THE
BRAG’s Guide To
Kerri Glasscock
It Takes A Village By Alasdair Duncan
T
his year’s Sydney Fringe Festival is the biggest ever, featuring more than 600 acts, spread out across dozens of venues all around the city. The program spans everything from music and theatre to performance art and beyond, and the sheer size may seem overwhelming, but the organisers have come up with a novel solution. For the first time ever, this year’s Sydney Fringe Festival is split into five distinct ‘villages’ – each in a different part of the city, each with something unique to offer. Kerri Glasscock, who has been involved in the festival since its inception, says that this approach represents a natural progression for the festival as it grows and expands. “One of the trickiest things about Sydney is that it’s so large,” Glasscock says. “When you’re at the Adelaide Fringe or Melbourne Fringe, you can walk from one venue to the next very easily, and the whole city feels like it’s in festival mode. It’s tricky to do that in Sydney, because everything is so spread out. For the past few years, the festival has been focused on the inner west, because there are so many strong fringe venues and artists there. Over the years, though, we’ve found really strong communities of fringe artists and venues all over the city, and this village-based approach feels like the best way to unlock as many of those as possible. This way, each village feels like it’s in festival mode.” The five villages of the Sydney Fringe are Newtown, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Surry Hills, and Glebe and Chippendale. These five villages radiate around the central hub of the Seymour Centre, where the festival hub Emerald City is located. “The Seymour Centre is a great place to start, because it’s right in the middle of everything,” Glasscock says. “You can start your evening there and get some ideas about where to go, if you want to head to one of the villages. Hopefully, it will encourage people to go to places they haven’t been before, and may not consider as places to go for entertainment. With any luck, you’ll discover some quirky little places that you like, that you can then go for the rest of the year.”
1
Newtown
Newtown is the largest festival precinct, taking in Newtown itself as well as St Peters, Erskineville and Enmore – there are hundreds of events happening all around the area, although the Fringe Comedy program is one of the highlights. “There’s a Fringe Comedy Showcase happening nightly at The Factory Theatre, on the edge of Marrickville and Newtown,” Glasscock explains. “There are eight performers a night, giving a taste of what they’ll be doing. That’s a great place to go if you want to get a bit of an idea of what’s happening, and plan out who you might want to see.”
2
Leichhardt
Leichhardt is one of the newest areas for the Sydney Fringe, but it’s shaping up to be one of the largest this year. “The Forum is an amazing venue in Leichhardt, and it has a whole lot of great stuff,” Glasscock says. “They’re going to have the 40th anniversary production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus, and there’s some great dance stuff happening there as well. The Twisted Element Dance Company are putting on a production of a show called Gothica, which is really dark and interesting. There’s also quite a lot of music happening in Leichhardt. Parramatta Road is revitalising itself as a live music precinct, so I’m hoping in years to come, we’ll be able to use that stretch even more.”
3
Marrickville
Camelot Lounge in Marrickville have come on board with Sydney Fringe this year, and will play host to a number of intriguing live music events. “Their focus is on things like world music,” Glasscock explains. “They’re putting on a full three weeks of programming this year, like Peña Flamenca, a terrific flamenco group. They’re also hosting the Sydney Sacred Music Festival, which I think is going to be really interesting.”
4
Surry Hills
“Surry Hills is a big one, and it’s branching out all the way to Oxford Street this year,” Glasscock says. “Slide Lounge will be hosting an event called the Gin Mill Social, which is a mixture of cabaret and burlesque. They have a terrific restaurant there as well, so it’s a whole night out.” Traditional festival participant Venue 505 will be involved in a big way. “Every Friday of the festival, you can come along for Feel Good Friday Jazz, to have some drinks and listen to some great music.” “There’s a terrific show called Small Talk, coming from Melbourne,” Glasscock continues. “The show features a puppeteer called Lana Schwarcz, who’s bringing an adult puppet show to the Old 505 Theatre. The Tap Gallery always has really interesting things as well – it’s an artist-run space, with a gallery as well as a theatre, so that’s really worth checking out.”
5
Glebe and Chippendale
“These areas naturally have an eating and drinking focus,” Glasscock says, “just because there are so many little tiny bars and restaurants around there. They’re great places to explore, because there’s lots of great food, there are a lot of great drinks, but there are also a lot of little galleries and artisan-run shops. There are some really quirky venues, like Café Church, a live music venue with art-based projects. Glebe and Chippendale offer something very different from the other villages.”
May Street Studios
As for the places you might discover, Glasscock offers a glimpse of some highlights from each individual festival village.
