The Horse’s Mouth

Overview

When I was 16 my dad forced me to learn to drve in a 1986 Pajero. It was a boxy seven-seater that I actually thought was hot as shit for seven years, until it conked out two days before the epic road trip I’d promised to my friends. Comedian Zoe Combes Marr brought her own 1986 Pajero — which, as she points out, literally means ‘Wanker’ in Spanish — as an attempt to validate her own existence through travel. The thing exploded about two hours down the open road.

This is the great thing about the autobiographical performances at The Horse’s Mouth festival. They’re like fantastic extremes of situations that most people can relate to. You may not be a Sydney sex worker but you’ve probably seen one out in The Cross, you’ve probably had a special relationship with an elderly person even if they weren’t into Mexican wrestling and, though preventing your children from going outside is pretty extreme, you probably know what it’s like to have at least one overprotective parent.

The festival presents nine autobiographical performances spread over three different programmes — Bolted, Hell for Leather and One Trick Pony — and also includes night sessions by the famous Sydney Story Club. Entwined with the humour of wanker cars and wrestling masks are serious issues about family relationships, and difficult questions such as ‘if home is where the heart is, does a broken heart lead to a broken home?’