FRINGEWORLD 2022 | Cecelia | 4 Stars

Review | Amanda Lancaster

Welcome to my midlife crisis cabaret says our star for the evening as she proceeds to regail us with recent events and anectdotes that have bought about this very show’s existence.

Presented by multiple award nominated Susannah Thompson and Adam Keshwar, Cecelia is a show about what it means to be a woman. From heath scares to turning 50 to a teenage daughter who thinks she’s a meek and mild mannered Hufflepuff in a world of no real viable role models to be seen. This is just the beginning of an evening of autobiographical narration punctuated by some of the most amazing vocal talent you’ll ever hear.

Flawless song stylings are effortlessly crooned to the audience as an example in melody of whatever point in her life Susannah is retelling and the feelings it evoked for her at the time. This is a brilliant idea for a show and a lovely way to remember that song and stories are just another way by which human beings best learn, communicate, and remember each other and what it is that is important to each of us as individuals and as a whole.

Soft spoken, calm, perfectly timed tales are told with honesty and delivered with just enough humour to take the sting of being to harsh to hear out. A wonderful expose of feminine stereotypes and issues faced over one woman’s lifetime that is totally relatable to all even now. Each era described has its own musical anthem appointed to it and this lady’s voice doesn’t miss a beat. She’s hands down one of the most amazing, understated songstresses I’ve seen. She nails every tune to perfection. The crowd will be absolutely transfixed the whole night. Everyone is encouraged to sing along, and you really can’t help but join in as the songs are all ones you know and love.

Fifty years of life laid bare for all to see, from her first and favourite party as a child, through the oppressive and wild 70s and 80s, all the way through to see her own offspring grow into their own strong personality and deciding whether or not to continue to be offended by being unofficially placed into the Hufflepuff house.

“And so I keep quiet and say nothing”
Such a seemingly tiny phrase. A string of harmless little words reiterated over and over throughout the show’s sixty minute duration gives the viewer a subconscious sense of almost discomfort. A beautifully subtle method of using something small to shine a much needed light on something so big. This is not just your average caberet performance folks, prepare to not just choose to listen and watch but to be made to think and feel.

This show is an open letter to all the people out there that think they need to make themselves small, to all those who stay quiet and need the courage to help find their own voice. This is as lesson for all about the importance of what it truly means to be not just listened to – but heard. I’d say that’s pretty Gryffindor and not that Hufflepuff wouldn’t you?

You can catch the time-travelling Cecelia at ACES Cabaret until 12th February 2022. TICKETS

Keep up with The Fourth Wall on Facebook and @fourth_wall_media on Instagram to see what we’re up to this FRINGEWORD 2022

The Fourth Wall acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land we engage in storytelling on – the Wadjhuk people of the Noongar nation. We pay respects to their elders past, present, and emerging.

FRINGEWORLD 2022 | Dirk Darrow: Magic of Futures Past | 4 Stars

Review | Peter Spence

Hold on to your fedora and trench coat folks, you are in for one hell of a ride! This multifaceted show has all the bases loaded with Babe Ruth at the plate. Get ready for some magic, some comedy, some mentalism, some time travel and a private eye story to chill you to the bone.

Dirk Darrow is the long time character of FRINGEWORLD superstar Tim Motley, who has travelled the globe, wowing audiences with multiple award winning shows, causing a laugh or two and many a jaw on the floor having you wonder ‘How the hell did he do that!?’ An accomplished magician and a terribly funny comedian, Motley’s new show Magic of Futures Past has us all laughing out loud, completely mesmerised, and almost biting our fingernails to the bone in some terrifying stunts. Enough to make us worry for his life – or at least his neck.

Motley is a true draw card, with more than half the audience admitting to attending his previous shows, and returning for more. When Dirk Darrow, the 1930s private eye becomes a time travelling crime fighter, using his ‘Like… Totally bodacious’ time machine, he brings both the magic of the stage and the real magic to the audience, keeping everyone enthralled from the get go. Definitely catch Motley’s shows this year as the Dirk Darrow character is seen across the festival in a few shows, proving he is more than just a time travelling private dick.

You can get in on all the action at His Majesty’s Theatre until 12th February 2022. TICKETS

Keep up with The Fourth Wall on Facebook and @fourth_wall_media on Instagram to see what we’re up to this FRINGEWORD 2022

The Fourth Wall acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land we engage in storytelling on – the Wadjhuk people of the Noongar nation. We pay respects to their elders past, present, and emerging.

FRINGEWORLD 2022 | You & Me | 4.5 Stars

Review | Laura Money

You’re lucky I’m a nice man…

So says ‘Tom’ drawling it into the microphone after grudgingly admitting engaging in unsavoury sexual behaviour. Tom’s wife, ‘Naomi’ reeling from the revelation, tries to reconcile with feelings of love and loyalty mingled with betrayal and female solidarity. The words attributed to Tom – those embarrassingly average words – and attitude is highlighted as remarkable as they are being spoken by a woman. In this interesting work about gender relations, Caitlin Beresford-Ord reads the part of Tom and Andrew Hale, Naomi. You & Me is a clever piece that highlights gendered language and perspectives, with one twist that calls out the ridiculous nature of everyday sexism.

