Kicking up Dirt in Perth

James as the ever slimy obnoxious 'Sam'
Photo by Helena Waldmann

James has been in Perth for the past week shaking it up with with Dirt and The Three Little Pigs at the Fringe World Festival... as part of a selection of South African theatre sent over by our National Arts Festival.  Which is so exciting.  I just wish we (Nick and I) could be there too.  For me it is my first international outing with a piece of work.  If I look at the pics below for long enough I can teleport myself there and for a moment I can feel the bustle of a ticket tent.  The distant sounds of a local band. The laugher pouring out from under an umbrella.  The faint taste of cold beer.  Nice.  And then add to that cafe lights and a whole lot of great theatre.  Love.  Envy.  Sigh.  So yes there is a lot of buzz emanating from the heatwave in West Australia on the South African theatre that is there at the moment.... Rob Van Vuuren had something to say about it being hotter than hot...

So what's up with James down under...

'The Three Little Pigs'... which I was lucky enough to catch again in Cape Town a few weeks ago is rocking...  A great review here.  What original brave theatre.  I loved it the first time.  And more still the second time.  And then Dirt has been called by one reviewer 'the performance of the festival.'  And both shows have been nominated for an Artrage Theatre Award.  Check it out.  It's exciting.

James and I spent many hours and days re-rehearsing Dirt, getting it back up on its feet and then taking it further... to be ready to head to Australia.  We spent the first part of our rehearsals remembering the blocking and then about three days in, it got exciting...  When you move beyond the words and the basic blocking and into the intricacies of each characters rhythm, speech pattern, vibration, physical state...  When you can think of the three lead characters playing in a jazz band trio.  Wayne... the unpredictable wind instrument bouncing all over the place... on a tangent of his own.  The comic foil.  Sam... the trombone drawing out his words in his inward self satisfying drawl.  The one we love to hate.  Grant... the drum beat... the constant... the fixed point... the voice of reason holding it together.  The guy you trust.  So, from voice to the minute detail of theatrical space... creating the illusion through carefully plotted reactions, eye-line, transitions.  I thought so very many times how schizophrenic it all was... he talks to himself so very well.  The magic of theatre.

The festival hub.  How pretty.
Photo by Cam Campbell

Throngs of theatre goers... makes me want to go too.
Photo from World Fringe facebook page