Last week I headed off to Adelaide Fringe in search of all things Greek and luckily there were a few good shows on offer, Il Dago II -Now with Noodles and The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic.
I’ve always enjoyed Adelaide for its elegance and because as a city it’s somewhat reminiscent of a Mississippi steamboat permanently impounded in the flat earth that surrounds it. All those single story Victorian terraces are its cabins; the CBD its funnels and the cars are like golf carts spinning endlessly around its decks.
It’s a perfect host for an Arts Festival. Mainly because it’s not our first city or the second, but a third option the middle ground between Melbourne and Sydney.
The Adelaide International Arts Festival is biannual, but the Fringe happens annually, and so it should.
When the Arts Festival is on everyone turns up like migrating animals around a watering hole in the Savannah. When only the Fringe is on though, it’s different.
Still, it was hard to find the Fringe Festival’s centre.
Where was it? Oh, there under that giant spinning Ferris wheel in the park! No, the Fringe is not The Garden of Unearthly Delights – it is only a part of it.
As one of its top-hatted spruikers of the Garden proudly said of their program, “We’ve got side show acts, burlesque, cabaret and heaps and heaps of comedy.”
It’s now taking up ‘heaps’ more room in the park, making it a much more manageable experience for audiences and for those who perform there.
This new set-up has presumably been instigated by management because the noise spill between venues was affecting everyone.
But, there’s a hell of a lot more going on if you have the stamina to look. You can hardly blame the public for not seeing this, particularly when there’s no alternative gathering point.
Sadly it’s beginning to piss some people off, such as the co-owner of the Imprints Bookshop Jason Lake who has experienced every Fringe since its inception.
“It just doesn’t seem to be edgy anymore and the Garden has made the Fringe too mainstream with all its side show stuff. Everyone goes down there, gets stuck and can’t be bothered to see other shows,” said Lake, adding, “I yearn for the days when there was a real Fringe Hub and those who made theatre and visual arts could hang out.”
A well-seasoned performer who wanted to remain nameless said; “It’s [Fringe] has been good I suppose… but I wish we had better houses.” But, one show that’s clearly doing good business is Il Dago II – Now with noodles, starring George Kampiniaris, which premiered at the Arkaba Hotel.
They were sold out even before they arrived in Adelaide. A punter clutching $600 worth of tickets for herself and her friends, said, “I wanted to get more tickets, but they just weren’t available.”
Well George and the boys can’t complain. Maybe some of the arts cognoscenti should actually invest some energy in developing new audiences, ethnic audiences, but that’s another matter. The award winning The Hermitude of Angus, Ecstatic starring Vachel Spirason didn’t meet my expectations, but may for others.
For other acts, small houses seemed to be a common problem, even if you’re good and have medals pinned to your shirt. But when the focus is being unnecessarily pulled away from the rest of the festival’s program, then perhaps something needs to be done about centralising the Fringe to resurrect its identity.
The Fringe is a great opportunity for everyone to experience cutting edge, annoying, emerging as well as established art, even by those who like high-end art, as was articulated by a baby-boomer couple, “God, these tickets are so cheap and the shows are sometimes as good, if not better, than in The International Festival.” As if that should be a surprise to anyone.
All Adelaide needs to ask is, whether they do take ALL of their art seriously, or are they quite happy for their audiences to flow down to the Garden and get stuck consuming candy floss entertainment, or mashing their brains on alcopops.