Insomniac Mixtape review | Melbourne Fringe Festival | Trades Hall

There is nothing worse than going to bed at a reasonable time and being awake all night. You've done all the right things to be able to fall asleep but to no avail. Insomnia is here. Telia Nevile knows exactly how that feels and in her cabaret comedy, Insomniac Mixtape, she takes us through her journey of restlessness and watching the clock tick tick tick away towards the morning sun.

She begins with a variety of exercises to get us sleeping, including visualisations and breathing techniques but despite her determination to stay in the present, Nevile's mind begins to race from worry to worry. It is clear from the laughter in the audience that we have all been there before too and perhaps some of us have been triggered by her thoughts and are now worrying about these exact same things.

Pulling an all-nighter with Telia Nevile (Melbourne Fringe Festival)

There is a lot that keeps Telia Nevile up at night. So much so that she decided to make a new Melbourne Fringe Festival show about it. In Insomniac Mixtape, Nevile takes a deep dive into the subconscious, where she talks and sings through the real and imagined things that go through her - and your - mind in the middle of the night.

"My brain has a love of chasing its tail, and periodically lighting its hair on fire while it does this," she explains. "Combine that inclination with being a very light sleeper and the result is long periods of staring at the ceiling when I want to be sleeping. The things that wake me up in the middle of the night vary wildly, but are usually driven by anxiety, stress, or an inability to stop turning a problem over. Then again, sometimes it’s the snoring beside me. Occasionally it's a loud car or our downstairs neighbours. It’s a lucky dip of sleepless treats!"

Relate review (Melb Fringe)

Fresh Creative Entertainment's Relate is a multiple art form show that weaves through the lives of seven people and the challenges they are facing. Based on personal events and interviews with people who have experienced difficult and traumatic relationships, a range of issues are explored including domestic violence, the death of loved ones and coming out to a religious family.

The writing is considered and thoughtful and while it's clear care has been made to retain the authenticity of these situations, there are still a few instances when dialogue feels unnatural. There is also a scene when a character is told he must support his family and stop being an alcoholic by "being a man". It is a problematic phrase and surprising that it is mentioned in this play given the topics it deals with, as it brings its own damaging stereotypes and generalisations on what makes a man and the expectations that men face in society.

Poncho: Keep it Up! review | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Malthouse Theatre

It's been five years since Dani Cabs' alter ego Poncho graced Melbourne stages and in that time, while he has definitely matured, his humour has fortunately not waned. In Poncho: Keep it Up!, our charming, orange, good-times seeker brings a mix of physical comedy, clowning and storytelling discussing ideas on who we are and what we should strive to be, that are equally entertaining and honest.

Armed with just a rack consisting of a variety of orange clothing on the stage, all eyes are on Poncho, and he wouldn't have it any other way. Poncho feeds off audience interaction and welcomes the occasional impromptu comment or laughter from the audience. Cabs is so comfortable in his Poncho skin that he is never thrown by audience suggestions or responses and remains and responds in character to whatever happens.

Cabs possesses great comedic timing and shares genuine engagement with his audience. During his storytelling/spoken word moments, even behind the facade of this Latin clown, there are interesting observations and statements made about identity and society that are even more potent given the comedic lens they are told through.

Little Monster - Melbourne Fringe Festival interview

We all have voices in our heads. The voices that keep us up at night, the ones that make it hard to focus on that report that is due that week or the ones that make us doubt ourselves when we are actually amazing at what we do. Returning to the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Telia Nevile digs into her own voices with her new show, fittingly titled Little Monster.

In her previous shows, Nevile uses nostalgic pieces of media or childhood pop culture such as Disney or John Hughes movies, to create a darker tale around mental health or facing the often harsh realities of life, and this trend continues with Little Monster, where she performs in the rhyming style of Dr Seuss. "I've always loved how musical Dr Seuss' rhyming style is and how much momentum it has. It kind of runs down a path, tripping over its feet like a puppy," Nevile tells me. "After the last two years, I wanted to challenge (and reward) myself with something fun and free-wheeling, and the language that this style encourages is so playful and very open to the ridiculous."

Whiplash - Melbourne Fringe Festival review

Scott is on a date with a woman when his heart decides to disappear. Left with no choice but to deep dive inside his own body to try and locate it, where he meets an assortment of 'characters' along the way, including Brain, Dick and Mr. Fuck You Guy. Performed by Scott Wings, Whiplash is a thoughtful reflection on masculinity, mental health and relationships expressed through spoken word and physical theatre.

Wings conjures strong visual images with his descriptive words and in return there are plenty of emotional reactions to be felt. There is a vulnerability in the narrative and he isn't afraid to open himself up to a room full of strangers. He has a knack for finding the humour in a situation and ensures the story is filled with these observations. As he passes the stomach and comes across a ball of gum and nails long ago consumed, we smile at the familiarity of that brief comment. His tone and intonation throughout are effective in creating the atmosphere and his considered pacing stresses the urgency and intensity of our protagonist's circumstances but also allows for a breather as needed.

The Unfolding of Benjamin’s Misery review | Melbourne Fringe Festival | The Burrow

Winner of the Liverpool Poetry Slam 2018, spoken word performer and poet, Hideto Ambiguous brings his show, The Unfolding of Benjamin’s Misery to the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Hideto weaves a tale involving immigrants, exploitation and racism as we follow Benjamin, an undocumented immigrant, who is stuck working in a performance venue for an ungrateful employee who takes advantage of his situation. 

