Cabaret

Snooze VR — a chronic fatigue syndrome cabaret

Written from bed, filmed in 360 VR, Snooze is a life-affirming musical comedy about life with ME/CFS.

$26.00 - $32.00
Sessions & Tickets View Comments
Sarah is a blonde caucasian woman with a choppy bob. She is yawning comically wide into her hand, she has very messy bed hair and is wearing satin white pyjamas with pink roses and is holding a brown teddy with a blue bow.
Past Event

Image Credit: Cate McInnes

  • Written and Performed by: Sarah McInnes

  • Directed by: Emily Paddon-Brown

  • Supported by: The City of Melbourne Arts Grants

"So what do you do?"
Always the first question people ask you and a not-so-secret code for, "So who are you?"
You are your job, or your hobbies; the ways you make money and spend time.

So what happens when you do "nothing"?
Sleep, rest, eat, shower (only when you feel up to it) and rotate moving from the bed to the couch. Who are you when all the activities you used to define yourself by are no longer there?

Featuring bangers such as "Swapping Saliva on the Dancefloor" (the Glange anthem), 'Snooze' looks at the chronic fatigue syndrome experience from the inside with a heavy dose of heart and humour.

This life-affirming comedy from the brain-foggy mind of "spoonie" cabaret writer and performer, Sarah McInnes, takes us through the experience of getting sick, steadfastly ignoring that fact, cycling through an endless flip-show of doctors for answers, and dealing with the grief and acceptance that comes with a chronic illness diagnosis.

By presenting the show in VR, audiences can experience the same immersive, communal experience of seeing live theatre from their own homes. Or come visit our pop-up VR cinema and enter the baffling world of invisible illness and all those moments when you say "you've got to laugh."

Sarah McInnes is a musical theatre performer, turned physio, turned WFH cabaret writer and performer. She is a proud "spoonie" (chronic illness warrior) and invisible illness advocate with ME/CFS, POTS, spondyloarthritis and endometriosis. Humour and a pen are her weapons of choice and ablist societal norms are what she hacks away at mercilessly.

This project received Cash for Equity through the Fringe Fund, as part of Radical Access.

"Audience favourite" - The Theatre Room

One of The Age's "Our pick of the events around town this weekend" ("Sarah Has Friends... no, really! I do!", The Butterfly Club)

About Sarah McInnes

Sarah McInnes is a comedian, writer and musical theatre performer who since being diagnosed with ME/CFS mainly writes and performs from bed or on the couch. As a "spoonie" (chronic illness warrior) she writes and creates work about her lived experience, not as inpiration porn but to build connections with other spoonies, spread awareness and find lightness, humour and cameraderie in the s***storm of invisible illness.

  • Duration: 50 minutes

  • Event Accessibility: Blind or Low Vision Rating: Partially Accessible, Deaf or Hard of Hearing Rating: Partially Accessible

  • Age suitability: M

  • Event warnings: Moderate Coarse Language.

  • Content warnings: Drug References, Misogyny, Sexual References, Disability Slurs, Mental Health, COVID-19/Coronavirus, Medical Mismanagement.

The session on Sunday 15th will be an "N95 masks required" show for those that are immunocompromised to attend. We'll have N95s available at the door. Audio Description can also be requested for any session. Snooze VR is recorded in 360 VR and can be experienced through a VR headset at home (see Instagram: @snoozecabaret for details) or use our VR headsets at our venue in-person. For those without headsets wishing to watch from home, watch through a screen in either 360 or as a regular filmed version.

Click here to view the Access Pack.

  • Full - Digital: $26.00

  • Full - In Person: $32.00

  • Concession - Digital: $20.00

  • Concession - In Person: $28.00

  • Extra Applause - Digital: $32.00

  • Extra Applause - In Person: $36.00

  • Blak Tix - Digital: $25.00

  • Blak Tix - In Person: $25.00

  • Group 6+: $25.00

  • Hump Day Discount: $24.00

  • Member discounts available

    This event is eligible for 25% off full price Fringe Dweller tickets. Just add the tickets that you want then login at checkout and you'll get the cheapest tickets. If you're not a member yet, simply add a membership to your cart and you'll be able to access Fringe Dweller prices straight away.

Sessions: In Person Events

A single $5.50 transaction fee applies to your booking.

Date Time Venue

Saturday, 07 October 2023

5:45pm

Theory Bar

 Past Event

Sunday, 08 October 2023

4:45pm

Theory Bar

Cancelled
 Cancelled

Wednesday, 11 October 2023

5:45pm

Theory Bar

Hump Day
 Past Event

Thursday, 12 October 2023

5:45pm

Theory Bar

 Past Event

Friday, 13 October 2023

5:45pm

Theory Bar

Selling Fast
 Past Event

Saturday, 14 October 2023

5:45pm

Theory Bar

Sold Out
 Past Event

Sunday, 15 October 2023

6:30pm

TIC: Swanston

 Past Event

Note: N95 Masks Required at this performance

Thursday, 19 October 2023

7:30pm

TIC: Swanston

 Past Event

Sessions: Digital Events

A single $5.50 transaction fee applies to your booking.

Date Time Venue

Saturday, 07 October 2023 -
Sunday, 22 October 2023

On Demand

Digital Fringe

 Get Tickets

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