Gremlins stole these profiles off AussieTheatre.com, so here's Miles O'Neil, Miranda Hill, Jennifer Williams and Robert Lloyd
Miles O’Neil
Miles O’Neil’s World Around Us II
Miles O’Neil is best known as part of the junkyard theatre The Suitcase Royale. They first came to attention in 2005, especially when they were grabbed for the Melbourne International Arts Festival. They now spend a lot of time performing around Europe and can usually be seen here at A Last Tuesday Society gig. Last Fringe, Miles performed his first solo show and everyone lucky enough to catch this mellow late-night delight, won’t miss that this year’s part II.
What three words best describe you Fringe show?
Songs, Stories, Super8
Who does your show speak to?
The audience, I hope.
What other Fringe show will you NOT miss?
Me, Pregnant and Sweet Child of Mine.
What other Fringe show do you wish you were in?
The above.
What do you love most about the Melbourne Fringe?
Sinking pots at The Town Hall Hotel both pre- and post- show. What a glorious pub that one is
How many Melbourne Fringes have you performed in?
Two
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
The families in the found Super 8 home movies I show. Though if they didn't like what I was doing it could go quite badly.
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
Try to tell a good story. And always face the front.
What was your most embarrassing moment on stage?
Almost everything that could go wrong on stage has gone wrong in shows with The Suitcase Royale, so it’s hard to get me embarrassed on stage. I did fall over into a set of stairs while doing a rock jump during a song in The Ballad of Backbone Joe in Edinburgh last year. Actually yeah, thinking back that was horribly embarrassing.
Do you have any pre- or post-show rituals?
Beers always taste best after a show however. They taste quite good before and during a show too.
What was the last book you read?
The White Album by Joan Didion. Highly recommended.
What TV show do you never miss?
I really liked Game of Thrones, but really who didn't?
What film will you watch again and again?
Dumb and Dumber
Who will hate your Fringe show?
No one, I hope.
What show changed how you see theatre? Why?
I really loved a show called Phobia that was on in Melbourne seven years or so ago. It was the “every show must have a beginning middle and end but not necessarily in that order" moment for me.
What is the first theatre show you remember seeing?
Wind in the Willows in the Botanical Gardens.
What director/actor/writer would you just die to work with?
I just want to be in the western Tarantino is directing next.
What is your favourite theatre space in Melbourne?
The Atheneum.
Where in Melbourne do you always take visitors?
A secret spot with the best view of the city, with a six pack.
How do you have your coffee?
I’m on the flat whites at the moment.
What’s the best pizza topping?
Parma ham, napoli sauce, motz and rocket: classic.
What do love most about your Fringe show?
Showing people found super 8 movies.
review
Miranda Hill
Moving Scores
Miranda Hill is part of performing collective called 3 Shades Black. They describe themselves as classical musicians who don’t blend in. She says their friends call them 3 Shades. Working with local filmmakers and original scores, Moving Scores is one for one night at the Northcote Town Hall.
What three words best describe your Fringe show?
Music, Film, Experimental.
Who does your show speak to?
Anyone who's curious about experimental music. Our mission statement is to make new art accessible, transparent and fun to a new audience. Also, people who already love graphic scores will find this new take on them really intriguing! I know we all do.
What other Fringe show will you NOT miss?
I'm looking forward to Syzygy ensemble, and Sara Curro's Volume 3. New classical music doesn't get as much air time as it deserves and all these shows are very exciting, and being performed by amazing musicians. I'm also looking forward to taking my nephews to kids shows, and of course, turning up on the night and seeing whatever showis on. That's the best part.
What other Fringe show do you wish you were in?
Crowd Play, I couldn't make any rehearsals. Drat.
What do you love most about the Melbourne Fringe?
The sheer variety of art on display. It's a rare chance to peek into the underbelly of Melbourne's art scene, and get to experience performances that normally you'd have to know someone who knew someoneto even hear about them.
How many Melbourne Fringes have you performed in?
This is my first!
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
John Cage, or Nam June Paik, or, if we're talking possible: Barre
Phillips. I think he might actually be in Melbourne.
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
The difference between an artist and someone who has great ideas, is simply that the artist carries their ideas to fruition. Take risks.
What was your most embarrassing moment on stage?
I once fainted during an orchestra concert. My section prised me off my bass and carried me off stage, and the medical team on call took ages to arrive because they thought it was modern dance.
Do you have any pre- or post-show rituals?
Ideally, peppermint tea and a banana. Calming.
What’s your favourite theatre superstition? Do you believe it?
Classical music is sadly devoid of superstition.
What was the last book you read?
Currently reading some of the Wizard of Oz books. They're all annotated with tidbits about socialism and banking and Baum's views onAmerica. Fascinating!
