Murray Bramwell previews the 2006 Adelaide Fringe program.
It is hard to know just which part of the word “fringe’ still applies to the now enormous Adelaide Fringe. The name comes from the Edinburgh Festival and Fringe, which Adelaide so closely rivals and resembles and the idea is that the Fringe showcases the more radical, marginal and, shall we say, edgy artists and performances.
That is still a bit true, but also significantly not. The Adelaide Festival has never been without its controversies and on many occasions has offered the most challenging and provocative works – think Dumb Type, Forced Entertainment, Fura del Baus, La Carniceria Teatro and so on. Meanwhile the Fringe has itself become an institution, particularly with its mass appeal comedy, and for many (as you will also find in Edinburgh) is mistaken for the festival itself. This is hardly surprising given its sheer size and dominance – and this year it seems to be bigger than ever.
Whenever the Fringe is talked about – big statistics are sure to follow. In 2006 there will be 4000 artists, 1400 technicians, 500 acts and 6000 performances. That is a lot of action and in the Darwinian struggle for audiences some will surely come to grief at the box office. But, marvellously, the hazards of the bottom line are far from the minds of those intent on Putting on a Show. The energy and commitment of Fringe artists is unique – and the variety of events, large and small, brilliant and not so-crash hot, is arrayed in the recently announced program.
Approaching the program can be a daunting business for those not already hooked into events put on by friends or by comedians, theatre and cabaret acts with whom they are already familiar. That is true for all of us – we all look for the tried and true. But the Fringe is also a time to suss out the wildcards and the long-odds prospects. Director Karen Hatfield and her team have again done an excellent job with their huge task, so make the most of what is now on offer.
The theatre section is, once more, large and diverse and there is much to intrigue us. There is the usual overseas and interstate contingent with some new names and old friends as well. Arts Projects Australia has a program of events, many of them Edinburgh successes, in the Union Hall. Opening in the first weekend is South African company Fortune Cookie with The Travellers a show that is being compared to the 2002 APA success, 3 Dark Tales. Also, Guy Masterson, director last time of 12 Angry Men, returns with a solo presentation of Dylan Thomas’s poetic classic, Under Milk Wood. Elsewhere, at the Queens Theatre, UK performer Andrew Dawson will perform Absence and Presence and the highly rated Leicester Haymarket Theatre’s The Bogus Woman also opens. Theatre Simple from Seattle, Washington make a welcome return with 52 Pick Up and Wallace Shawn’s The Fever.
Other international acts which are bound to catch attention are Rainer Hersch channeling Victor Borge, the witty UK musicians, Pluck, the comedy Angry Young Man at Holden Street and a new work by Eve Ensler – The Good Body, featuring the excellent Leah Purcell. Interstate company Theatre in Decay will present two plays by Robert Reid – Eight Days and Empire and at Higher Ground (which promises to be a hot venue during the Fringe) Sydney company Parnassus’s Den will stage The Department Store.
In the local line-up are some welcome returns that deserve new audiences and revisits. Brink Productions’ 4:48 Psychosis, Sarah Kane’s brilliant and disturbing last testament, opens at the Queens, Floogle are re-staging Black Crow Lullabies at the Tea House gallery, Maiden’s Low Level Panic plays at the Bakehouse and Stephen House’s play Miss Blossom Callahann features at Jive. Then there is new stuff – Minister’s Children from Budgie Lung, Stir Theatre’s production of the lesser-known David Williamson play, A Conversation, and Astrid Pill’s Cake for Vitalstatistix. The Border Project is convening a Highway Rock’n’Roll Disaster at Higher Ground where the Pants will also appear. Other new works also include Fitting Rooms a new play by Jennifer Lusk presented by Binka Boo productions, Headlong Theatre are at Fowler’s Live and Unseen Theatre’s Dancing at Lughnasa opens at the Bakehouse.
The Fringe music program is also substantial, with an excellent program at the legendary Spiegeltent in Rundle Park featuring the illustrious Dave Graney and Clare Moore, Stephen Cummings, Colin Hay and UK group Fourplay. Richard Thompson’s single show at Norwood Concert Hall on March 6 is a must, as is English singer Jez Lowe at the Church of Trinity in Goodwood. Local favourites the Adelaide Chamber Singers perform by candlelight at the Cathedral and Eve will perform at the Bethlehem Lutheran.
Comedy has long been the staple of the Fringe and a large contingent of usual suspects will be in evidence. Top of the list for me is Rich Hall whose new show Levelland explores the mind of a Texas shock-jock. Arj Barker, Daniel Kitson, Maria Bamford and UK’s Stephen K Amos and Rhod Gilbert are all returning. Lano and Woodley, hysterical at the Fringe program launch, are presenting what they call their farewell show – which we can only hope is true in the Nelly Melba sense of the word. Dave Hughes, Fiona O’Loughlin, Judith Lucy and Adam Hills will perform as will Tripod, the terrific Eddy Perfect, the Umbilicals and Scared Weird Little Guys. The buzz will be out for the new names to watch – including up and coming local jokers. Much of the action will be at the Rhino Room, as well as the Nova – second home to Rod Quantock and Greg Fleet.
Commissioned by the Adelaide Review but not published.