MEDIA RELEASE • 6 SEPTEMBER 2023
Geelong Arts Centre is thrilled to welcome back the Melbourne Fringe Festival this October for three nights of eclectic performances in the brand new Open House theatre from 26-28 October.
Fresh off the back of a Fringe-worthy ‘glow up’, Geelong Arts Centre will be a proud Satellite Venue for the 2023 Melbourne Fringe Encore for the third consecutive year.
This year’s Festival is an invitation to PLAY UP!, welcoming all Victorians to see Geelong as their very own personal playroom, featuring art and bold ideas (and just a dollop of mischief and mayhem).
The Melbourne Fringe Festival in 2023 is all about reminding everyone of something that kids innately know: that fun and play can be found around every corner.
This year, Geelong Arts Centre looks forward to hosting six curated shows with a line up including the endlessly talented Alisa Tanaka-King and Ania Reynolds, satirical genius Scout Boxall, the thought-provoking and brilliant Ryan Hamilton, Em Keagan, Georgie Wolfe & Jonno Graffam, musical comedy mad-hatters Mel & Sam, the striking Na Djinang Circus, and the fabulously flamboyant Yummy!
Arts lovers flock to the Melbourne Fringe Festival in order to see the memorable, the unexpected and the bizarre.
Tickets for all shows are on sale now and anticipated to sell quickly.
Individual tickets are available for each performance, or purchase seats two or more works to unlock $20 tickets with the Fringe Fusion multi-show package.
All tickets are available at geelongartscentre.org.au/melbourne-fringe-encore
Bookings can be made via the website, or by phoning the Box Office on 1300 251 200 between 9:00am and 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.
To keep up to date with what’s happening at your arts centre, visit geelongartscentre.org.au and sign up to the e-newsletter.
For a comprehensive show-by-show breakdown, see over page.
- ENDS –
QUOTES ATTRIBUTABLE
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Melbourne Fringe Encore to Geelong Arts Centre for the third consecutive year, and this time, in our brand new redeveloped spaces.”
“The synergy between our state-of-the-art facilities and the boundless creativity of the Fringe artists promises an electrifying experience that will elevate the festival to new heights.”
“Our commitment to fostering innovation and artistic expression is perfectly aligned with the spirit of Melbourne Fringe, and we can't wait to witness the magic that will unfold within these walls.”
Quote attributable to Penny McCabe
Geelong Arts Centre - Head of Programming
THE PERFORMANCES
DUMPLINGS DARLING: LOVE WITHOUT BORDERS
ALISA TANAKA-KING & ANIA REYNOLDS
7:00PM, THU 26 OCT
Dumplings Darling: Love Without Borders is a heartwarming performance of storytelling, love, and handmade dumplings - celebrating what brings us together and sets us apart. Part theatre, part live music, and reminiscent of childhood storytime at the library, this intimate and unique protest piece combats the fear and division wreaking havoc across the world. This show is designed for a maximum audience of 30 people per show. Food is served throughout the performance.
PORK CHOP
SCOUT BOXALL
8:15PM, THU 26 OCT
Scout Boxall is a recovering perfectionist who has catalogued a series of former addictions and hyper-fixations and arranged them in an hour that they hope is pleasing to you. This show is an exhaustive examination of everything they have ever quit, an attempt to assemble a life raft out of the detritus of a "gifted & talented" childhood, a peek inside a pulsing brain that hums and screams.
FULL CREAM
RYAN HAMILTON, EM KEAGAN, GEORGIE WOLFE & JONNO GRAFFAM
7:00PM, FRI 27 OCT
Em & Ryan are housemates. Em & Ryan are fat. Em & Ryan are on all the dating apps.
This is a story of two fat queer housemates and the fat joy they found in friendship. It’s a story of chubby chasers and Adele, of jiggling bellies and butter churning. It’s a story about what happens when fat people are happy and not the elephant in the room. Blending verbatim text, devised theatre, and a mukbang, Full Cream imagines a stage where fat people belong.
HIGH PONY
MEL & SAM
8:15PM, FRI 27 OCT
Musical comedy madness from award-winning duo Mel & Sam; a high energy, side-splitting spectacular. What happens when Annie the Orphan, a cannibal (non-derogatory) and the entire Sandringham under 25’s netball team walk into a bar? This year, Green Room award-winning Mel & Sam are back after their sold-out-pussy-popping tours of ‘No Hat No Play! The Cabaret’ and ‘Sh*t-Wrecked!’. So, sit down, shut up and get ready for them to yank you by your ponytail through a chaotic hour of musical sketch comedy.
OF THE LAND ON WHICH WE MEET
NA DJINANG CIRCUS
7:00PM, SAT 28 OCT
We are not the first, nor will we be the last to walk on this land. Walking on stone and cement it can be hard to remember what it feels like to have earth beneath our feet. What does it mean to be where we are? What do we, as 21st century Australians, think it means to be "on Country"?
Using acrobatics, contemporary dance, and aerial performance we follow the journey of three contemporary Australian circus artists with distinct relationships with Country; an indigenous Australian, a descendant of migrants, and a descendant of colonial settlers.
JOY MACHINE
YUMMY
8:15PM, SAT 28 OCT
From its humble beginnings as an underground club cabaret, to sell out shows on the West End and 5 Star reviews in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, YUMMY has taken the world of drag cabaret by storm, having performed in over 50 festivals around Australia and overseas.
Outrageous, outlandish, and always unpredictable, this is one of the strongest cabaret ensembles to emerge from Melbourne's vibrant cabaret scene. Led by Fringe favourite Valerie Hex and an all-star cast, prepare for the perfect balance of fast paced, sexy, and ridiculous variety show perfection.