Welcome ‘Fringe Bingers’ to another four and a half weeks of Fringe madness!
Perth Fringe World 2017 has about the same number of shows
as last year (715), but a few more ‘BIG acts’ are jumping on the Perth Fringe
World bandwagon for 2017.
As festivals go, Perth overtook Brighton as the worlds third
biggest Fringe Festival in 2015. Not bad, as Perth Fringe in its current
format, (there was a small experimental fringe festival in the mid1990’s), only
started in 2012. Brighton Fringe started in 1967! Edinburgh Fringe is the
biggest, starting in 1947. Adelaide, second, started in 1960.
For those of you who are Fringe virgins, get on board! The
problem with the very name ‘Fringe’, is that it conjures up images of weird,
extreme and bizarre acts that don’t appeal to the average Joe. This couldn’t be
further from the truth. The fact is that most shows appeal to mainstream
audiences. Shows range from ‘An Absolute Idiot’s Guide to Art’, (Comedy) to ‘4
Stuntmen of the Apocalypse: Fear of the D4rk’, (Circus), with the clear
majority falling into the ‘safe’ category.
Each show has a been given a ‘UV Rating”: ‘Mild, ‘Medium,
‘Hot’ and ‘Very Hot’, by the Fringe World organisers. Most shows are in the first two categories.
The categories are the same as last year, ‘Cabaret’ has 105
acts, in venues as grand as a ‘Spiegeltent’, (Dutch for mirror tent), holding
400-600 people, to Rigby’s Bar in Perth, and everything in between.’ Children’s
Events’ has 46 shows, ‘Circus’ 23. ‘Comedy’ is by far the biggest category with
303 acts. ‘Dance and Physical Theatre’ has 15, ‘Film’ has 5, ‘Free and
Community Events’ 26, ‘Music & Musicals’ 76, ‘Theatre’ 101 and ‘Visual Art’
17!
Most of us have large plasma or LCD TV’s and or even bigger ‘Home
Theatre’ screens at home, but nothing compares to the experience of seeing live
performances up close and personal!
Selecting the best shows from the Fringe World guide can be a
daunting experience for the uninitiated.
If it all looks too overwhelming, select shows from our “curated” lists,
which will be published over the next couple of weeks.
Choose as many shows as you can from the ‘Top 20 Shows’
list. Remember, price is a guide to how large and proven a show is. Multi-act
shows like La Soiree, Limbo, Velvet, Briefs and Barbu are the biggest shows
this year and have up to 20 performers per show. If you want cheaper shows,
look for ones on the separate category lists.
We have only listed shows that
have been reviewed by ourselves, newspapers, magazines and on-line entertainment
guides, or that have won awards or been nominated for an award.
From now until the start of Fringe, save all your pennies and
see as many shows as you can between Friday 20 January and Sunday 19 February.
It wasn’t too long ago that we had to jump on a plane and go to Melbourne to
see a ‘Festival’. Now we have our own and it’s huge!!! What you would spend on
airfares and accommodation, you can spend ‘binging on Fringe’ at home!
