Purgastory review | Melbourne Fringe Festival | Lithuanian Club

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.

PURGASTORY | Melbourne Fringe Festival interview

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."

Cowboy Mouth review - Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Comedian David Quirk has had four different women located around the world dream about him. These women all contacted Quirk to tell him about their dreams and from these communications, Quirk has created his stand-up show, Cowboy Mouth, which is being presented as part of this year's Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Quirk cleverly uses the four encounters as touchstones for his anecdotes, in which he takes a step back from the dream and looks at the bigger picture or implications. The first one involves a woman reading a review about one of his shows and talking about this, which leads Quirk to recall a memorable encounter he had with a fan. Watching Quirk on stage for the first time, this story immediately gave an indication of the type of personality he has and the misadventure and trouble that seems to follow him wherever he goes, and subsequently set the tone for the rest of the show.

___day Night's Dream review | Melbourne Fringe Festival

One delightful certainty during the Melbourne Fringe Festival is that there will be a number of performances being held in random and uncommon locations, and ____day Night's Dream is another great example of this. This immersive show explores the dreams of seven people, and it does so on a 16th floor apartment overlooking the city.

Interestingly, the dreams are all based on the performers' (Iryna Byeylyayeva, James Christensen, Aram Geleris, Daniel Holmes, Madeleine Johnson, Sara Laurena and Freya McGrath) own dreams, and performing them within the confines of the apartment creates a literal intimacy as well as a metaphorical one, having been invited into this very personal space, to be privy to these personal dreams.

Nothing Special - Melbourne Fringe Festival review

We all want to be something special. As children, we are led to believe we can be by our parents and teachers, and while it can be a positive thing, it can also be quite detrimental. Presented as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Hotel Now's Nothing Special, looks at what happens when people live their lives based on the belief that they are extraordinary, and more talented and important than the average man.

We follow a young girl, Chlorine (Simone French), literally from from the moment she is born. Her mother informs us that she was not supposed to live beyond the age of five, but that's a defeatist attitude so she was forbidden to die. Chlorine's dreams to be different and unique and to leave her mark on the world as an innovator in the arts are explored through various periods of her life, but when this seems unlikely, it is the harsh realities that Chlorine must then contend with.

Savage in Limbo review

It's Monday night at an almost empty, seedy Bronx bar in the mid-80s and five 32 year olds are not quite sure where their lives are headed, or even what exactly it is they want. What they do know, is that they want change, excitement and passion, and they want it now. Savage in Limbo by acclaimed playwright John Patrick Shanley offers a comedic yet honest look at hope, dreams and missed opportunities.

Sarah Nicolazzo is the shining star of this production as Linda Rotunda, the local girl that all the men know. Her boyfriend has just announced to her he wants to see ugly girls and she is just a little distraught. Nicolazzo delivers a brilliant performance and the physicality and facial expressions she uses to portray Linda are highly natural.