The May Street Studios facility in St Peters was formed as an initiative to encourage and promote the practice of emerging visual artists in a comfortable, affordable and secure environment.
The Wires Project
For Sydney Fringe Festival, May Street Studios will present its second group exhibition from September 17-29. It’s time for aspiring collectors keen to cultivate their inner John Kaldor to cut out the middleman and go straight to the source. You’ll be able to deck your walls with art purchased directly from one of the resident artists, and with an excellent selection of artwork on show you’re bound to find something that truly speaks to you Dah-link!
The Wires Project is an international multimedia arts collaboration comprising four Sydney-based musicians, a photographer from Singapore and a Sydney-based videographer. The group has taken inspiration from cross-cultural interactions between Australia and Asia to create a visual, improvised jazz, film experience. Get it on your shortlist! Where: Glebe Café Church Space When: Thursday September 19 Bianca Lockley, Advertising Executive
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Brag Staff Picks
Not personal enough for ya? You’ll also have the opportunity to go behind the scenes and chat to over 20 paint brush-carrying creatives in their working space when the May Street Studios doors are flung open on September 26, 28 and 29. Sarah Bryant, BRAG Art Director
Ronny Chieng: Work In Progress Malaysian-born Chinese comedian Ronny Chieng sure is causing a stir across the international comedy circuit. Whether it’s at a major comedy festival or an intimate sold-out gig on his home turf in Melbourne, this guy’s got us laughing. He’s just genuinely very, very funny. Chieng’s got some serious cred in the biz, too. He’s appeared on ABC shows It’s A Date and Problems. He was also given the title of Best Newcomer at the 2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. It's got to have something to do with being “the new face of Australian comedy” or something.
Jude The Obscure Set to be a highlight at this year’s Sydney Fringe Festival, comedian Judith Lucy’s Jude The Obscure takes us on a journey out of this world. Lucy tells us what it’d be like to be the sole female survivor after a catastrophic worldwide disaster ravages Earth. And who knows? She might even throw in some spiritual enlightenment for us! We’re looking forward to catching yet another evening of Lucy’s tall tales and jokes made at her own expense. Where: PACT Centre For Emerging Artists When: September 4-7 and 11-14 Bianca Lockley, Advertising Executive
Love In The Key Of Britpop Remember those tunes that held your hand during adolescence, soundtracked your first romance, nursed you through a broken heart? For spoken word performer Emily Andersen, these were the songs of Britpop: that era of mid-’90s guitar-soaked excess that gave us Jarvis Cocker, the Gallagher brothers, Blur and Suede. Love In The Key Of Britpop is the evocative account of Andersen’s own Disco 2006, a hungover and neatly bob-cut tale that’s more Damon and Justine than Romeo and Juliet. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s sad; regularly it’s a thrill for those of us who still take joy in obscure lyrical references to Pulp and Oasis. Won’t it be strange when we’re all fully grown? Where: The Other Room at Factory Theatre When: Thursday September 12 Chris Martin, BRAG Editor
Dan Ilic: A Rational Fear Satirist Dan Ilic’s A Rational Fear has been likened to ‘Q&A on crack’. Ilic’s show started out modestly as a live comedy segment on FBi Radio then rose through the ranks to emerge as fully-fledged impro gold by securing a weekly live broadcast on Radio National. So what’s the deal? Ilic and a slew of guest comedians bring the romp with 60 minutes of witty piss taking where sketch, standup and interviews reign king. Participating jokesters are given a topical issue to discuss – organ donation, climate change and what it’s like to be a Mexican drug lord in Sydney have all made the cut previously – as audience members embrace the impending highwire danger that comes with mocking the bullshit surrounding controversial matters. A Rational Fear is all about sticking it to The Man. It’s unfiltered truth at its best. And with the Federal Election having been put to bed by the time Sydney Fringe spectators get the chance to catch the show, here’s hoping we at least get some juicy political lampooning. Where: Factory Theatre When: Wednesday September 25 Lisa Omagari, BRAG Arts Editor
The Green Mohair Suits These guys are the musicians’ musicians. Not only have The Green Mohair Suits worked as a backing band to some of Sydney’s most talented artists, they are some of Sydney’s most talented artists themselves. Brian Campeau, Richie Cuthbert, Jason Mannell and Ben Romalis lead the collective, and their recipe is simple: bluegrass, twang and folk sounds augmented with a healthy soaking of lager.
Where: Factory Theatre When: October 2-5
Where: Eliza’s Juke Joint
Les White, Advertising Manager
Chris Martin, BRAG Editor
When: Thursday September 19
BRAG :: 528 :: 02:09:13 :: 25