I, Divine - Melbourne Cabaret Festival

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Thu 26 Jun 2014 - Sun 29 Jun 2014

The annual feast which is the Melbourne Cabaret Festival begins again shortly, running from 19 June to 6 July.

Part of this year's festival features the rivetting Caity Fowler and Emma Clair Ford in their own production, I, Divine. The show examines what happens when divergent worlds collide. It revolves around two characters: Brett (played by Fowler), an awkward nerd, immersed in his own world of super-hero comic books, who is happiest dwelling in the sanctuary of his bedroom and online chatrooms, and Otrera (played by Ford), an ancient Greek demi-goddess. The two meet in the virtual world of the "Supergods", a chatroom Brett creates.

What follows is an exploration of limitless human potential. As the byline for the show says, "Nothing is impossible, it just hasn't happened yet…" "It's a universal theme," Ford enthuses. "The question of what lies in your future and embracing your potential." "... and realising how powerful we are and that we have a stake in our future," Fowler adds. "In order to make something happen, you need to create the possibility in your mind first - take the limits off what you believe can be possible, notwithstanding the fact that it may not have happened before."

It's also very funny. "Naturally, when you have two characters who are so extreme, what's going to happen when they meet in the middle is bound to be ridiculous", Fowler reflects.

Ford and Fowler are seasoned cabaret performers, both of whom have had almost a lifelong love-affair with music. "I always sang and danced as a kid," explains Ford. "I went to Ballarat uni and studied Music Theatre Performance straight after high school. In our third year, cabaret was a compulsory component. I knew immediately that it was my thing. It allows for individual creativity and was an avenue for me to write my own stuff." Fowler was equally taken. "I started singing lessons when I was four. I begged my mother for them," she laughs. "I didn't know back then that that was an unusual thing. I was five when wrote my first songs and started seriously writing them when I was nine! Musical storytelling seems to be part of my DNA!"

The two met at the Butterfly Club, back when it was located in South Melbourne. "It was like a second home," Emma jokes. "I don't know any cabaret performer in Melbourne who didn't hang out there". They have been creatively involved with each other's projects ever since (Ford directed Fowler's last show and Fowler wrote songs for Ford's). However, until I, Divine, neither had co-written and performed a show and both are excited by the prospect.

Likewise, they are excited by the fact that they are part of a new generation of cabaret performers who are challenging traditional perceptions. "It's amazing to be expanding the public's idea of what cabaret is," explains Fowler. "It's part of an ongoing new cabaret movement. We are telling Australian stories that are relevant to our generation - stories that are important to us."

#inner_east
#festivals
#comedy
#cabaret
#kew
#music
#june
!date 26/06/2014 -- 29/06/2014
%wnmelbourne