Sydney Fringe Festival 2012

Well, it's that time of year again here in Sydney and  in case you havent already noticed, the Sydney Fringe Festival is in full swing. I will be blogging about a few of the events as I did last year. Make sure you check some of them out - there are a fantastic array of events on offer which span across many genres. Something for everyone and all that...  :)

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On Friday night we were transported into the whimsical world of Porphyria's Slumber  - Annabelle McMillan's debut Sydney Fringe performance.

Photo: Sydney Fringe

Upon arriving at the venue PACT:Centre for Emerging Artists in Sydney's Inner West suburb of Erskineville we head straight to the pop-up style bar in the courtyard where we find a great selection of beverages and snacks and I discover a new cider. The show is due to start at 8:30, but we are told that another show has run over time and there will be a short wait.

We are greeted by the director about 9pm and after a brief introduction are told to take a seat. Quite literally. A wall of milk crates is piled up high against the wall outside the theatre and so we all grab one and proceed inside. We are guided through a room, leaves underfoot, filled with random items and where pages of Robert Browning's monologues cover the walls. A female voice recording fills the space and pictures of bruised women's body parts are suspended from the ceiling.

Walking through we enter the main performance area where the artist is asleep on the floor - a clear parallel to Browning's Porphyria's Lover where Porphyria already lies dead when the speaker begins.

What ensues is a modern, somewhat quirky adaptation of Robert Browning's poem Porphyria's Lover. Like Browning, Annabelle attempts to challenge our perception of sensuality, materialism and the hopelessness of the human condition. The main character Porphyria awakes from her 'slumber' and takes us on an exploration through a timeless abyss filled with random objects and ideas. Annabelle does this by combining film, puppetry and physical theatre.

There are a few laughs, a little sexual innuendo, and a whole lotta quirky.

On the surface you might not be blamed for thinking you had walked into a play where Masterchef Live meets Mary Poppins. There is cake, a carrot or two and an umbrella. But there is more to it and there are deeper messages at play here - It's up to you to work them out.

It's definitely a conversation starter.

When: NOW! 21-29 September, 2012

Where: PACT Centre for Emerging Artists - 107 Railway Pde, Erskineville, Sydney

Get your tickets and find out more here

For a full list of Sydney Fringe Events visit their website http://2012.sydneyfringe.com/

Check out my Sydney Fringe Festival Review here

Which events will you be checking out?