Top Ten Shows - Fringe World 2016

I do love a good list and while it is impossible for one reviewer to see anything but a fraction of the 700+ strong programme this is as good an excuse as any. I ended up seeing 32 Fringe shows – 27 that I was comp’d to review, 4 as a paying audience member, and 1 that was also an adjudication for the Finley Awards (and therefore can’t be considered here).

The overall standard was very high and there are a couple of shows that were desperately unlucky not to make the final list. I also had a shortlist of some 17 performers for 7 slots so that proved a difficult decision to whittle down as well.

My greatest impression from this year’s Fringe is the absolute value of storytelling skill. The ability to craft an engaging tale and execute it well is priceless. You know it when you see it; you feel its absence when it’s not quite there. This list is testament to that skill.

Here is my Top Ten:

1. La Soiree - La Soiree Australia

This was a true spectacle that combined world class entertainers with unbelievable feats of athleticism.

"I felt like a young boy again sitting in wide-eyed wonder as my brain tried to comprehend what my eyes were seeing. Thankfully my hands retained the ability to clap non-stop while the vocal chords hollered on their own accord. My grey matter lurched at the sheer improbability of feats I couldn’t even dream were humanly possible."

2. 17 Border Crossings - Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental

Thaddeus Phillips exhibited tremendous storytelling ability with exceptional stagecraft. Enthralling.

3. The Great Ridolphi - The Last Great Hunt

Beautifully crafted script, cleverly staged, and supremely acted by Steve Turner.

4. Bx - Becc Sanderson

Nostalgia may have led me to buy a ticket but the performance itself was testament to Sanderson's potent vocal ability 27 years on from those early days of The Sweet Blue Midnights. 

5. Dr Felicity Rickshaw's Celebrity Sex Party - Holland St Productions

The award winning creative team of Tyler Jacob Jones and Robert Woods present their raunchiest concoction yet.

"This is raunchy, laugh out loud funny, and performed with verve and chutzpah. There’s also a touch of pathos to ground the shenanigans but ultimately you’ll know in your heart that love truly is the driving force in the universe."  

6. Impromptunes: The Completely Improvised Musical - Impromptunes

A riotous and impressive demonstration of an ensemble cast totally in tune with each other and the musical theatre form.

"One of the beauties of Impromptunes is that no two shows will ever be alike. It’s the genius of the premise that sees a completely self contained one hour musical performed every night. Not even the cast know what’s going to happen or even what the topic is going to be."

7. Tonsils + Tweezers - Black Swan State Theatre Company

The second play in the Loaded double bill, this showcased writer-director Will O'Mahony's adeptness with cracking dialogue and a few surprises along the way.

"O’Mahony’s dialogue is exceptional and he clearly has a love for language, words and wordplay. It all races towards a surprising conclusion that is cathartic for both the eponymous duo and, dare I say it, the audience."

8. Sincerely Yours... A New Musical - Stray Cats Theatre Company and Mad Cats Theatre Company

An originally written musical with an impressive score and ambitious book that featured several current WAAPA students and alumni.

"... this was a mature and accomplished piece of musical theatre with an excellent score and well delivered songs that had some great moments of genuinely affecting dramatic acting."

9. Viva La Restoration - The Midnite Youth Theatre Company

Another originally written musical that had been reworked from its 2013 debut at UWA. It is very heartening to see two locally originated musicals do so well at Fringe.

"Plaudits go to Messrs. Griggs, Owen and Silberstein on continuing to develop this 90 minute, one act musical. It’s a devilishly tricky form to get right and this is an enjoyable production that showcases great potential for future endeavours. A recommended addition to the local music theatre scene." 

10. A Sting in the Tale - Richard McKenzie

A total sleeper that came out of nowhere for me. This was stitch inducing funny and McKenzie had such a naturally engaging ability as a spinner of hilarious yarns.

"All of these stories were told with such flair and great comic sensibility. There was a poignant moment at the end that circles back to his father that was touching and funny. This was an excellent way to end the night and the venue was perfect as an intimate setting for McKenzie to work in."

Male Performer of Fringe - Thaddeus Phillips

Excelled in all facets of a multi-layered one man show (17 Border Crossings) that was funny, engaging, thought provoking and showcased impressive stagecraft.

