What Did She Think?

What: Brookcrastinators Anonymous When: 21 - 26 September 2017 Where: Errol's & Co. Written by: Jacqueline Whiting Directed by: Eidann Glover Musical Direction by: David McNamara Composition by: Ryan Smedley Performed by: Eidann Glover and Jacqueline Whiting Jacqueline Whiting In Bookcrastinators Anonymous I have found my soul home. Like me, Whiting has not finished a book in two years. Recognising a need greater than her own, she has owned up to her social obligations and started a support group for us lost souls and we meet in the upstairs venue at Errol's Café at The Melbourne Fringe. Like any good novel, Bookcrastinators Anonymous is a epic tale. The hero is us, the grail is to finish a book, and the obstacles are everything which gets in our way including badly written novels, authors who die before finishing their series', and longings for a simpler time. Wrapped in a dressing gown, hair still damp from the shower and lots of blankets and pil

What: How To Kill The Queen Of Pop When: 15 - 30 September 2017 Where: Studio 1, Arts House Written by: Tom Halls, Adam Ibrahim and Samuel Russo Performed by: Simone French, Tom Halls, Adam Ibrahim and Samuel Russo Costumes by: Penny D'Aloia Sound by: Jo Buchan Makeup by: Samantha Pearce Samuel French, Tom Halls, and Adam Ibrahim How To Kill The Queen Of Pop is a hilarious queer reimagining of some behind the scenes happenings during the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Playing until the end of the month at Arts House this clowning romp and roasting of our very own girl-next-door pop diva, Vanessa Amorosi , won't give you a minute to breathe as you laugh the night away. I suspect French and Halls have a secret obsession with the 2000 Olympics because last year I saw them at The Butterfly Club doing another farcical satire around the Olympic mascots in What's Yours Is Mine. This time around, Halls has pinned his eagle eyed gaze on Australia's least glam po

What: Sonder When: 19 - 24 September 2017 Where: No Vacancy Gallery Project Space, Federation Square Created and guided by: Catherine Holder Catherine Holder The Melbourne Fringe Festival motto is 'everything is art'. We could debate that forever (and have been) but when events such as Sonder come along it is enough to make even the most sceptical consider changing their position. Taking place in the No Vacancy Gallery Project Space in The Atrium at Federation Square , this 15 minute escape is a massage for the soul anybody can slip into their day. Holder has created an environment which immediately shifts us into a relaxing spa experience. Completely interactive and highly sensorial the waft of incense will be immediately recognisable to anyone who has indulged in a Swedish massage or facial experience. Combine that with  a soft white environment draped with netting, voile and chiffons and a box office receptionist in day spa attire and I could feel myself slippin

What: Twenty Minutes To Nine When: 13 - 21 September 2017 Where: The Dock, Courthouse Hotel Written and performed by: Amanda Santuccione Amanda Santuccione Every so often I come across a show which is so simple and so honest it is positively magnificent. Twenty Minutes To Nine is that moment, that show. Playing (so very appropriatey) in the smallest room in the world you can only catch this show - if there is room - for two more nights in The Dock at the Courthouse Hotel . The Dock is a bedroom in the hotel, and whilst there is no bed in there at the moment, the ambience is perfectly suited to the intimate and honest story telling Santuccione is about to share. Santucionne is here to tell us the story of loss, the story of love. It may be fair to say she has experienced more than the average Joe and especially more suicide than you might think possible. Rather than raging and blaming though, Santuccione talks about experiencing death in such an honest and adult fashion.

