FRINGEWORLD 2021 | BurLEZque: Pillow Talk | 5 Stars

Review | Sarah Soulay

All there is to say is WOW, what a show.

BurLEZque: Pillow Talk depicts the ups and downs of both platonic and romantic relationships that we can all relate to, while presenting it from a queer point of view. The show opens with a fun tongue-in-cheek skit and ends in a spectacular display of LGBTQIA+ pride. Filled to the brim with electrifying and soulful performances, scintillating and steamy outfits and hilarious and inspiring commentary on queer relationships in our modern world.

Fae Salem, Veruca Sour, Ava Royale, Ava St. James and Polly St. Pearl all participate in various duo acts depicting everything from supportive platonic relationships to hot and steamy romances that leave you feeling flustered in all the right places. They even present those toxic emotional relationships that are just too full of passion to end. Each act is pure rhythmic poetry, these seasoned performers are elegant and utterly mesmerising.

Ava Royale puts on a spectacular performance, expressing true raw emotion surrounding the woes of heart break and betrayal, which is something we can all relate to. Royales’ movements are strong, purposeful and striking. This is truly a beautifully emotional routine and my personal favourite of the night.

Now don’t let the name fool you, Sammy Sparkles is not only pretty in pink but also utterly liberating, fierce and will without a doubt make an appearance in your wildest fantasies. Sparkles’ performance depicts the power that one possesses when they achieve true liberation and sexual freedom. The ultimate sexy goddess showstopper.

Ginger LaMinge is a true MC. Not only are they hilarious, entertaining and glamorous, but they are a true educator and story teller. LaMinge effortlessly narrates a story we all know too well, one of love, friendship, heart-break and grief, whilst taking us on a journey of acceptance and self-discovery. You feel safe and accepted no matter how you identify, and LaMinge assures us all, that you are important, and to never let anyone else dim the light inside of you, or force you into a box that you just don’t fit into.

Overall BurLEZque: Pillow Talk is a powerful, supportive show with proud queer individuals putting on a spectacular performance. It is a masterpiece of queer expression that is not to be missed!

Grab your tickets for this hot show HERE

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FRINGEWORLD 2021 | The Death Show | 3.5 Stars

Review | Brandon Shier

When the audience walks into the State Theatre Centre WA’s Rehearsal Room for a show about death, they’re greeted by creepy Grim Reapers that roam slowly around the seating space with scythes in hand. This sounds fitting… but ominous, doesn’t it? Well don’t be frightened, because The Hairy Godmothers’ latest production The Death Show is an amusing and lively (or deathly?) comedy that’s determined to flip all notions of death on their heads!

Our story begins with the voices of a bogan couple debating what cutlery to stick down the toaster to get the toast out. They settle on a fork and, well… they’re toast. Subsequently, we meet two Reapers, both named “Grim”. The first Grim is unfazed and detached but jovial. The second, however, is shaken and finds herself questioning her job as a Grim Reaper; a ‘non-existential crisis’, as the first Grim puts it. In order to find the meaning of death, the pair embark on an occasionally musical journey through the headquarters of death, meeting a range of quirky characters- from a gleefully anarchistic professor to a laid back Rockstar grim reaper- on the path to meet the CEO of Death.

With the story set out as a journey to discovery, one might expect an “AHA!” moment that brings everything together, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. The musical numbers are entertaining, although they are few and far in between. Had there been more, this kind of levity might have helped lift the various insightful soliloquies on death to greater heights, without being too insensitive on the topic. Despite this, the themes of death are handled well, discussing the taboo surrounding death with both insight and humour. The performances from each cast member- all dressed in cloaks, skeleton gloves, and frighteningly good skeletal makeup- are great; they make being dead feel so lively! The two lead Grims are especially fantastic, with their quirky dynamic and highly animated performances. The wordplay is also very clever, taking several phrases and platitudes and giving them a morbid spin (some favourites of mine include “a once in a deathtime opportunity!” and “That’s the most necromantic thing anyone’s said to me”).

The Death Show ultimately succeeds in its talented cast and buoyant humour, showing us that life and death is not all grim.

To get your tickets to a show about death, click HERE

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FRINGEWORLD 2021 | DEADSET | 4.5 Stars

Review | Emma Brand

When you think of the circus, you think clean-cut costumes, perfectly timed acts, pretty faces and a mirage of talented performers showing off their craft. Well throw that out the window (except for the talented part), because YUCK Circus is bringing you a ripper of a show.  

This all-female crew had me saying finally. Because finally there is a place where strength, humour and talent can combust to form a show that is both as entertaining as it is impressive. And I mean it, these performers are talented.

