ff2010 Wrap

And so, with just over six days until my first Fringe show of 2011, I finish writing up the shows from 2010.

117 unique shows in all – 104 Fringe, 13 Festival – and I saw 3 Fringe shows twice each. On top of that, I managed to get along to a whole stack of Visual Arts displays under each umbrella (at least 30 Fringe pieces, plus the Biennial and the EAF / Samstag pieces from the Festival)…

…and, best of all, I managed to blag my way into the Fringe Awards on the last Sunday night of the Festival.

And that was awesome.

A great night – much more polished than I would have imagined! – with great people… it was wonderful hobnobbing with a lot of artists I adore, old and new friends alike; and just being there for the event, for the reactions.

Let’s recap the awards… winners in bold italics!

BankSA People’s Choice Award
Operation Mincemeat
Scaramouche Jones
Words They Make with their Mouths

Adelaide Festival Centre inSPACE:development Award
Beatburger
Livefish
Nikki Aitken Presents
Too Far Again, Not Far Enough

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Fringe Venue Operation
Arcade Lane
Garden of Unearthly Delights
Higher Ground
The Birdcage
The Stables
Tuxedo Cat

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Puppetry
The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer
Sarkadi’s Budapest Marionettes
Sticks Stones Broken Bones
The Grimstones – Hatched

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Dance
Foxing Round a Story
Pickled.
Sketches of Blood
Too Far Again, Not Far Enough

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Circus
And the Little One Said
Controlled Falling Project
Dos or Duo
Freefall

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Cabaret
Die Roten Punkte – Rock!
In Search of Atlantis
Nikki Aitken Presents
The Wau Wau Sisters’ Last Supper
When The Sex Is Gone
Where Was I?

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Music
Beatburger
C. W. Stoneking
Josh Bennett
Katie Noonan
The Adelaide Sax Pack Does the Eighties, Nineties and Naughties

Eran Svigos Award for Best Body of Work By An Individual
Sarah Beetson (“YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU EAT: Eating Disorders In Fashion”)
Violet Cooper (The Cars That Ate Screamdance)
Emma Hack (Exotic & Native Mandala with Broadhurst Delights)
Julie Millowick (Close to Home)
Todd Romanowycz (Romy Art)
Ryan Sims (Mechanical Workshop)

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Exhibition By A Collective
2010 Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition
2010 Heysen Sculpture Biennial B5
Format Festival
Hedgemaze
Invisible Red Threads
Knitting Nancy
Palmer Sculpture Biennial 2010
Quiet Reader
Shapeshifter: City/Adelaide

BankSA Support Act Award
Foxing Round A Story
Nick Parnell – Bach to Brazil
Shapeshifter: City/Adelaide
Vigilantelope Presents Tale of the Golden Lease
When The Sex Is Gone

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Emerging Comedian
Granny Flaps – Opens Up
Sargasm
The Golden Phung
The List Operators

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Established Comedian
Adam Hills – Mess Around
David O’Doherty – David O’Doh-party
Ivan Brackenbury’s Hospital Radio Roadshow
Hannah Gadsby – The Cliff Young Shuffle
Stevl Shefn and his Translator Fatima

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Theatre Production
a tiny chorus
en route
Heroin(e) for Breakfast
The Event

Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Theatre Performer
David Calvitto (The Event)
Eryn Jean Norvill (a tiny chorus)
Hayley Shillito (Heroin(e) for Breakfast)
Emily Tomlins (a tiny chorus)

Now, there’s a whole heap of winners in that lot that I didn’t see… but I want to dance about, singing the praises of a couple in particular. Steve Sheehan picking up best established comedian was fantastic, and I couldn’t be happier that Alvin Sputnik got some recognition… but I was totally ecstatic for the Freefall guys (only a couple of which could attend the Awards ceremony because of age restrictions!). I feel blessed to have been able to congratulate and chat with them just after picking up the Award, though they were more startled than thankful for my praise-singing; understandable enough, I think, given the way I launched myself at them.

In the post-Fringe malaise that usually engulfs me, I tool solace in the reading of all the stuff I should have been reading during the event. And there was some interesting stuff in the media; but one snippet, in particular, caught my eye. And I hate to admit it, but I’ve had to applaud Justin Hamilton for his comments in the Messenger (City North Messenger, 24 Feb 2010)…

“I feel the Garden, having so much of an emphasis now, has maybe stopped theatrical pieces from finding a footing,” he says.

“Of course part of the Fringe is hanging out, but there is this ongoing battle to find suitable venues to create a hub.”

Of course, like the rest of his act, Hammo could well have nicked that comment from someone else (oooh, snide!)… but I have to give him props for voicing those words in an interview. Because, with the forced closure of the wonderful Rooftop Bar at the Tuxedo Cat, we’re seeing a spreading of venues across the city now, with less of an emphasis on Rundle Street; sure, Gluttony is setting up camp a mere minute’s walk from my new abode, but I’d hate to think that the Fringe will become further marginalised in the minds of people to The End Of Rundle. There’s a ton of venues out there, old and new, that deserve our patronage: I’ve already peeked inside the new TuxCat, and it looks fantastic; across the road, Weslo are setting up shop in the Adelaide Town Hall, so that little part of King William Street will hopefully become a buzzing hub. And let’s not forget Guy Masterson’s Centre for International Theatre at Higher Ground, which is near the Nexus… there’s lots of little hives of activity springing up, covering theatre and cabaret and comedy alike, all over town… not just near the Garden. So let’s give these venues a chance, shall we?

Worrying semi-rant over… I’ve got some scheduling to do, and I hope you’re all ploughing through the ‘Guide too (I’ve seen two quotes from this blog so far!). I hope to see you all out and about in the next month-and-a-half; happy Fringe 2011!