Live theatre is back, baby!

At 11:59PM last night, the very moment restrictions lifted, Melbourne Fringe swung open the doors of Ormond Hall and invited 100 happy audience members inside for the first in-theatre show post-lockdown.

Produced by MILKE, ‘Midnight Mess’ was a celebratory explosion of live performance and a whole lot of silliness from Gary Starr, Annie Louey, Tash York, Shiralee Hood and Hot Department, hosted by the brilliant Reuben Kaye.

Creative Director and CEO Simon Abrahams kicked off the night at 11:59 on the dot, ringing in (literally, he had a big bell) the re-opening of live theatre to a crowd of punters, photographers and even a telly news crew. The bubbles (and maybe even a few happy tears) were flowing, spirits were soaring and everyone just had a damn good time. Read what our mates at Time Out had to say about it here.

Midnight Mess kicked off our final week of Melbourne Fringe Festival, and more IRL events are in store, including Jude Perl’s ‘I Have A Face’, Snuff Lover’s heART and, of course, our massive participatory dance event ‘Multiply’. Multiply is still accepting registrations, so if this IRL talk is giving you FOMO, sign up now.  You can also check out the Screen Free Guide to Fringe here for all the lovely “out in the world” stuff on offer.

Left: Midnight Mess, Melbourne Fringe Festival 2020. Photo by Duncan Jacob.