We've narrowed 450 Melbourne Fringe Festival shows down to our top 10 weird, wonderful, bizarre and inspiring must-sees.
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Yalinguth Live
The inspiring Yalinguth Live – directed by Jason Tamiru and featuring performances by Kutcha Edwards and Bart Willoughby – is an immersive storytelling and musical tour of Gertrude Street, Ngár-go/Fitzroy, where the Aboriginal Rights Movement originated. The Yalinguth app, in reflecting the rich Indigenous traditions and the importance of oral history, guides Melbourne audiences as they walk with Elders along this insightful journey.
Yalinguth Live begins at the Exhibition Gardens and concludes at the Builders Arms Hotel on October 8.
PENDULUM
Pendulum – created by percussive artist sensation Matthias Schack-Arnott and globally renowned choreographer Lucy Guerin – is an enthralling dance-driven performance installation about time in which dancers move in sync with a field of suspended bells. The pendulum acts as a timekeeper, metronome and instrument of divinity while an intergenerational ensemble of women captures humanity’s strength and vulnerability.
Pendulum will be showcased at Shed 21, Docklands on October 5-7, 13-16, 19-23.
Groundswell
Groundswell is an experimental, immersive sonic installation created by Matthias Schack-Arnott and Keith Tucker (Megafun) about our environmental impact. The large-scale participatory experience invites audiences to step onto its surface with thousands of ball bearings rushing underfoot to create a visceral wash of sound and movement.
Groundswell is on at the State Library of Victoria Forecourt from October 6-23.
Once More With Failing
Written and performed by David Fowles, this brave show is a live true-crime podcast about Fowles’ horrific experience of being stabbed multiple times in his home. Conceived as he lay in hospital, this show unravels a powerful true story of how violence affected the comic actor’s life from childhood.
Once More With Failing will be performed at the Club Voltaire on October 11, 13, 16, 18, 20 and 23.
CLUB FRINGE: Klub Kong
Star of Drag Race Down Under and the ever-magnificent Kween Kong brings a 90s-themed variety show that is guaranteed to thrill audiences. Admired for her powerhouse performances and inspired by her Pacific ancestry, Kween Kong will host an incredible night, featuring Australia’s best drag, burlesque, circus and cabaret artists, and electrifying DJ sets.
Klub Kong will bring the party to Festival Hub: Trades Hall – Club Fringe on October 13.
Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett
Created and performed by German-born cabaret icon Bernie Dieter and directed by Tom Velvick, Club Kabarett is a boundary-pushing Spiegeltent spectacular. With her deviant charm, incredible vocals and fabulous tyle, Bernie Dieter and her troupe of bombastic Bohemians will host an unforgettable and provocative night, which also features breathtaking circus, aerial and fire-breathing shows.
Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett will stun at Runaway Festival Park – Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent on October 6-9, 11-16, 18-23 and 25-30.
Doghouse
Written by Sidonie Bird de la Coeur and directed by Sam Weldon, ‘Doghouse’ centres around a group of friends in an all-gender bathroom of a grimy Melbourne nightclub that turns into a tumultuous and tense night riddled with miscommunication. This queer character drama features superb absurdist comedy and captures those chaotic run-ins, reunions and mishaps. This project received funding as part of the Ralph Mclean Microgrants program.
‘Doghouse’ will be performed at the Motley Bauhaus – Black Box from October 10-15.
I said what I said
Performed by Aurelia St Clair, I Said What I Said is a one-woman comedy show about tackling life in Melbourne, share house living, probiotics for dogs, girl bosses, dating and stereotypes. With her superbly sarcastic and mocking tone, the comedian delivers a challenging and electrifying show.
I Said What I Said is on at Festival Hub: Trades Hall – Solidarity Hall on October 6-14.
Naomi
Created and performed by Patrick Livesey and directed by Bronwen Coleman, Naomi is an affecting true story about love, family and mental illness. After Livesey’s mother Naomi took her own life, they interviewed eight characters from Naomi’s life – this show is Livesey’s performance of their real words, which attempts to answer difficult questions in order to help others deal with the despair while offering deep insights into mental illness.
Naomi will be performed at Festival Hub: Trades Hall – Solidarity Hall on October 15-16, 18-23.
If Our Bodies Could Talk
If Our Bodies Could Talk is a brilliant fusion of physical theatre, dance and music created and performed by movement artist Roya The Destroya and musical artist Eliza Hull. This new immersive performance is a work about disability, the body and memory, and blends electronic soundscapes, live instrumentation and vocals with movement, physical theatre, circus and audio storytelling.
If Our Bodies Could Talk is on at the National Gallery of Victoria – NGV International on October 6.
Check out the other 440 Melbourne Fringe shows on right here.