What TV show do you never miss?
We all get together to watch Dr Who. Every week!
What film will you watch again and again?
Life of Brian, it's a Christmas Tradition.
Who will hate your Fringe show?
My sister’s parents in law. They've already offered to baby sit to avoid coming.
What show changed how you see theatre? Why?
The Elephant Vanishes by the British theatre company Complicite and with Japan's Setagaya Public Theatre. It's based on the short stories by Murakami. I saw it in Michigan, and the mix of technology and storytelling was so overwhelmingly brilliant the entire audience forgot to clap at the end. We all just sat there mesmerised for at least 30 seconds before breaking out into rapturous applause. It made me realise that no matter how slick your production is, the success of a show is all about the heart, and the story.
Also Stifters Dinge by Heiner Goebbels in the Melbourne Festival Last year. Such powerful storytelling that a stage full of machines and pianos held us all spellbound. Technology can also be amazingly beautiful.
What was your first time on stage?
I've been on stage my whole life. There's a photo of me in nappies sitting on a stage with a maraca shaking it real good through an entire camp variety show. I refused to get off the stage. My mother then sent me to music lessons, I started violin at age 3.
What is the first theatre show you remember seeing?
A stage production of The Hobyahs when I was about 6. I hadnightmares for years! So scary.
If you had access to the TARDIS, what performance would you see first?
The first performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. The story is that the music and ballet were so avant garde that the audience rioted. I would LOVE to see that.
What director/actor/writer would you just die to work with?
Yoko Ono. Laurie Anderson.
What is your favourite theatre space in Melbourne?
I love the Malthouse. There's something amazingly intimate about thatspace, and it's so versatile.
Where in Melbourne do you always take visitors?
For a bike ride. Best way to see the city.
How do you have your coffee?
Soy chai latte.
What’s the best pizza topping?
Roast pumpkin.
What do love most about your Fringe show?
Seeing the beautiful scores that have been submitted. Many by peopleI've never met who have been as inspired by the concept as I was. It's truly inspirational and exciting for the future of new collaborative experimental art.
Jennifer Williams
No Matter Where You Go, There You Are
Jennifer Williams isn’t actually in Melbourne. In fact it took her moving to Ireland to organize her first Fringe show. No Matter Where You Go, There You Are is a conversation between two performers about travel, migration and belonging. Jennifer is an Australian, now based in Ireland. She’s performing (live and on video) with Cathie Clinton, in Irish woman, now based in Australia.
What three words best describe you Fringe show?
Unique, intimate, heartfelt.
Who does your show speak to?
Anyone who has ever packed up and travelled, anyone who has ever had a dream to do so!
What other Fringe show will you NOT miss?
Unfortunately I'll miss them all, as I'm overseas, but I would love to see A Personal War. If I was recommending shows, I'd tell you to see Bluey by Phil Spencer, I saw it a few years ago in Sydney, and its personal, charming and interesting. I think Bluey and No Matter Where You Go, There You Are would make a nice double feature... :)
What other Fringe show do you wish you were in?
Cut Snake. I worked with Paige Rattray last year and she's a fabulous director.
What do you love most about the Melbourne Fringe?
You know, I've never been, so I can't tell you! But, looking at the program, I would say I love how the program is so creative and eclectic. I love how so many spaces that might not be used as performance venues during the year become theatres during the Fringe.
How many Melbourne Fringes have you performed in?
This is my first!
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
In no particular order, Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
From a wonderful Russian director: “The purpose of the actor is to get offstage as quickly as possible.” Keeps things in perspective.
What was your most embarrassing moment on stage?
I was 13. I was meant to say to a boy onstage, “I'll hang up your clothes.” I said, “I'll take off your clothes.” Someone's mother then felt the need, backstage, to point it out to everyone in the cast who hadn't noticed or hadn't heard. Cue approximately forty 10 to 16 year olds turning to me, staring and then breaking out into hysterical laughter.
Do you have any pre- or post-show rituals?
I usually have a meltdown just before the opening of a show, which involves an argument with a fellow cast member, crew member or audience member, hysterical tears and then exhaustion. I wouldn't say it’s a fun, or pre-planned, pre-show ritual, but it certainly seems to happen to me every time a show of mine opens.
What was the last book you read?
One Day. Read it. Don't see the movie. READ IT.
What film will you watch again and again?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
What show changed how you see theatre? Why?
I read The Crucible when I was 12, and it was the first show I had come across that didn't involve characters breaking out into song when they were emotional. It really stuck in my mind, because it was the first straight play I was genuinely interested in. I was obsessed with it, and used to act out the final scene (playing both Elizabeth and Proctor) by myself in my room. I loved screaming, in tears, at the top of my lungs, “Because it is my name!”.
