Jonno Katz
The Accident
What words best describe you Fringe show?
Sweaty Love.
Who does your show speak to?
Dreamers and Doers.
What other Fringe show will you NOT miss?
At the Sans Hotel.
What other Fringe show do you wish you were in?
A donkey and a parrot.
What do you love most about the Melbourne Fringe?
People putting themselves out there.
How many Melbourne Fringes have you performed in?
This will be my third Melbourne Fringe and I must be close to 100 Fringes all around the world.
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
Mike Leigh and Nelson Mandela.
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
Make plenty of mistakes.
What was your most embarrassing moment on stage?
Performing to English backpackers at a hostel in Byron Bay for a BBQ night. At the end when we passed the hat around we got lots of cigarette butts and half a sausage that had fallen on the ground.
Do you have any pre- or post-show rituals?
Yes, every show has a different ritual. For one show I had to pin a handstand before going on and how well I pinned it would be how well the show was going to go. That was a dumb move. For this show I do a lot of pre show massaging and end meditating. Post show I down a litre of water in 7 seconds.
What’s your favourite theatre superstition? Do you believe it?
I don't like to be seen before I go on but I don't believe in it.
What was the last book you read?
The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida.
What TV show do you never miss?
Damages, Peep Show, The Thick of it, Louie, Dexter, Breaking Bad, Gavin and Stacey, The Wire, Green Wing, True Blood, Battlestar Gallactica, The Trip...just to name a few.
What film will you watch again and again?
Spinal Tap, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Duck Soup.
Who will hate your Fringe show?
People who only like stand-up comedy.
What show changed how you see theatre? Why?
The first Buffont (theatre of the grotesque) show I ever saw changed the way I saw theatre. I'd never seen people having that much fun.
What was your first time on stage?
I was one of Santa's helpers in kindergarten. My Dad was Santa. Strangely, we were the only Jewish family at the kindergarten.
What is the first theatre show you remember seeing?
A pantomime at Monash University. I think it was Peter Pan.
If you had access to the TARDIS, what performance would you see first?
The Marx Brothers.
What director/actor/writer would you just die to work with?
Mike Leigh, Lars Von Trier or Sophia Ford Coppola.
What is your favourite theatre space in Melbourne?
The Black Box at the Arts Centre.
Where in Melbourne do you always take visitors?
Laneways
How do you have your coffee?
Long machiatto.
What’s the best pizza topping?
Pineapple
What do love most about your Fringe show?
I get to dance a lot and try dramatic acting.
Mel Dodge
Jane Austen is Dead ... See You at the Wake
Mel Dodge was commissioned by the Black Duck Theatre Collective to work with Letty Sutherland and re-work her critically acclaimed Jane Austen is Dead for her first Melbourne Fringe. This show sold out at the Wellington Fringe and it asks just how credible Austen’s depiction of romance is in a world of Facebook, RSVP and video dating. See You at the Wake is the second show on the bill that begins with the death of a homeless man and continues with the question of who he was.
What three words best describe you Fringe show?
Funny, honest, versatile
Who does your show speak to?
It’s a double bill so the first show speaks to women – any and all – although a lot of guys have really loved it. Any woman who likes Jane Austen and has ever played the dating game. The second show is fun for all!
What other Fringe show will you NOT miss?
Hmmm...I've barely had the chance to look at the guide. Producing and performing keeps you busy!
What do you love most about the Melbourne Fringe?
It’s great as an artist to get the chance to reach audiences. It’s also cool that so much independent work is being created.
How many Melbourne Fringes have you performed in?
This is my first but I have performed at the Wellington Fringe and Edinburgh Fringe.
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
Collin Firth: Ding Dong Mr Darcy.
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
You don't have to please everyone. Good work will resonate and even if it only resonates with one audience member it’s been a success.
What was your most embarrassing moment on stage?
My skirt coming unbuttoned at the back; I had to work it into the scene.
Do you have any pre- or post-show rituals?
Pre-show I breathe deep, post-show I drink wine.
What’s your favourite theatre superstition? Do you believe it?
I believe in most of them! I never say the M word in a theatre.
What was the last book you read?
The Concert Pianist.
What film will you watch again and again?
Bridget Jones’s Diary.
Who will hate your Fringe show?
Prudes.
What was your first time on stage?
I was 5. I was playing a flower and was annoyed because the flower beside me kept talking and flowers can't talk!
If you had access to the TARDIS, what performance would you see first?
Juby Dench in Shakespeare in the early days.
What is your favourite theatre space in Melbourne?
I'm fond of 45downstairs.
Where in Melbourne do you always take visitors?
Northcote High Street.
How do you have your coffee?
Skinny latte with one sugar.
What’s the best pizza topping?
Cheese.
What do love most about your Fringe show?
I get to work with Letitia Sutherland, an awesome Australian actor every night! In the second play we play lots of characters organising a funeral for a homeless man and it’s so much fun playing all the different characters with her.
