This is Helpmann award-winning cabaret at its very best – incisive, hilarious, confronting and, most of all, musically divine. “One of Australia’s best cabaret stars,” ArtsHub. Winner 2014 Helpmann Award Best Cabaret. Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 1, 9.45pm (excl Feb 16 & 23) GARDENOFUNEARTHLYDELIGHTS.COM.AU
40 The Adelaide Review February 2015
FEATURE / ADELAIDE FRINGE Neo-Futurist performer Ryan Good says the show, comprising scripted and improvised material, is an “ongoing, ever-changing attempt” to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes. “We hope to do 30 but sometimes you’ll see 27 and a half plays, sometimes you’ll see 30 plays and have 30 seconds left at the end. Our final night in Edinburgh we had just three seconds to go,” he says. “All the plays are quite short, on average about two minutes, but other than that they’re all completely different. So there’s lots of interesting explorations - there are movement plays, standup, plays that are audience participatory – there’s a ton of different stuff happening in the show.”
Too Much Light In today’s climate of waning attention spans, the Neo-Futurists’ 30 plays in 60 minutes, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, is the perfect antidote.
At the end of each performance, an audience member is asked to roll a die to see how many plays are swapped out for new work for the next night, so no two shows are the same. “Whatever that die rolls, that’s the number of plays we’re going to remove and replace with new ones for the following performance,” Good says. At other times of the year the performers would have a week between shows to write the new plays, so they have adapted the rules for the fast pacing of a nightly Fringe season. “We’re not insane enough to attempt to create up to six plays and learn them all before the following night,” Good says. “We’ll have a pool of plays we’ve already written to draw from.”
“The whole aesthetic of the theatre company is that there’s no pretending that we’re characters, or in another place, or that an object is there when it isn’t or that apple juice is whisky, so we don’t ask the audience to suspend their disbelief in any way.”
Good was last here for the 2014 Adelaide Fringe season with his one man show Sex with Animals, an expedition through the animal kingdom’s sexual habits. He says the intimate solo performance is a drastically different beast to Too Much Light.
Good says the melange of stories within the show can lead to some rather incongruous moments.
“The first time I did Sex with Animals it felt so easy,” he laughs.
“In Edinburgh last year I had a play where I got a whipped cream pie in the face, and then after that I had a very serious, sombre, movement piece based at a military funeral march. I’m sitting doing this very solemn piece with whipped cream running down my face, so that was unintentionally hilarious,” he laughs.
“After doing Too Much Light six nights a week I thought, ‘Man, I can easily talk alone on the stage for an hour’.”
'comedic gold'
Audience participation is essential to the show’s propulsion, with crowd members deciding how the night will play out.
“A quarter of it is all new stuff which I’m quite excited about,” he says.
14 Feb-15 Mar 2015
Ambassadors Hotel, 107 King William St
“As you come in, you’re handed a menu, which is essentially the show program. That has a list of 30 play titles, and we ask the audience to determine the order we’re going to do the show in,” Good explains.
Lunch & dinner performances
“So at the end of every single play we yell
Inspired by the Italian Futurism movement, Neo-Futurism founder Greg Allen created the show in 1988. It is currently the longest running show in Chicago, and it is finally making its way to Australia with a season at the Garden of Unearthly Delights.
Eighth Adelaide Fringe! 'uproariously funny'
Rip It Up
The Heckler
(All tickets include 3-course meal & 2-hour immersive show)
Good is bringing his Animals show back to the Garden in 2015, with new material, and a deeper tread into online dating territory.
Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind Garden of Unearthly Delights Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 15 sfneofuturists.com
Red Poles FRINGE exhibition
Tix & info: 1300 308 193 adelaidefringe.com.au
Through the Looking Glass 12 artists : 12 concepts A response to Pablo Neruda’s poem
Ode to Broken Things L’homme des montagnes, Brendan Garrett
escribed by the New York Times as “an entire Fringe Festival condensed into one show” this interactive stage show is a rapid-fire collection of plays, running the gamut from comic to serious, political to experimental, personal to preposterous.
From February 7 to April 8
Ode to Broken Things, Hannah Carlyle
BY DANIELA FRANGOS
D
The writer-performers in the show present an honest and intimate perspective on political, personal and social topics while breaking down the fourth wall between them and the audience. Each play is independent of the next, with their only unifying thread the element of honesty. “They all come from a place of not pretending,” Good says.
‘curtain!’ and that is the cue for the audience to yell out the number that corresponds to the play they want to see next. You do really get an experience on a particular night that is not going to be like the next.”
190 McMurtrie Road, McLaren Vale SA 5171. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm and public holidays Live Music Sundays 08 8323 8994 redpoles@redpoles.com.au www.redpoles.com.au