Farewell, Frantic February and Mad March – you’ve been a wild roller coaster ride of an experience! I think all fellow Radelaidians deserve a pat on the back for surviving the past month of Fringe Festival shenanigans and coming out the other side in one piece.
For those of you who hail from SA’s sister states (or who have just been living under a rock), Fringe is an annual festival celebrating all things art, theatre, performance, dance and song. Hitting Adelaide every February/March, Fringe transforms Adelaide into an artsy acropolis and brings out the weird, wonderful and everyone in between.
It’s safe to say that this has been the most Mad March I have ever experienced in my twenty-one years on earth so far. At the beginning of February, I joined WeekendNotes Adelaide as a contributing writer/photographer. The lovely Emma from The Iconic Blonde also adopted me into her writing team, and Carina from Everything Adelaide invited me to attend events aplenty. Before I knew it, I was attending Fringe shows almost every single night of the week – sometimes up to four in a row in one night!
All in all, I ended up seeing over twenty shows at this year’s Adelaide Fringe. From obscure little shows that were practically unheard of, to large-scale theatrical spectaculars with plenty of hype to back them up – I did the rounds and saw them all!
As March draws to a close, what better way to reign in the start of April than with a celebratory blog post reflecting and reminiscing over the past month of shenanigans.
Welcome to ‘The Fringe Files’: what will be an annual series recapping all of the shows I saw and reviews I wrote for the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Keep on reading to take a peek behind the curtain and get an inside look into the 2019 Fringe that was.
Coco Taxi Latin Spectacular
Beep Beep! Well and truly got my groove on this Fringe season at the Coco Taxi Latin Spectacular, a mesmerising showcase of Spanish culture amongst a sea of feathers, frills and sequins. Kudos to the troupe of talented Latin dancers from local dance studio La Bomba Latin Productions for putting on a showstopping performance! Read my WeekendNotes Adelaide review here.
Rebel
Ground Control to Major Tom: this one’s for all the “Bowieligious” fans out there! What do you get when you combine the gutsy vocals of glittering glam rock with astonishing acrobatics and aerials straight from the circus? You get Rebel: a live circus rock tribute like nothing you’ve ever seen before! Kudos to the brilliant minds behind Gluttony and Highwire Entertainment for coming together to create a powerful tribute to the latest and greatest original Rebel, Sir David Bowie himself. Thank-you so much for the invite, Sassafras PR!
ELSKA: The Heart + Harp Tour
Amongst the overwhelming sea of circus acts and acrobats of the Adelaide Fringe laid the hidden gem that is ELSKA, a uniquely talented singer-songwriter who is also a modern-day harpist (yes, you heard correctly!) In the words of my soul sister Jem from Limelight Literature, ELSKA is simply eclectic, electric and excellent beyond compare. Have I peaked your curiosity yet? Find out more in my post on The Cafe Crawler here. Thank-you so much for having us, Martini Mondays!
Two Brunettes and a Gay: God Save The Queens!
Glitter, gay and gorgeous cabaret: this one has it all in spades! Adelaide born and bred sisters Celeste Carbone and Deanna Kangas along with the outrageously fabulous Aaron Collis formed a trio of talent in their signature “cabagay”! ‘Twas an evening of hilarious laughs and timeless sing-a-longs celebrating the world’s most iconic queens of stage and screen! My good friend Stephen aka ‘Your Local Hok‘ wrote an amazing review for Everything Adelaide which you can check out here.
Jackson vs Jackson
Diehard Michael Jackson devotees and Janet Jackson fangirls united under one roof night after night for the hit musical tribute Jackson vs Jackson. Kudos to the ever to talented Charmaine Jones, The Gospo Collective and the blogging world’s very own Joanna aka @the__style__file from Instagram for taking the Fringe by storm with their gusty vocals, powerhouse solos and impeccable choreographed dance routines! Take a read of the review I wrote on The Iconic Blonde here.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
The Boy, George
What do you get when you combine the Royal Family, Instagram influencers and white privilege? You get the one-of-a-kind, conceptually ingenious Fringe show that is… The Boy, George – duh! Read my review on The Iconic Blonde here, peasants.
