Sydney Fringe Festival 2010

With 'curators' poring over the realms of cabaret, comedy, circus, dance, digital arts, literature, music, musical theatre, theatre and visual arts, the newly reborn Fringe is as handcrafted as collections come, with each of the 200+ events lovingly selected by some of Sydney's wiliest artistic minds. With ticket prices hardly breaching the $30 threshold, this in-demand series of events can only be described with satisfaction: baaadly overdue. Catch the banterous musical comedy of [i]A Czar is Born[/i], the theatrics of failure in [i]a tiny chorus[/i], the hybrid performative works of Applespiel's newest project [i]Appleloft[/i] and the reaches of improvised mind-bending musical funktrust Fuji Collective. Or perhaps question the sociability of eating and entertaining in a series of Silent Dinner Parties.
Bridie Connellan
August 29, 2010

Overview

Ugly ducklings, scapegoats, white crows, black sheep — farmyards sure know how to single out the atypical. Thank goodness the humans of the Inner West know how to celebrate furry oddballs. As a project of the Newtown Entertainment Precinct Association, the inaugural Sydney Fringe Festival is fresh from the salon and ready for some showponying style, as this "multidiscipline cultural showcase" launches a three-week programme of Sydney’s best underground arts throughout September.

Festival director Kris Williams is fresh and filled with ideas from the Big Apple, as the Fringe brings the Adelaidean local back to Oz after five years as founding director of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Reborn from the ashes of the Bondi Fringe, this year's programme is set to wow and wow well, with a diverse line-up from the banterous musical comedy of A Czar is Born to the theatrics of failure in a tiny chorus, the hybrid performative works of Applespiel's newest project Appleloft, far into the reaches of improvised mind-bending musical funktrust Fuji Collective and the collaborative wonderment of idea idea (if only to unfairly single out a few highlights from the plethora).  One may even be so bold as to harness up a guinea pig and ferry said quivering rodent to "pet-friendly outdoor events" such as the Your Big Backyard programme of Sydney Park, or perhaps question the sociability of eating and entertaining in a series of awkward-as-a-puffin Silent Dinner Parties. Holy sheep, this haircut is just too darn attractive.

With 'curators' poring over the realms of cabaret, comedy, circus, dance, digital arts, literature, music, musical theatre, theatre and visual arts, the newly reborn Fringe is as handcrafted as collections come, with each of the 200+ events lovingly selected by some of Sydney's wiliest artistic minds. With ticket prices hardly breaching the $30 threshold, this in-demand series of events can only be described with satisfaction: baaadly overdue.

Image: Fuji Collective.

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