with Ginava, Flynn V, Skye Scraper, Bobby Knox, Mary Lamb O’God
Assembly George Square Gardens, Piccolo • Fringe 2024 ★★★★
A gentle explosion of joyfulness, this performance group from Australia have terrific camaraderie as they perform a series of outrageously colourful musical numbers. They are embracing their gender-queer identities through costumes, movement, humour and dance, using both puppetry and burlesque to blur the lines between what's often considered as family friendly. And it's impossible to watch what they do without smiling, simply because their message is one of pure positivity, even if it's also rather deranged.
After they introduce themselves to the audience, a video clip shows the group's leader Ginava at home in Perth, chatting to the camera about art and life. Then in between each number, the others get a chance to pitch in as well, sharing their thoughts, feelings and inspirations. This adds underlying personality and connection to each performance piece, and it leaves us feeling like we are part of this colourful family of artists, each of whom has a distinct way of looking at the world and their work together.
The songs themselves are bouncy and uplifting, choreographed with cheeky movement that feel both relaxed and sexy. They're also drop-dead gorgeous to look at, with fabulous costumes and a seriously talented group of performers who are clearly loving every minute. Their enjoyment is infections especially in striptease pieces like Bobby Knox's Human Behaviour, Mary Lamb O'God's hilarious Blind Date and Flynn V's smouldering Fire Starts to Burn. And in the end, as they bounce exuberantly while being masked in bright-hued frills, we wish we were up there with them.
details: MESSY FRIENDS • 11.Aug.24
Pleasance Courtyard, Cellar • Fringe 2024 ★★★★
Super likeable, Eddy Hare has no trouble making us laugh at his hilariously deadpan running commentary. He keeps us right with him as he weaves hugely relatable real-life observations into hyper-surreal nuttiness, and also includes a couple of terrific songs. The show centres around his experience as an uncle, a role he takes very seriously, provoking the audience to wonder if maybe we're looking at everything from perhaps the wrong perception.
He also speaks a lot about his obsession with developing a bald patch, which he discovered at 20. He likens pattern baldness to coastal erosion, because both happen so slowly that people prefer to ignore them. Meanwhile as an uncle, he feels a responsibility to his two young nieces, hoping he doesn't turn into one of his own rather useless uncles. An extended anecdote about competing with a magician at a child's birthday party grows increasingly ridiculous as he tries to prove that he's the fun uncle.
Hare's dry, chatty delivery makes the most of his confident punchlines. And his songs are solid toe-tappers that are packed with amusing twists and turns. Through all of this, he continually puts us at ease; we can relax knowing that each joke will be smart and funny, and perhaps even surprising now and then. Although for toddlers, everything is a wonderful surprise. Indeed, nothing can compete with the laughter of a child ("No offence").
details: EDDY HARE • 11.Aug.24
with Sasha Krohn
Assembly Checkpoint • Fringe 2024 ★★★★
This mesmerising and often haunting mix of dance, acrobatics and mime is pure theatre, resonating strongly as it explores loneliness and the daily battles and triumphs we all experience. It's performed with astonishing physicality by Sasha Krohn, and was inspired by the experiences of his partner Ciana Fitzgerald. This adds an intensely personal kick to Krohn's jaw-droppingly impressive movement as he uses his entire body to express complex emotions.
It opens as Krohn wakes from a deep sleep, and struggles to get his body moving. He drags himself around the stage with some effort, eventually looking at himself in a mirror. And he doesn't like what he sees. But his hoodie won't cooperate as he tries to put it on, and his coat is an even more epic battle. Finally he fights his fears and goes outside, waging war with the elements themselves. Back home at night, his dreams send him spiralling into the air, dangling from a leg or an arm, then wearing a ruffled collar in bright flickers of spotlight. The routine repeats the next morning, but this time a few details are different.
Krohn's performance requires enormous physical strength, as he shifts and holds his weight in ways that seem to defy gravity. This includes the aerial segments, each of which is intensely demanding. Yet even if it's fairly impossible to imagine having this much skill and power, every movement is designed to convey easy-to-understand inner thoughts, feelings and frustrations, including brief moments of despair, triumph and hope. The final section may feel a bit repetitive, but small things have shifted just enough to offer the promise that depression and anxiety don't need to be the end of the road.
details: SASHA KROHN • 12.Aug.24
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