Above : Singer-songwriter Brendan Maclean.
This diverse range of six talented queer communicators boldly offer us ideas, feelings and a range of stories. Hosted and collected by Maeve Marsden, enthe show features a comedian, a comedian-singer, video art, singer-songwriter and drag artist spanning genders and sexualities various. All acts utilise the sympathetic piano accompaniment from Musical Director Benjamin Kiehne. This entertaining artistic comment, lasting just over an hour is elevated, intelligent and current.
Politics and brave presentation of identities are present in all segments, which were presented with fierce subtlety and slick force. The impact of Covid -19 isolation and a changed arts industry feature in the stories as the performers, grateful for an audience, expose their personal histories, their concerns and experience
before us.
Humble, bold, raw and no-nonsense gritty honesty is the tone of the flawless and polished delivery across the various genres on offer. The strength of Sydney’s queer community’s performers is clearly in evidence throughout this worthwhile romp and ideal fringe festival style event.
With the intimate Old 505 Theatre’s trail-blazing and expertly executed Covid-safe guidelines, this event contributes significantly to the 2020 Sydney and Global Fringe expression and a re-emerging theatre presence in Newtown.
Above : Queers On The Fringe host Maeve Marsden.
There is also a streamed event of offer for those around the world who wish to or must process the dynamic stories virtually. Maeve Marsden and her team of equally direct queers who have dealt with years and not only months of confusing challenges take great care of audiences returning to the theatre craving to be amused and moved.
The show rocks and rockets along, engaging the audience instantly, gripping up with its talent, confidence and a well-paced, wry take on reality.
In this current Bisexual Awareness Week, comedian Nina Oyama who identifies as bisexual, gets the party started via a gently shocking and thought-provoking delivery. Her very natural chat continually pulls the queer quilt over our widened eyes and modern sensibilities.
Above : Comedian Nina Oyama
This friendly firecracker of an opening is followed by Victoria Zerbst’s hilarious skills and solo cabaret-ready singing and storytelling. This is a slick sharing of a tale of iso-heartbreak with well chiselled commentary on this year, this humanity and the humour to be had in the plight of the queer romantic breaking up and searching for flashy ways to make up.
Excellent scathing comment on surviving queer life on the fringe and in the thick of it all continues with original songs blasting the small venue apart with singer-songwriter Brendan Maclean’s kaleidoscopic, concise satire on community challenges complete with ukelele and crown.
These scathing songs had me heading straight to Spotify to relive the beautifully set cynicism and truths again,as well as discovering more of this fine-voiced artist’s suggestion on surviving queer life and love.
Above : Comedian Victoria Zerbst
Beautiful model-like video art from rap artist Jamaica Moana in absentia interstate was a stunning vignette and interlude between the live acts. It is a sample of the quality of queer artists often working hard around and bravely in from the fringe in our city.
The impact of this event sans interval is crowned in hyper-elegant poignancy with drag queen Jojo Zaho’s lip-sync to ‘Colours Of The Wind’ from Disney’s Pocohontas. This simply beautiful and svelte sculpturing includes one of the best costume-cum-political-sentiment-reveals of the Fringe live and streamed stage and that I have enjoyed on the drag scene for some time.
Above : Drag performer Jojo Zaho
Queers on the Fringe is pure entertainment, sitting strongly as a well-programmed and perfectly paced tongue-in-cheek, hand-on-the-heart part of the live Sydney and Global Fringe festivals. Well worth the return to the Old 505 Theatre, it will also satisfy as a visual and vocal treat in successful streaming mode. Not to be missed.
