Some solo shows
Jono Wants a Wife
19 September 2014
Fringe Hub, Rehearsal Room
to 4 October
I might have found Jono Wants a Wife so funny because I've dated him. Not him, but I recognised his 20 and 30-something hims and may have laughed away a couple of demons.
Jono's 35 and he'll have a list of potential wives by the end of the Fringe. It's a bit like an indie theatre version of The Bachelor and future girlfriends have to know that they'll be in his next show.
He's finally hit that stage of life that he knows what he wants in the relationship realm, so shares the painfully honest truth about how he got to be 35 and living alone in a mouldy dark flat.
That painful and honest truth involves masturbation stories – do you ever recover from being caught by your nanna? – and relationships with women who treated him far better than he treated them. Sure, it's funny now – funny enough to make a show about – but his story works so well because sometimes the only way to get through that kind of hurt is to laugh about it or be laughed at.
This is charming and well-crafted story telling that reminds that gut-aching funny comes from gut-wrenching honesty.
A Four-Eyed Guide to the Galaxy
20 September 2014
Fringe Hub, Rehearsal Room
to 4 October
Being weightless with a broken heart and a sausage dog can be wonderful.
Space rocks! Having recently heard astronaut Chris Hadfield (the guy who sang Bowie on the International Space Station) at the Melbourne Writers Festival and having read his book, my space knowledge is the best its been. And Rowena Hutson's into space far more than I am.
Her solo show, A Four-Eyed Guide to the Galaxy, is set in a future that might not be very far away. Here Buzz – who's parents were astronauts – is stuck on earth with only her sausage dog best friend but wants to blast off to the stars to escape the pain that she doesn't want to acknowledge.
It's super-sweet storytelling that's made gorgeous with really bad props and a hope that lights the dark void of space.
The Bookbinder
20 September 2014
Fringe Hub, Son of Loft
to 4 October
The Bookbinder won Best of the New Zealand Fringe and it's going to sell out in Melbourne. Being in the intimate Son of Loft room, there's no room for extra seats, so there's no time to wait.
Trick of the Light Theatre are from New Zealand and were founded by Hannah Smith (director) and Ralph McCubbin Howell (performer and writer).
From a time when books were valuable and stories were precious, it starts when a bookbinder needs an apprentice. Told with puppetry and paper art, it's a deliciously dark story about books, getting lost and how fixing a story can change a life.
From every moment of the performance to the writing and the design full of secrets and wonders, this is exquisite storytelling and the only reason I'm not going again is because I don't want to deprive anyone else the feels of seeing it.
Some of these are on AussieTheatre.com.
