Stardust - Melbourne Fringe Review

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Wed 12 Sep 2018 - Sun 16 Sep 2018

Lexa is an alien who finds her ship stranded on earth, a long way away from home. Alone and badly injured, she looks for help outside her ship and meets her first human, April. April helps her get back on her feet and invites her into her own home without judgement, and gives her hope that humans as a species are friendly. However, April is the first and last friendly human Lexa encounters - all the others are hostile. Lexa withdraws to her bunker where she spends her time trying hard to stay safe while seeking help/trying to establish contact with her home planet. She also uses her time reflecting on her earthly experiences, and indulging in human behaviours such as writing in a notebook, drinking wine, listening to the radio, and playing guitar.



Stardust is a one-woman live theatre show playing at the Butterfly Club from 12-16 September as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2018. It is a science fiction show with some promising elements (beautiful lighting/projection, audio recordings of interesting space facts, and an interactive computer voice, to name a few). Unfortunately, the script does not do these elements justice. The characters are one dimensional, and the storyline is not weaved together coherently, or in a way that might hold the audience's interest. Narrated facts about Lexa's alienness are overpowered by her very human behaviours and emotions. While there are a few moments that invite a smile or a chuckle, most of the show tends towards mild depressiveness. The hour feels long.

"Music is my favourite thing about this planet," Lexa muses at one point in the show. That is a very believable moment. The music was my favourite thing about this show, too. I felt a sense of relief every time the performer reached for her guitar because she is a wonderful singer and her music made the time flow again. I'm not sure where it fits with the story, but that almost didn't matter because the songs were genuinely enjoyable.



There are some well-done elements in the show, and the performer is clearly talented. If the best bits of this show were condensed into a trailer, it would probably be intriguing. But the full show, at least in its present form, unfortunately, doesn't live up to its potential.

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!date 12/09/2018 -- 16/09/2018
%wnmelbourne