Beginning as a recording studio session, Polly (Sarah McNeill) is the technician setting things up when writer Dan (Greg McNeill) shows up to observe the actors in the studio. Berresford-Ord and Hale play actors playing actors reading a script. They initially read it straight but decide to challenge stereotypes and swap roles with the woman reading the man’s lines and vice-versa. Starting out as a jaunty novelty, the piece becomes coloured by the subtleties of gendered language that mostly remain hidden in plain sight. It’s funny when Hale declares ‘I’m your wife!’ but shifts into the sinister with little things at first – Beresford-Ord orders all the food and drinks, offers it to Hale, and trivialises Naomi’s job, minimalising her concerns and mocking her status as ‘boss lady.’

What makes this piece so impactful is how straight Hale and Beresford-Ord play their roles. Hale’s inherent masculinity gives weight to Naomi as a character, and his slightly aggressive tone lends itself to be taken seriously when uttering arch commentary on Tom’s ‘misgivings.’ Beresford-Ord’s mannerisms change somewhat as she inhabits the cocksure attitude of a man who feels hard done by. Her tone does little to soften the sexist attitudes and actions of Tom, if anything hearing them in her unapologetic female voice it’s reminiscent of women excusing male behaviour after social conditioning.

You & Me is a great piece of theatre. It exposes the sinister attitude of unchecked male privilege, and flips it on its head – by changing the perspective slightly it highlights the insidious nature of gendered violence and how embedded in everyday life it has become. Beresford-Ord’s heartfelt performance is emotional yet balanced – she becomes increasingly shaken as the severity of her character’s mundanity and typical attitude pervades the air, which is thick with tension. You & Me is a hidden gem – a cracking script, gripping performance, and intimate venue, this is one to see this FRINGEWORLD 2022.

You can check out You & Me at His Majesty’s Theatre until 5th February 2022. TICKETS

Keep up with The Fourth Wall on Facebook and @fourth_wall_media on Instagram to see what we’re up to this FRINGEWORD 2022

The Fourth Wall acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land we engage in storytelling on – the Wadjhuk people of the Noongar nation. We pay respects to their elders past, present, and emerging.

FRINGEWORLD 2022 | Girls Gone ABBA – The Sounds of Mama Mia | 4 Stars

Review | Amanda Lancaster

Brown Street Studio presents Girls Gone ABBA – The Sounds of Mama Mia, a show masterfully performed by five talented girls gone completely ABBA crazy! Based around the movie/musical Mama Mia and its well-known soundtrack, this is a sixty-minute love letter to, you guessed it, ABBA. We’re talking all the best bits of 70s nostalgia mixed together with the more recent silver screen version that has made ABBA and Mama Mia a multi-generational household name. 

It’s a nonstop singing, shimmying set, broken up only by the occasional quote or anecdote picked from the movie and recited to the audience. Flares, frills, Fernando….what more could you ask for? Don’t really fancy yourself a Dancing Queen? Well neither did this reviewer until attending this performance. I was slightly worried going to a show based completely around them, but I was surprised by how much joy and fun that was shared by everyone at the show. It may have helped going with two big ABBA fans, whose enthusiasm was contagious but, even for someone who is not the biggest fan, Brown Street Studio is able to present ABBA in a way that anyone can enjoy.  

Show goers be warned, whether you are an ABBA fan or not, this one will have you all dancing and jiving along like you are having the time of your life… because you will be.

You can catch the Dancing Queens at ACES Cabaret until 5th February 2022. TICKETS

Keep up with The Fourth Wall on Facebook and @fourth_wall_media on Instagram to see what we’re up to this FRINGEWORD 2022

The Fourth Wall acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land we engage in storytelling on – the Wadjhuk people of the Noongar nation. We pay respects to their elders past, present, and emerging.

FRINGE WORLD 2022 | Rollin’ and Tumblin’ | 5 STARS

Review | Peter Spence

An out of this world blues performance!

The legendary Dave Hole is joined by local rock star Glen Whisson to take you through the greatest journey of blues you are likely to ever experience.

One of Australia’s greatest ever guitarists Hole has been around for 50+ years, with his soulful style of playing the slide guitar, he is one of a kind and certainly worthy of being our biggest bluesman to tour the world.

We are treated to a list of expertly played greats by the pioneers of blues, roots and rock & roll, and guided through the true meaning of what the blues truly is. 

Classics by the great Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddly and Blind Willie Johnson through to rock n roll’s greats with their blues beginning such as the Beatles, all with Holes’ unique style and skill.

An array of beautiful guitars line the stage but before we are treated to the sound of any of them, we are given an extraordinary introduction by Whisson with just the rhythm of a chain gang clap. Once the guitars and foot drum as the only percussion starts, we are in for a real treat. 

Showing that he could be as good a comedian as a musician Hole has us all in fits of laughter from beginning to end, an incredible entertainer. You haven’t seen a guitar played until you have seen Hole and his slide guitar make some of the most incredible sounds you are ever to see. 

The sell out crowd with a standing ovation chanting for an encore and thirsty for more make the magic of the room really come to life. An absolutely extraordinary performance. Haunting and soulful. Absolutely not to be missed.

You can see this remarkable show for yourself Downstairs at the Maj until 29th January 2023. TICKETS

Keep up with The Fourth Wall on Facebook and @fourth_wall_media on Instagram to see what we’re up to this FRINGEWORD 2022