F for Fringe (Award) and Feminist

Our Participant Services team and Simon, our Creative Director, have been jet setting around, seeing some amazing work in Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, New Zealand and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals (it’s a hard life, we know!). Some of the work was so jaw-droppingly good, they have decided to bring them to Melbourne Fringe 2018 as part of our Touring Award program. This incredible cohort of artists will be presenting strong, feminist work at the Festival this year and we have some absolute crackers. And the Melbourne Fringe Touring Award(s) go to…

• 19 Weeks has been the hit of Adelaide Fringe, an extraordinary, raw, honest new play that takes place in a real swimming pool (audience are safely sitting by the edges, fear not).
• Eggistentialism by Irish writer-performer Joanne Ryan has won awards in England, Ireland and Scotland, and will come to Melbourne this year – it’s funny and political all at once and super fringe-y.
• Billie Mccarthy Takes Up Space – one of Sydney’s favorite live performers, Billie is coming to Melbourne to perform her work about being too much, too fat, too opinionated or too passionate – it’s a story that is determined to take up space.
• Future’s Eve by Michelle Aitken was a hit at Perth’s Fringe World Festival and it’s all about female androids, fembots if you will. A one woman, one roomba show examining the gendered functions and dysfunctions of female androids. We would be ridiculous not to bring this show to Melbourne.

Whilst we have been busy travelling to see new work, some of our Fringe artists have been travelling all over the world presenting their work at partner festivals. The Travelling Sisters send their hello from New Zealand Fringe, and Cactus and The Mime and How to Kill the Queen of Pop have been absolutely smashing it at Fringe World at Perth. Plus we can’t wait to see a whole host of Fringe artists performing at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Image credit: 19 Weeks