Spring has sprung and global Fringe is in full swing, filling your sunny September with digitally delivered shows from all over the world. Assembling performers from Sydney Fringe’s counterparts in Brighton (in the UK), Stockholm, San Diego, Hollywood and over the ditch in New Zealand, the good news for locals is you can go see our cohort IRL at Newtown’s Old 505 Theatre.
Award-winning author Oliver Mol’s theatrical debut Trainlord (September 9-13) is a performance art monologue that draws on his horrendous experience with a ten-month migraine and the railway job that got him through it, promising to make you laugh, cry and applaud.
On September 5 at 3pm, the Sydney Fringe leadership team and a panel of First Nations artists will discuss the breadth and depth of Indigenous creativity out there, and how best Fringe can honour and include them going forward as they launch next year's First Nations hub program.
If you dug Daniel Craig whodunnit movie Knives Out, unpick the knotty twists of Ninefold’s A Murder Story Retold (September 2-6). Billed as a suburban revenge killing drama set to Max Richter’s arrangements of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, it keeps retelling the story from different perspectives. Inspired by Brett Whiteley’s beautifully wistful beach paintings, physical theatre company Clockfire’s We, the Lost Company (September 3-6) is a poetic tribute to memory and the migratory nature of the ocean.
Queer stories queen Maeve Marsden presents Queers on the Fringe (September 23-27), assembling an enviable team of artists, writers, comedians and musicians baring their souls and the secrets of the city’s LGBTQ+ underground. And Black Birds’ brilliant sounding Our Visions Begin With Our Desires (September 16-20) tackles the lack of representation and misrepresentation of women of colour on our stages.
Sydney Fringe director and Old 505 owner Kerri Glasscock told Time Out that joining Global Fringe was a great way to get our creative forces flying. “Sydney has some of the most inventive, unique and forward-thinking theatre creators around. We’re providing them with an avenue to global export while the world’s borders are closed. It has been a fantastic challenge that we have taken up with gusto.”
Of course, if sinking into the sofa with a glass of red is more your thing, you can stream the local shows from home too, with many of them free. Most in-person events are around $40, and generally include your first drink. Check the Sydney Fringe site for more details and to book tickets.
Want more local theatre? Check out Belvoir's take on Virginia Woolf.