Female Performer of Fringe - Amy Russotti 

I had not come across Russotti before but her performance as the dowdy Amy and especially her alter-ego Dr. Felicity Rickshaw was a comic tour de force.  

Special Mentions:

Lincoln Vickery - gave an assured and likable performance in Tonsils + Tweezers delivering O'Mahony's rat-tat-tat dialogue with relish.

Becc Sanderson - if nothing else her Cry Me A River was one of the highlights of Fringe. Hopefully she'll be back in Perth soon. 

Olivia Everett - has a real knack for playing comic tinged characters and in Viva La Restoration she shone as the lead. 

Steve Turner - the local answer to Thaddeus Phillips with a wonderful showing in The Great Ridolphi that was beautifully nuanced.

Andre Drysdale - a complete revelation in Sincerely Yours with his acting ability matching his vocal talent to impressive effect. 

So there it is. Another Fringe World for me done and dusted. Thank you to all the performers, publicists and producers who contacted me and provided tickets. Apologies to those I couldn't squeeze in. The earlier the notice the better! 

Tonsils + Tweezers - Black Swan State Theatre Company (15 January 2016)

In the second half of the Loaded double bill playwright Will O’Mahony tackles a question that many must wonder when they see the never ending horror of mass shootings most notably and tragically in the US – what could possibly make someone do such a heinous thing? That he does so while giving us a treatise on friendship and an unexpected ending that is emotionally sublime is quite astounding. Throw in a little Macbeth for good measure, a dash of his own The Mars Project, rapid fire dialogue that would make Aaron Sorkin blush, and even a pinch of Wham and you have a potent and darkly humorous play that is as entertaining as it is thought provoking.

It is anchored by an incredibly likable performance by Lincoln Vickery as Tonsils. Vickery, dressed only in boxer shorts, has total command of the rat-a-tat dialogue that is delivered at breakneck speed. His banter, on stage direction of other characters, and address to the audience in asides is so well pitched that it’s a delight to experience. Tellingly, it’s when Vickery slows down that the emotion of the piece blossoms as we come to understand the true nature of his friendship with Tweezers played by Hoa Xuande.

Xuande is excellent as the friend who brings a gun to the table. His Tweezers is everything Tonsils is not – struggling with momentous events from his youth that reverberate ten years later as their high school reunion approaches. He is diffident, angry, confused… and wants to kill someone. Xuande handles the unravelling of the character very well as the play comes to an emotional climax.

Throw into the mix Max (Adam Sollis) who bullied Tweezers at school and we slowly come to understand why Tweezers could actually contemplate doing the unthinkable as the past is teased out. It’s a much welcome return for Sollis, a 2014 WAAPA graduate, who was outstanding in his third year productions and is in cracking form here. He gives the now property developer Max who is about to tread the boards for the first time (as Macbeth no less!) a knockabout quality that is totally engaging. There’s also a bit with a toothbrush that is hilarious.

Then there’s Megan Wilding. I can’t think of a local actor who does more with less than Wilding. With one line she can have an audience in stitches or awestruck silence. She has a command of the stage that is simply compelling. Here Wilding plays a school teacher; the actress who will be Lady Macbeth; and adds asides with such gusto that she threatens to steal proceedings whenever she is on stage if however briefly. Again though, it’s in her quietest moments during a description of what could happen if Tweezers carries out his plans that is devastating.

Hoa Xuande (L) & Lincoln Vickery (R) - Image by Daniel James Grant

The play starts with what initially felt like a continuation of themes from The Mars Project as Tonsils tells us about binary stars and elliptical orbits as analogies for friendships. I’m discovering that a signature item of O’Mahony’s writing is the repeated use of a key phrase or concept that has thematic heft. This time it's that 'things together want to be apart and that things apart want to be together', referred to multiple times throughout. O’Mahony’s dialogue is exceptional and he clearly has a love for language, words and wordplay. It all races towards a surprising conclusion that is cathartic for both the eponymous duo and, dare I say it, the audience.

This is a very funny but no less confronting play. It has an excellent script and wonderful performances across the board. Written and directed by Will O’Mahony and starring Adam Sollis, Lincoln Vickery, Megan Wilding, and Hoa Xuande, Tonsils + Tweezers is on at the State Theatre Centre in the Studio Underground along with Girl Shut Your Mouth until 7 February.