Sunday Night In #6 (the Adelaide Fringe Edition)

Hello friends

I hope you’ve had a simple and uneventful start to the new year. My planned February return to this newsletter last weekend got derailed by a case of covid. Awkward timing! So this is a bit rough and ready, but I wanted to share some of my favourite local artists and companies in this year’s Adelaide Fringe program. Please forward to anyone you think might be interested. And if this has been forwarded to you, you can subscribe here.

First things first, the shameless plug (though I’m sure I’ve already spammed you through my insta and newsletter). My new show is Stitches—this will be the final solo show in the series that began with Pearls in 2018. I’m finishing sewing a new dress in each show. It’s got a little bit of silly, a little bit of poignancy and a whole lot of heart. The preview this Thursday has sold out, but there are still tickets for opening night, Friday and for the other nights through the season.

I’m also super-deadset-chuffed that my visual arts show, Pearls (Unstitched) will be at Mrs Harris’ Shop along with a very limited run of Pearls the play (there aren’t many tickets left for that).

And now, let the wrap-up of other recommendations begin: I’m really looking forward to Trail’s End. Exploring issues of family and identity, it’s a story of two brothers who take one last camping trip before one of the brothers moves overseas. Led by a team of Aboriginal creatives, it’s presented by Junnali Jones who has a growing list of outstanding writing credits. I think this will be one of those 'I saw them when … ‘ experiences.

I saw Britt Plummer’s Fool’s Paradise last year at the great new venue, the yurt at the Migration Museum. It was a work-in-progress then, and already a quite wonderful auto-biographical story about a wedding with no groom. It’s a lot more fun than that sounds. Britt’s an amazing talent—acting, clowning, and producing a lot of good theatre through her company, Frank.

Another of our state’s talented theatre-makers, Peter Beaglehole, is staging his one-person show, The Tumour Show about his spinal tumour. It promises to be “full of existential whimsy” which is definitely my cup of tea and I’ll be getting along to this.

Fandango is a one-night-only evening of spoken word artists with a lineup including some of my favourite poets and writers. Held at an outdoor venue in Port Adelaide, this will be a lot of fun.

I’ve been sharing a venue with Sarah Kwong for the last couple of years, and her work is wonderful. Original and nuanced, this year’s show is Daughters of Eve reflecting on her relationship with the Catholic church through the reimagining and retelling of stories of Biblical women. Also in our theatre this year are ‘Disney tragics’ Casmira Lorien and David Salter with Distopia two best friends saving the world with the help of their Disney heroes. It sounds brilliant.

Close to my current interests, Menopause the Masterclass, presented by Megan Dyson and Jillian Smith, is a neat concept at a very middle-aged friendly time.

Back at Holden Street for a return season is Demagogue by Safari Street Creative. It’s a fast-paced social satire based in a university. I didn’t see it last year, but everyone I know who did see it said it was fantastic. I saw a reading of their new work earlier this year and the script was sharp and very funny. Demagogue is on my list of things to get along to.

Libby & Matt are some of those people who really make fringe happen. They run a venue, Prompt Creative and stage original, sparkling cabaret. They’re doing a repeat of last year’s Extra Curricular—a must-see for anyone who has ever stood in front of a classroom. They’re also staging a new show, Fashionably Late which carries the message that it’s never too late (for romance, artistic success, dreams). Again, close to my current interests.

My friend Jon Brooks is very funny and very smart and has a great podcast, Gabbin in the Woods with his friend, Liz Allen. It’s a spooky stories podcast and they’ll be doing some live recordings in a bunch of different locations across the month of fringe.

And finally I want to give a shout-out to two young women in my life (not young relative to themselves, but young relative to me). Tori Crisp doing her solo stand-up show, Flying Solo, and Hannah Homburg in the jazzy band Fuja presenting the greatest horn sections of all time (what a brilliant concept!). You’ll see me at both their shows, not only because I love them both but because they are super-talented and I can’t wait to see where their careers go.

I’ve got some more things circled in the guide, so I’ll drop back in next Sunday with some more recommendations. And if you’ve got any local artists, particularly theatre or literary you think people would like to know about, let me know.

Until then, enjoy the festival season!

With love

Tracy