With no lighting, sound, set pieces or props, Hideto places everything on his own shoulders to engage the audience and for the most part he manages to do this quite well. His original songs and poems, including "Everyday Dissident", leave you considering the role we play - and have played - in embracing the "other", which is particularly fitting given the multicultural hotspot that is Melbourne.

Side A - Melbourne Fringe Festival review

Amanda Santuccione grew up in the era of the cassette. More importantly, she grew up during the obsessions of making a kick-ass mix tape, which included checking your cassette was inserted right side up and patiently waiting for the second the radio presenter stopped talking over the start of the song before pressing record. It's a rite of passage that many of us have gone through, with the music we listen to helping us understand the world we live in and guiding us through life. In her Melbourne Fringe Festival show, Side A, Santuccione uses this idea to take us through some defining moments of her life, from the age of four to 33.

She begins by playing a recording of her younger self hosting a radio show before deep diving into the finer details of cassette maintenance. There's immediate rapport established between the audience and herself, with Santuccione's low-key performance projecting an openness and authenticity. It is because of this that the various anecdotes from her life, including her first kiss at age four, the pressures of teen sex and her crisis of faith, strike such a chord with us.

World Problems review | fortyfivedownstairs

Emma Mary Hall remembers a lot. She remembers 9/11 and the first funeral on Mars. She also remembers when George Clooney died and the birthday cakes she's eaten. In World Problems, Hall shares her memories - some factual, some probable, some pure fiction - with us while also expressing what it is like to live in this world and how all our actions are interconnected with something much bigger than us. 

By exposing her vulnerability to the audience through her memories, Hall creates an intimacy that grows with every passing minute. The accomplished way she makes us believe in everything she is saying is testament to the stage presence that Hall possesses. She presents to us as a figure of authority but also as a person having a casual chat with a friend. Her jumping of memories between time and space elicits a very emotional and personal response to a global issue.

The Butch Monologues - Midsumma Festival review

Butch. A butch woman. A woman who has masculine traits, behaviours and styles. For The Butch Monologues, playwright Laura Bridgeman interviewed numerous butch-identifying women living in America, the UK, Europe and the Caribbean. There are currently over 100 entries in The Butch Monologues, and 54 of these have been selected for the Melbourne premiere of this show to be read out by five members of the Melbourne queer community, some with little or no stage experience.

The stage is bare except for one chair and a small round table, but once Fiona Jones, Anne Harris, Quinn Eades, Jax Jacki Brown and Jacques De Vere appear on stage, it becomes filled with the lives and personalities of the people whose stories are being shared. While the topics and themes that are raised vary from being humourous to affecting to profound, they all work towards highlighting the trials of butch identity and politics.

RIOT - Midsumma Festival review

This time last year, drag artist Panti Bliss was in Melbourne during Midsumma Festival with her solo show, High Heels in Low Places. In 2018, Panti returns with a number of her talented friends in tow for a hugely entertaining and political evening of circus, dance, poetry and music with RIOT.

There is non-stop wonderment to be had as Panti brings together a fine selection of performers who are a joy to watch on stage. The way in which each act is devised and performed makes them feel like they are something incredibly special and affecting. Led by Panti's inviting display of warmth and humour, the entire audience feels like they are part of the show too. We are all creating something here.

Kate Brennan's spoken word on power, poverty and class divide shows how powerful words can be in showing what the world is like and fostering change. Similarly, opening night's guest performer Melbourne singer Mojo Juju performed her new song about her Indigenous and Filipino heritage to rapturous applause.

Death Suits You review | Chapel Off Chapel

Everyone has moments when they feel underappreciated and ignored at work and frustrated with their overall work/life balance, but none more so than Death. This is someone who meticulously plans how each and every mortal will meet their ultimate demise, and then needs to ensure our own stupidity or actions do not interfere with these plans. Death must watch over us all the time, even when we are sleeping. In cabaret show Death Suits You, this hardworking individual recalls some of his finer achievements and attempts to have us understand the complexities of his role.

All the Animals We Ate review | Melbourne Fringe Festival | Arts House

Last year, James Tresise’s mother passed away. During that same time, Sean M. Whelan’s pet spoodle passed away after 13 years. In All The Animals We Ate, the two come together to grieve and mourn the passing of someone they love and to celebrate their life. Death may be the end of one thing but it not need be the end of everything.

There is a lot of heart in this show; it’s hard not to feel sadness as Whelan’s recalls the moment he found out his beloved dog, Cady, had died. Despite the show being predominantly about the loss of animals, we are invited to link these experiences to any sense of personal loss we’ve had, let it be animal or human. This empathy is created in part through the animal impersonations the two performers take on throughout, emphasising their connections to human beings.

All The Animals We Ate by Sean M Whelan & James Tresise - Melbourne Fringe Festival preview

If the Internet has taught us anything, it's that we love watching videos and pictures of cats and dogs. In their upcoming Melbourne Fringe show, All The Animals We Ate, spoken word poet Sean M Whelan and performer James Tresise explore the complex relationship between humans and animals and how we deal with love and loss. 

'The reason we started making All the Animals We Ate was because I was struggling to respond to the passing of my mother last year. I saw that Sean's beloved spoodle Cady had passed and that was the impetus for me to ask Sean to collaborate on a new work," Tresise explains. "We built this play from the ground up using a series of theatre games that I adapted to generate a written script. It was a really fun and lively way to deal with some of the more challenging themes we decided to tackle. It also became very evident that this work required both Sean and I to perform it, so excitingly Melbourne audiences will be treated to the acting debut of Sean M. Whelan!"