Queer Picks of the Fringe
Long before Feast, the Fringe was the place to see GLBTI artists strut their stuff, and the biggest ever Fringe in 2012 is no exception. Peter Burdon comes up with a few highlights.
DeAnne Smith may be Canadian, but it’s in Australia that she’s emerged as a shining star, and she’s a fine ambassador for our community. 2012 sees her premiering a new show, Livin’ the Sweet Life, and Adelaide’s getting a front row seat. DeAnne looks over her slim glasses at privilege in the world: hold on to your hats for a bumpy ride ahead! See her at Gluttony in Rymill Park, March 5-18.
Another artist with a loyal local following is Gabrielle Griffin, whose naughty but nice show Pie had a good run with support from Vitalstatistix last year. A gifted puppeteer of a definitely grown-up character, one of her great characters is Ciel, a sky blue puppet with a mischievous attitude and a bit of a lip! In Pegging up the Sky she looks at same-sex parenting and IVF. Puppet Palace, Gluttony, Rymill Park, Feb 28-March 4.
Expatriate Adelaidean Amy Bodossian moved to Melbourne to try her luck and has been a regular fixture in the Fringes of Australia for years now. Her unique spoken word shows, somewhere between political comment and poetry, are truly fabulous, but it was with the robot dancing The Bad Father that she shot to prominence when they closed an episode of Spicks and Specks that’s become a cult classic. Last year’s Phlegm Fatale packed the Tuxedo Cat, and this year she’s upstairs at The Ambassadors with her new show Exhibit Amy. Various dates from Feb 25-March 11.
Another one to watch is Ghostboy (pictured), the alter ego of Brisbane-based poet and performance artist David Stavanger. Ghostboy can often be found in the culs de sac of the queer community, the deeper the underground the better, and presents two gigs in the Fringe. First, a spoken word cabaret We Love You! (As Much As Everybody Else Does) at La Bohéme March 6-10 and a star turn with folk rockers Golden Virtues in the Spiegeltent March 3-4. Turn the mood meter up and get along to one of his shows.
And for something completely different, Englishman Paul Foot has been forging a unique style of comedy since the mid 1990s, and finally gets to Adelaide with Still Life, a show he premiered at Edinburgh in 2011 and went on to an acclaimed West End run. Absurdist comedy at its best, be prepared for anything with Foot, for whom two shows are never alike. Cinema Nova, March 6-18.
- Tags: Adelaide, Adelaide Fringe, Amy Bodossian, Blaze, David Stavanger, DeAnne Smith, Gabrielle Griffin, Ghostboy, Paul Foot
About the Author
Peter Burdon
Peter grew up in country SA and moved to the city to go to uni. On his second day in Adelaide he discovered the Duke of York Hotel and the Mars Bar, and the rest is history! He has a long involvement in the arts, and in 1997 began writing for Adelaide GT little knowing what was in store. He has since contributed to all but three issues of GT and subsequently blaze, even filing an article from a hotel in Valencia. He works extensively as a freelance critic, and is Chair of the Adelaide Critics Circle.
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