What: Erotic Intelligence For Dummies When: 15 - 22 September 2017 Where: Arts House Underground Written and performed by: Helen Cassidy Helen Cassidy With the yes vote underway in Australia the timing couldn't be better for Cassidy's hilarious and generous show Erotic Intelligence For Dummies which is in this year's Melbourne Fringe Festival. We often talk of intimate venues and cosy audiences but there is nothing more intimate or cosy than  getting under the covers with everyone in the room. Arts House Underground has been set up as a wonderful true cabaret venue complete with bar. For a small venue it has a generous stage. Arts House really has managed to create a venue which is relaxing and set up for a kind of interactive fun which Cassidy provides in spades. The Mother Of Bears, Cassidy begins with the tale of her favourite toy as a child, Koala. We get to meet Koala but not before we are introduced to the Koala impersonator. Both are devilish creature

What: Diary Of A Power Pussy When: 14 - 17 September 2017 Where: The Butterfly Club Performed by: Laydee Bombay, Michael Chalk, Sophie deLightful, Xena Electric and Scarlett Rose Sophie deLightlul and Michael Chalk - photo by Ange Leggas If you haven't yet come across the power and beauty of cabaret artist Sophie deLightful don't miss this chance to laugh and play with a songstress of world class vocal talent and a sense of humour which will warm you to your cockles. Perfectly situated at The Butterfly Club, I can't recommend Diary Of A Power Pussy highly enough as a way to end your Fringe filled evenings this September. In a way I feel the title of the show is an unfortunate barrier but don't be put off. Yes, deLightful is a feminist but what does that really mean? For deLightful being a 'power pussy' is not gender defined. She uses the term to talk about a softer perspective in a world filled with too much penis. The only wood in this show is the

What: 4.48 Psychosis When: 12-16 September 2017 Where: Gasworks Arts Park Written by: Sarah Kane Directed by: Michelle McNamara Composed by: MBRYO Performed by: Andy Aisbett, Matt Brown, Pearce Hessling, Catherine Holder, Stephanie Pick and Laila Thaker. Lighting by: Jason Bovaird Stage Manaaged by: Lauren Thuys Laila Thaker, Stephanie Pick, Catherine Holder, Andy Aisbett and Pearce Hessling Melbourne has totally fallen in love with Sarah Kane. This Melbourne Fringe Festival we see another production of 4.48 Psychosis (my third over the last 5 years) and next year Blasted is being stage at the Malthouse . If you are new to the powerful writing by this English post-dramatic playwright you need to hurry on down to Gasworks this week because Illumi-Nation brings us a production worthy of Kane's writing this Fringe. I have often complained about directors not paying attention to the style and intention of playwrights' work but McNamara and her team have committ

What: Godot: The Wait Is Over When: 7 - 17 September 2017 Where La Mama Courthouse Written by: Ian Robinson Directed by Ezy D Performed by: Ezekiel Day, Cherian Jacob, Rebecca Morton, and Suhasini Seelin Cherian Jacob, Ezekiel Day, Rebecca Morton, and Suhasini Seelin Ah Beckett. A playwright who continually befuddles, bewilders, beguiles, and bewitches theatre makers everywhere. Everybody want to direct him, act in him, and adapt him. The thing no one seems to want to do is produce him as written. Godot: The Wait Is Over is a child of Beckett's Waiting For Godot and is playing at La Mama Courthouse until 17th September. To be fair Godot: The Wait Is Over is a fan fiction sequel, not an adaptation, so I shall restrain my usual tirade about people not trusting playwrights blah, blah, blah.  Instead I shall acknowledge Robeinson's play as the massive complement it is whilst also acknowledging he could not have set himself a harder task if he tried.

What: Asylum When: 30 August - 16 September 2017 Where: The Owl and Cat Theatre Written by: Nicholas Walker Herbert Directed by: Catherine Holder Performed by: James Di-Michele, Rachel Kamath, Sonia Marcon, Steven Oktaras, and Cesar Pichardo Sound by: Mbryo Steven Oktaras and Cesar Pichardo Asylum is a new play by American playwright Herbert . Directed by emerging actress and director (and newest member of The Owl and Cat team) Catherine Holder, this play is a psychological thriller which asked the question who are the mad people - the inmates or the keepers? This production has good bones and most of the problems are in the script rather than the performance. Asylum looks at institutional mental health care. Ben ( Oktaras ) and Katie (Kamath ) are patients who are under the care of Dr Grey ( Marcon ) and her assistant Tom (Pichardo). Ben is catatonic and Katie is haunted by the ghost of Chris ( Di-Michele ). These elements provide great raw material in Asylum but th