Thy Thus ‘Twas | Melbourne Fringe Festival interview

Comedy trio The Travelling Sisters are returning to the Melbourne Fringe Festival as the travelling blokes in their new show  Thy Thus 'Twas . With their unique sense of humour and absurd comedy that is grounded in the banal, their upcoming show focuses on three mates, Darryl, Vinnie and Berrick, who are out to make their thespian dreams come true.

The brains behind the men, Lucy Fox, Laura Trenerry and Ell Sachs, spent a good part of the last 12 months touring their side-splitting hilarious show Toupe but are now looking forward to hitting the stage with their new baby. "It's like when you're shaking a bottle of bubbly, just before you pop the cork...it's the feeling on the underside of the cork," Trenerry tells me. "This show has been brewing in our collective fantasy world for over a year. It's always exciting when you're birthing a new one. How will it be received, what will it become, what is this new beautiful beast?! Who knows!"

As is evident by their promo picture, the three will be donning some wigs, facial hair and traditional thespian attire in order to portray Darryl, Vinnie and Berrick. But who are these three Aussie dreamers? "They come from the red dust of the Queensland plains and they're all equal parts passionate and dense. They are lifelong friends who are dead-set fixed on making a serious and moving theatre show, yet they are of course derailed at every turn," she explains. "It's always fun to play what you're not, to try to enter the rehearsal space in full disguise. That game never gets old."

The trio have once again teamed up with fellow performance artist, Kimberley Twinner from physical theatre and clowning collective Po Po Mo Co (who are also doing a  Melbourne Fringe Festival show) in creating Thy Thus ‘Twas. "Kimberley has recently trained in Italy with world renowned clown teacher Giovanni Fusetti and she is on FIRE!" Trenerry says. "Unlike our former shows, this is less sketch and more a quick change character comedy. The rehearsal space is off chain ridiculous hooting fun and you never quite know what's going to happen. You know when to stop when you've taken it too far and have to reel it back...that's when its ready."

However, that's easier said than done when you get to work with people you've been friends with for ten years, where work often leads to random conversations and copious amounts of laughter, but maybe that's the magic touch that The Travelling Sisters have. "We met at acting school ten years ago and we used to muck around with a bunch of friends doing ridiculous improvisations and singing together any time we weren't at uni," Trenerry tells me. "We formed The Travelling Sisters five years ago, expecting it to be a one off show but it never stopped, so who knows how long we'll be running. I have no idea why we do it...probably because we're strap bonking mad and can't bloody help ourselves." 

FIVE QUICKIES

1. If you had to name your child after a vegetable what would it be? 
Aubergine...pass it off as French.
2. Which reality TV show would you most like to appear/compete on? 
The Amazing Race. With Lucy's sense of time management (or lack thereof), my sense of direction (limited), and Ell's dysfunctional relationship with google maps, we might not get very far but it'd make alright TV.
3. A movie that sums up my life is A Bug's Life. 
4. What's the one thing that happened during a show you were involved with that you wish you could forget? 
Performing at Prague Fringe to a massive room, with not many people in it, dressed as three Aussie blokes, singing "We won't let you down Australia", and maybe doing just that... actually nah, we never want to forget that!
5. Art is LIFE. 

SHOW DETAILS

Venue: Trades Hall, Cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton.
Season: 12 - 20September | Tues - Sat 8:30pm, Sun 7:30pm
Length: 60 minutes
Tickets: $23 Full | $22 Conc and Cheap Tuesday | $20 Preview and Group 4
Bookings: Melbourne Fringe Festival