The First Annual Doris to insert Festival - Melbourne Fringe Festival 2017

The First Annual Doris to insert Festival - Melbourne Fringe Festival 2017

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Posted 2017-09-18 by Chris Smallfollow

Fri 15 Sep 2017 - Sat 23 Sep 2017

The First Annual (Doris to insert) Festival - Melbourne Fringe Festival 2017

It's Festival Season.

That statement is twofold. On one hand, the Melbourne Fringe Festival is currently running throughout the city until October 1st, offering a wide variety of staged productions in all genres. On the other, very meta hand, There is The First Annual (Doris to insert) Festival; a festival show about putting on a festival. We're through the looking glass here people.

Set in the fictional Bess County, (also the name of the troupe), this 60-minute sketch show pokes fun at the stereotypes of small town living and the archetypal characters familiar to anyone who grew up in a place where everyone knew you and your entire family by name.



The show is structured around a series of sketches that act as a framing device and provide an overall narrative to the proceedings. Bess County has been given a government grant to put on its first-ever festival. As the event managers come together to begin brainstorming, they discover their Mayor has absconded with the money to go party in Rio De Janeiro. Panicked, the coordinators attempt to soldier on without funds while checking in on various county members.

There are some clever skits in this show, standouts of which include a Ghost Walk led by a tour guide (Elyce Phillips) who would much rather visit her personal demons than the town ones, and a matronly elderly lady selling arts and crafts that are much more scandalous than your typical scented candles and knitted scarves. Lastly, a sketch near the end of the production sets up a beauty pageant that is both high concept in addressing the sometime over-political correctness of today's world, and simple in its bait-and switch through clever wordplay. I'm a sucker for wordplay.

As a collective, Bess County are very funny and play well off of each other. There were some noticeable hesitations in the group at times throughout the performance, almost as if they were waiting until someone else finished their line before they delivered theirs. I also struggled to hear some of the jokes due to a lack of projection, something that shouldn't be an issue when the audience is so close to the stage. Because of this, a couple of sketches didn't quite reach their potential. However, this was only the second performance of the run when I went, so I'm willing to chalk these things up to nerves and the group still finding their groove. Ultimately, I'm confident that everything will flow much more naturally after they have a few more performances under their belt.

Production wise, the show runs like a well-oiled (or more accurately, well-rehearsed) machine, with scene changes in blackouts happening quickly and with minimal fuss. At one point, there is even an impromptu documentary presented between scenes about the Honey Badger. I now know much more about this carnivorous mammal than I did when I walked into the theatre, so bonus.



Director Hayley Tantau keeps things moving at a quick pace, effectively using the 60 minute runtime to pack in as many jokes as possible. There is also some very nifty audio/visual design on display, with troupe member Tino Merino never physically gracing the stage, yet still being very present through well-produced video clips that fit into the narrative without feeling shoe-horned. Plus that "Jakes" song is damn catchy.

The First Annual (Doris to insert) Festival is a production with a lot of heart, tackling themes of community and how a tightly knit group of people can band together to create something special. Going back to that whole meta vibe from the beginning, that's exactly what Bess County have done with their debut production.

And for the record, my favourite biscuit is a chocolate covered Oreo. And I'm indifferent to Grant Denyer.

#art
#clubs
#comedy
#festivals
#theatre
#september
!date 15/09/2017 -- 23/09/2017
%wnmelbourne
138461 - 2023-06-13 14:40:23

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