The Sex Cult Cousins: LIVE! LIVE! LIVE!
With a name as outrageous as their song lyrics, The Sex Cult Cousins LIVE! LIVE! LIVE! made their world debut at the Adelaide Fringe by well and truly bringing the house down. Extra, extra: read all about it on The Iconic Blonde here.
Ladylike: A Modern Guide to Etiquette
After educating the Scots with a string of shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, Louise Beuvink brought her pearls of wisdom on the art of femininity to the Adelaide Fringe to share with one and all in Ladylike: A Modern Guide to Etiquette. Grab a cuppa tea, perch on the couch and take a read of my blog post on The Cafe Crawler here.
The Marvellous Snake Boy
If it was an immersive, interactive and inclusive audience experience that you were seeking this Adelaide Fringe season, then you needn’t look any further than the experimental comedy that was The Marvellous Snake Boy. To support an obscure and less well-known Fringe show, check out my WeekendNotes Adelaide review here.
Under the Paris Sky: Dinner and Show
Be transported all the way to the City of Love with my review of Under the Paris Sky: an evening of Parisian-themed entertainment where comedy meets cabaret. Thank-you to my high school drama teacher Mr C for gifting me tickets, and be sure to take a read of my WeekendNotes Adelaide review here.
Aidan ‘Taco’ Jones: 52 Days
In the sea of comedies that flooded the Adelaide Fringe entertainment, Aidan ‘Taco’ Jones well and truly stood out with his unmissable stand-up comedy 52 Days. For belly-aching, rib-tickling and knee-slapping laughs, click here.
Boys
Swooping in to solve 2019’s fragile masculinity crisis was Melody Howlett with her performance art-meets-comedy Boys. See how this wise, witty and wonderful woman tackles feminism and fragile masculinity with fine finesse here.
MJ Wong: In The Wong Family
See two w(r)ongs make a right in MJ Wong: In the Wong Family – a lowkey, lesser known stand-up comedy that was definitely worth seeing this Fringe season! Missed out? Catch up by reading my review on WeekendNotes Adelaide here.
Jden Redden: Expert at the Card Table
Mystery. Intrigue. Subterfuge. Young illusionist Jden Redden delivered a dose of all of the above in his theatrical magic show The Expert at the Card Table. Take a peek behind the smoke and mirrors by checking out my post on WeekendNotes Adelaide here.
Sinsational: Rita and Mae
The ever-so-talented sisters Melody and Lucinda Beck exuded old Hollywood charm as they transported audiences back in time to Old Hollywood in their jazz cabaret Sinsational: Rita and Mae. Film noir lovers and 1920’s old souls, indulge in more here.
Don’t Do It, Don’t Do It, Do It!
Zuma Puma aka Nelly Scott clowned around in her zany feminist comedy Don’t Do It, Don’t Do It, Do It! – all the while simultaneously kicking the patriarchy’s butt and tackling taboo topics. For a glimpse into this fever dream of a comedy/physical theatrical spectacular, read on here.
The Long Pigs
Strange. Surreal. Spooky. Horror enthusiasts (like me!) savoured each and every jump scare in the dark theatrical spectacular that was The Long Pigs. Avid Fringe-goers may have seen some of the quirky clown-like characters walking along the streets of Adelaide’s East End bopping innocent passers by with their gigantic hammer. Oddly curious and intrigued? Delver deeper here – go on, you know you want to.
Age of Stephen
Farnsy, this one’s for you. Fringe-goers were able to let loose and sing their hearts out to 80s Farnsy classics in the John Farnham comedy tribute Age of Stephen. Kudos to the insanely enigmatic, passionate and talented Stephen Valeri for wowing audiences night after night with his gutsy vocals, impeccable comedic timing and crowd involvement. Take a blast to the past here.
And at long last, that’s all folks! Farewell Fringe 2019 – you’ve been a riot-filled, jam-packed, laughter-provoking, emotion-evoking roller coaster ride! Until next time!
Catch you at another cafe,
Tayla x
The Adelaide Insider 