presented by Vitalstatistix
4,5,9 & 11 March
Queens Theatre (Playhouse Lane, cnr Gilles Arcade, Adelaide)
Tix at fringetix
Brown Council are back, and they’re revealing the dark side of comedy with their latest endurance spectacular, A Comedy. Since winning the 2009 Adelaide Fringe Award for Best Theatre Production for their quirky and macabre take on speed dating, Six Minute Soul Mate, these Sydney artists have been shining a spotlight on what makes us laugh. And the answer is not always funny.
 |
| A scene from Six Minute Soul Mate in the 2009 Adelaide Fringe. |
Brown Council is a four piece Australian video/performance art collaboration consisting of: Frances Barrett, Kate Blackmore, Kelly Doley and Diana Smith, who explore the intersections between performance art and theatre. Brown Council reclaim, embody and tear-apart images, sounds and actions from visual and popular culture. Are those dunces’ caps or the more sinister hoods we are familiar with from the pictures of tortured Abu Grahib prisoners? Their video installations and live performances have featured in festivals, exhibitions and events throughout the world.
Brown Council’s A Comedy pushes the threshold between entertainment and provocation, beginning like a late night variety show and escalating into the realm of violence, mortification and impossible conquests. Audiences will laugh, groan, and, long after they’ve left the theatre, question why they laughed at all.
The work premiered at Melbourne’s Next Wave festival in 2010, supported by Vitalstatistix’s annual residency program Incubator. After further development it showed in Sydney at Performance Space’s fast and furious festival of new ideas, Liveworks. Both times, A Comedy provoked polarising reactions, from walk outs to gross outs, laughter to horror. It was described as “critically insightful…a highlight of the festival” when it played at Liveworks, and inspired one reviewer to ask “are we horrible people?” of herself and her fellow audience members. A Melbourne audience member was overheard to say “I couldn’t watch but I couldn’t look away.”
In this endurance work, audiences can stay for an hour or stay for the full catastrophe. With four shows repeated back-to-back each night, Brown Council build a highly charged experience challenging the limits of an audience, themselves and the genre of comedy itself. As an audience member, embracing your complicity will influence your own and others experience of the performance. Add a dark and cheesy soundtrack, some all too familiar stand-up routines inside a well-loved heritage venue (Queen’s Theatre) and you have will have yourself the Fringe experience of a lifetime, replete with a funky lounge bar hosted by performer, Jo Zealand.
'A Comedy remains my favourite for its intelligent conception, excellent execution and the collective exuberance it unleashed.' Caroline Wake, RealTime
'Utterly compelling, with much food for thought.' Fiona McGregor, RealTime
Download the A Comedy by Brown Council poster
Four nights only!
Friday 4th March, Saturday 5th March, Wednesday 9th March & Friday 11th March
55min shows at 7pm, 8pm, 9pm & 10pm
Up for an endurance experience? Stay for more than one show - once you are in, you can stay in.
Queen’s Theatre, Playhouse Lane (cnr Gilles Arcade), Adelaide
$25/$20 conc/$18 Fringe Benefits
Book at Bass or fringetix
Enjoy our lounge bar from 6pm til late each night
www.browncouncil.com
Friday 4th March, Saturday 5th March, Wednesday 9th March & Friday 11th March
55min shows at 7pm, 8pm, 9pm & 10pm
Up for an endurance experience? Stay for more than one show - once you are in, you can stay in.
Queen’s Theatre, Playhouse Lane (cnr Gilles Arcade), Adelaide
$25/$20 conc/$18 Fringe Benefits
Book at Bass or fringetix
Enjoy our lounge bar from 6pm til late each night
www.browncouncil.com
No comments:
Post a Comment