Prehistoric – Elbow Room & Speakeasy

Overview

Generations of Australian artists and comedians have spun parochial gold out of Queensland’s reputation as our country’s 'Deep North'. Queensland’s sub-tropical atmosphere might have suited a state with fertile ground for corruption, but Brisbane also played host to a thrilling punk music scene, which flourished in spite of the conservative repression presided over by Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen from 1968-1987. During that time the city gave birth to one of the world’s first punk anthems, The Saints' '(I’m) Stranded', as well as scores of iconic Aussie artists like The Go-Betweens and Xero.

In Prehistoric, produced by Elbow Room and written by Marcel Dorney, four actors are taking up unfamiliar instruments in an ambitious attempt to recreate the raw vitality of Brisbane’s punk scene. The work premiered to rave reviews at Brisbane’s Metro last year and is now heading down south.

Melbourne audiences might think that the play’s material sounds unfamiliar — a world away from the Glorious Socialist Republic that is our city’s inner north. But as the Coalition Government makes Australia a whiter shade of Joh each week, there’s no escaping the lessons that the era has to offer Australia in 2014. Together with Elbow Room’s enviable position as one of the country’s leading indie outfits, Prehistoric looks like an unmissable offering in this year’s Fringe.

For more works at the 2014 Melbourne Fringe Festival, check out our top ten picks.