What was your first time on stage?
I was 7. I was playing a disciple in a church play. I was pissed off 'cause I had to be a boy and wear a white sheet. I wanted to be a girl and wear a pretty skirt.
What is the first theatre show you remember seeing?
Does Disney on Ice count? I was 5.
What director/actor/writer would you just die to work with?
Alan Rickman, so I could kiss him. Colin Firth, so I could kiss him. Viggo Mortensen... so I could kiss him. This wasn't a serious question, was it?
Where in Melbourne do you always take visitors?
I've never taken a visitor anywhere in Melbourne, but if I did, I would take them to Williamstown. It’s like being in a cute, English seaside village.
How do you have your coffee?
I only drink tea. I have that with milk, thank you.
What’s the best pizza topping?
Cheese. Just cheese. Why confuse things?
What do love most about your Fringe show?
That it’s actually happening. That I've organised most of from overseas on my laptop. That it took me moving to Ireland to get a show up at the Melbourne Fringe.
review
Rob Lloyd
Who, Me.
Rob Lloyd is a nerd. He’s already made shows about his obsession with The Goodies, Sherlock Holmes and every movie ever made, but they are passing interests compared to Dr Who. His co-creator and director of Who, Me is Scott Gooding. Scott owns every cheap Dr Who paperback published in the 70s and 80s and knows the correct spelling of every companion and monster. This is for anyone who has ever obsessed, collected or left a date early because Blakes 7, Battlestar G, Firefly or Voyager started at 10.30.
What three words best describe you Fringe show?
Who on trial!
Who does your show speak to?
The obsessive nerdy fanatic in all of us.
What other Fringe show will you NOT miss?
Foreplay, Simon Taylor, Jenny Wynter, The Baby Seals, Candy B, Brenna Glazebrook
What other Fringe show do you wish you were in?
Bullet: A Superhero Comedy
What do you love most about the Melbourne Fringe?
It keeps on letting me indulge my inner and outer nerd.
How many Melbourne Fringes have you performed in?
Nine…yup…old man of the fringe here.
If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Chris Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith. I reckon that’d be pretty cool…and intimidating…and impossible because three of them are dead…but a nerd can dream.
What is the best theatre advice you’ve received?
“Don’t fuck it up”, from my director Scott Gooding.
What was your most embarrassing moment on stage?
I can’t remember anything really embarrassing. I can remember being absolutely terrified. I had to introduce Chopper Read onto stage at The Comic Lounge. I was then told he wasn’t “good with time limits” so I would have to drag him off stage when he’d been on too long. I had to get Chopper Read off stage while he was halfway through telling a story about stabbing someone. That was scary.
Do you have any pre- or post-show rituals?
Just warm ups before the show.
What’s your favourite theatre superstition? Do you believe it?
My wife is my second night lucky charm. She always sees my performance the night after opening.
What was the last book you read?
The Hobbit…I’m re-reading…getting ready…the first movie is only over a year away.
What TV show do you never miss?
Hmmm…that’s a tough one…let me think…no I can’t think of anything ;)
What film will you watch again and again?
Too many to list, but I’ll will anyway: Star Wars, Batman Begins, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Seven, Dead Poets Society…
Who will hate your Fringe show?
Anyone who has let their inner child die!
What show changed how you see theatre? Why?
Dead White Males by David Williamson. When I was 16 I did work experience for a week at the Sydney Theatre Company. While I was there I got to sit in on a whole week’s worth of rehearsals. It was awesome seeing professional actors do there stuff.
What was your first time on stage?
I played Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in my Kindergarten (yeah I’m from NSW) Christmas show.
What is the first theatre show you remember seeing?
My parents use to take my brother and me every year to see the local Theatrical Society’s Christmas Pantomime. It was a tradition. It was awesome! “Behind you!” Brilliant.
If you had access to the TARDIS, what performance would you see first?
I reckon watching me as Rudolph would be hilarious, either that or I’d go back to the 1960s and record every missing episode of Doctor Who! I would then return to modern times and be seen as a god! Then the power would go to my head and eventually my dissatisfied minions would overthrow me.
What director/actor/writer would you just die to work with?
Tony Martin, Shaun Micallef, Frank Woodley.
What is your favourite theatre space in Melbourne?
At the moment it’s the Portland Hotel because I perform there pretty much every Friday with The Big Hoo-Haa (Melbourne).
Where in Melbourne do you always take visitors?
If it’s the right time of year I’ll take people to either Supanova or Armageddon.
How do you have your coffee?
I’m a hot chocolate man.
What’s the best pizza topping?
Aussie of course…egg on a pizza…you can’t beat that!
What do love most about your Fringe show?
The fact that I’m actually doing it…I still can’t believe it.
