In their award winning show Cactus and the Mime, Prickly Silence told the story of a young couple's relationship and dreams. With their new show Purgastory, we now follow the stories of various characters across time who are all in pursuit of their own passions in life. While telling stories with rich character building and surprise narrative turns in the same vein as their first work, Purgastory also has Caitlin Spears and Roby Favretto creating an overarching narrative that weaves through the singular stories that are presented.
What is evident with Purgastory is the dedication and flair that Spears and Favretto have in bringing characters to life. While most only appear for roughly ten minutes, they are all committed performances and authentic portrayals. The first story is genuinely touching and it's nice to see that in his role of a woman, Favretto treats it just as serious as when he is later playing a man on a construction site. Spears is at her best as the sexist and homophobic spouting construction worker while still managing to make the audience care about him.
The minds behind last year's critically acclaimed Cactus and the Mime return to the Melbourne Fringe Festival with a brand new show, or maybe that should be four brand new shows. PURGASTORY is the latest creation by Caitlin Spears and Roby Favretto in which the two perform four separate stories, in a time-warped anthology revolving around chasing your dreams, whatever they may be.
"PURGASTORY is a dramedy exploring passion and patience," Spears tells me. "The show features a range of characters from English maidens, Aussie tradies, a teenage songstress,
a LA music producer, a desperate senior and an android from the future, dealing with their aspirations in life versus their ability to achieve them. I think it's a concept that many of us can relate to."
Spears and Favretto had initially planned on taking on more roles than just four each but with the development of the show the two began to see that certain characters were just itching for more stage time. "We had thought to challenge ourselves with multiple characters in the beginning, but the stories then became about exploring a concept spanning time and how characters in different time periods connected with each other," Spears says. "In the end we chose these particular stories because we were drawn to the contrasting archetypes and how they could be subverted, from the 90s blokey Aussie tradie to the crazy cool LA music producer to the very posh English lady."
In their award winning show Cactus and the Mime, Prickly Silence told the story of a young couple's relationship and dreams. With their new show Purgastory, we now follow the stories of various characters across time who are all in pursuit of their own passions in life. While telling stories with rich character building and surprise narrative turns in the same vein as their first work, Purgastory also has Caitlin Spears and Roby Favretto creating an overarching narrative that weaves through the singular stories that are presented.