Yuck Circus rewrites what it means to be a circus. Taking inspiration from Aussie classics, Georgia Deguara, director and hoop performer has taken the fundamentals and marinated them with a whole lot of Aussie flare and attitude. This enthusiastic, lively performance will have you saying “no way I could do that,” “omg,” and “fucking wow!” all within the same minute.  It is a guarantee you will be eating it up like a bin-chicken (ibis) on bin day.

Whilst incorporating the quirky and customary parts of Australian culture, circus is still very much at the centre of this performance. Amongst other circus surprises that I cannot spoil here, expect to be hypnotised by the silks performance by Brooke Duckworth, skates by Jessica Smart and foot juggling by Karla Scott. Always up for a chat, the transitions between performances are filled by MC Ella Norton who also performs diabolo. Norton has a distinctively engaging way to chat to the audience, that is not one to be missed.

I never realised I needed a circus who do not care about looking ‘pretty’. Yuck Circus make a point to not look ‘cute’ in the conventional sense. Nutty faces are part of almost every act. It is brilliant and only heightens the hilarity on and off the stage.

I didn’t know I needed this show. Yuck Circus encompasses the attitude and the pizzazz that a FRINGE show should be.  It is as refreshing a performance as a choccie milk is on a hot summer day.

Beat the bin-chicken, to get your DEADSET tickets HERE

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FRINGEWORLD 2021 | Pupperotica: Sex-capades | 4 Stars

Review | Amanda Lancaster

Remember all those show you used to love as a kid? The charming, grinning hosts, the fun and games and the fuzzy array of characters and puppets that you found oh so cute and playful?. Now close your eyes for a moment and imagine those childhood favourites and what they might be like if just like their audience they had grown up too.

Puppets hitting puberty…funny right? Puppets becoming sex crazed adults funnier even still! Now picture this a group of like-minded puppets all with one thing on their minds invite you to their tent for an intimate orgy with their audience. That’s right think puppets and porno.
This show’s tempo and structure is fairly heavily based around the orations of erotic literature by an array of hilariously inappropriate characters interspersed with audience participation type games. That’s right folks you may find yourself up close and personal with a puppet or two, or even find yourself seduced into playing a bit of a raunchy game.

All the fan favourite characters are back once more to titillate and tease the audience as they read you naughty bedtime stories of the likes you have probably never encountered let alone heard aloud before. Just like on Sesame Street where all the characters had different personalities and characteristic behaviours, each more shocking than the next.  
It’s hard to describe too much of the show without giving away some of the surprise and shock value without giving away too much but here is a little taste. Ivan the Russian with his sexy puppet moustache has audience members blushing with his accent or perhaps it’s more the reading aloud to them selected excerpts of texts from dark and deeply metaphor based homoerotic literature.

Granny is about as far from your dear old little gran as you can get, for one thing  – they probably don’t wear leather dominatrix get ups. (Or at least you hope they don’t!) There’s even something for the D&D fans out there as this year’ show introduces to its audience the real definition of a role-playing game.

Pupperotica: Sexcapades is the laugh out loud collaboration bought to you by the filthy minds of puppeteers Josh Walker & Keren Schlink. Year after year this duo have been a FRINGEWORLD favourite with the crowds and this year is no exception. How could anybody possibly pass up the chance to see puppets performing smut for their viewing pleasure?

You can catch the cheeky puppets by grabbing tickets HERE

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FRINGEWORLD 2021 | Ethnic Cleansing | 4.5 Stars

Review | Peter Spence

The title alone is enough to make to make you a little nervous – not in this day and age surely! Thankfully the show is more hilarious than derogatory. Don’t be too nervous to laugh, it may derived from racially driven stereotypes but the jokes are not offensive in any way. 

Ruven Govender delivers a show with no breaks between laughs, an absolute master of crowd work, makes us all feel comfortable in the terrace bar area of Universal Bar.  

The show begins with a line which could be taken the wrong way but is delivered perfectly without making anyone uncomfortable which completely sets the tone for the show, being able to poke at the fun side of this divided world we still live in. We are given perspective of all aspects of life in a racially driven society, from hooking up  with the other sex, to backpackers, to landing in New Zealand for the first time.. 

A lighthearted view of being an Indian born in South Africa growing up through the end of apartheid, and migrating to apparent multicultural societies such as Australia and New Zealand. Bringing to light that the idea that all brown people seem to know him or his family, it hilariously turned out that half the crowd in fact knew his family from South Africa. 

Coming from the comedy king that sold out Edinburgh Fringe Frstival with ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ and ‘Brown panther’, Ruven is also heavily involved with the upcoming charity event BLACK LAUGHS MATTER, in association with the BLM movement.  

Definitely a show for all cultures and something we can all laugh at in in good humour, not once becoming offensive, instead leaving everyone with a big smile.  

For tickets to this funny show, click HERE

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