Newcastle is like an old flame for me - someone that you only see every so often, but who rekindles all sorts of mixed emotions from the intense times that you've spent together. As the biggest coal port in the Southern Hemisphere it has a naturally rough feel to it, which keeps you feeling toe-y as you walk through its fairly quiet streets, that come complete with abandoned shops and litter.
It was in fact two years ago that Caravan of Dooom wrote our first show for This Is Not Art festival 2008. TINA is an incredible thing - an almost entirely volunteer driven artist run initiative, that despite it's lack of funding, and the eternal risk they take hiring venues for the crazed independent artists of Australia to occupy, seems to keep thriving and growing. This is partly because of the incredible love that so many people seem to have for TINA and the irreverence, freedom and spontaneity that it represents - outside the artistic/professional rat races of Melbourne and Sydney, yet with an audience who are able to critically engage with innovative shows and ideas.
Which is why when we were invited to perform at the opening of the festival, we thought that we really ought to do something a bit special. And given that it was our second birthday, we figured it would be the right mix of obnoxious and charming to throw a celebration for ourselves - by putting the "l" in Sideshow - "SLIDESHOW!" I shouldn't say too much here about what occurred, suffice to say that the festival director Simone Sheridan pointed out today that we were "the talk of the festival" after the mayhem that took place. By the time all our presents had been delivered by the well wishers who we planted in the crowd, the stage resembled some sort of demented cross between a dirty hip hop concert and a roman vomitorium, as nudity and whipped cream prevailed over common sense.
Lets hope that no-one took photos...
In other news our car broke down on the side of the freeway an hour out of Newcastle this week. It was all fine in the long run, but not before i noted our proximity to the coal train lines running through the paddock. Did someone say HOBO?!
And of course Hobo is a neat anagram for Boho. We ended our stint with the Boho Ball this week, with a great little show in Newcastle's Gallipoli Club. We wish them all the best as they continue on up the coast - if you're nearby to one of their shows, don't miss out on your chance to see this generations finest artists taking to the small towns.
Meanwhile we're heading back to down to Melbourne for the final season of Good Clean Fun, running from the 6th - 9th October at Bar Open, at 7pm each night. Don't miss out on your last chance to see the spectacle that has been called "a wildly punk variety show ... funny irreverent and vaguely unhygienic".
If you need more convincing, have a read of this wicked review that got posted on ArtsHub this week after our Sydney shows - http://www.artshub.com.au/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/good-clean-fun-182483.
Chard Currie writes that "Great theatre plays with extremes, toys with your emotions and batters your eyes and ears, and by that definition, GOOD CLEAN FUN by Caravan of Doom qualifies as great theatre, as it does all those things, and more!" and also calls Good Clean Fun "excellent social satire".
It's nice to be appreciated...!
We're looking forward to seeing all of our friends at home in HellBorn, so make sure you book ahead of time at http://www.melbournefringe.com.au/fringe-festival/show/good-clean-fun/ to guarantee your spot.
See you sooon folks,
Much Love
Captain RUIN
No comments:
Post a Comment