The weather has taken a turn here in Adelaide. It seems apt as the sky corresponds very well with how hungover I am... always moggy and slightly grey in the morning, but eventually it clears to lovely bright blue , before then darkening slowly and getting chilly once it's time to drink and dance again in the arts bar.
The moon here is huge and fantastic. Not like the UK moon which never seems that bright but instead rather shy, this one looks like it's been painted in neon paint. I swear it is bigger. The stars are fantastic, littering all of the skyline. Being the cliche artsy festival person I have become, I have spent many a night lying on the bank in the Arts Bar looking up at the stars, imagining I'm in an episode of Star Trek.
This week-off from performing Being Barbarella has been the perfect breather before I restart the show next week in The Producers again. It has resulted in me seeing as many shows as I possibly can, writing as much as I can, and discovering as much of Adelaide I can, alongside trying to see as many people here as possible. I've fallen in love with everyone and the concept of not seeing many of them again is a thought I can't bare just yet. I've been very much 'on-the-go' partly because I now have swapped in the crutches for a huge f*ck-off moon-boot on my right leg (damn you foot fractures), making me walk like the love child of Clint Eastwood and the Hunchback of Notre Damn. One positive of the moon boot is that my dancing has improved significantly. This has been crucial this week.
On Tuesday Jenny Collier and Tamar Broadbent and I went on a 'girls day' to a local 'paradise' beach. When I say local, I mean a beach that took an hour to get to, and when I say 'paradise' I mean a beach which had lovely grassy sand, crystal clear strong water, a long lone pier to walk a long, and absolutely NO PEOPLE. It was perfect. Jenny and I did wonder if Tamar was intending to murder us here as part of me did feel like we'd walked into the first part of Albert Camus's The Stranger, but actually the lack of people was pretty perfect for the three of us and not half as horrror movie esque as it may sound. The privacy meant we could just relax and do all the typical girl things that girls do: get our wangs out, rub suncream into eachothers backs, pillow fight, piss in the sea.... and chat about all the usual important topics: periods, our vaginas, boys, the patriarchy etc etc etc...
Aftewards I saw two very good shows - NIck Nemeroff's You're All Dumb Idiots at The Producers Bar, and then Greg Fleet's This is Not a Love Song at Tuxedo Cat. Afterwards I walked into a local gig at the Cranker to support a few friends, but after the first comedian made the following of many jokes about women, "I find it hard to get girls to sleep with me, luckilly I'm a lot stronger than they are", this was Tamar and I's cue to sigh, stand-up and leave. We made the right decision after this to get pasta with a talented Melbourne comic called Emily who had also been frustrated at the rape comedy still going strong on local comedy bills.
Wednesday was ANOTHER GIRLS DAY - this time it was with the wonderful babes from The Sound of Nazis at Tuxedo Cat and a lovely reviewer from TREv called Chloe. We drove to HANDORF - the local german village which is the pride of many Radelaiders. As with the theme of it being a 'Girls Day' on the journey to Handorf we listened to Celine Dion and Cyndi Lauper on repeat and discussed our favourite cooking recipes and ladies magazines. We at no point put Kanye West on and rapped the entirity of Black Skinhead word for word Nuh huh. We are ladies.
Handorf was wonderful. It's a very nice high-street with some sausages on it and icecream. Also, a craft store that sells Gollywogs, but we'll overlook that part...
I made myself a candle with something called a 'Wick Dipper' (I giggled) and then the four of us went to traditional german restaruant and had huge pints of german Ale, Schnitzel and german cheese. GIRLS DAY!
Afterwards, I watched THE INCREDIBLE Helen Duff's show VANITY BITES BACK - which had me crying and laughing in equal measure, making me face up to a lot of elements of my life that I have chosen not to think on for a long time. If you can, go see it. 6pm at The Producers. It is superb.
One major part of this festival which I loving is how many amazing women performers are here, dominating and curating this festival.
There is such a large array of inspiring women creating work here. Work that tackles topics of continous importance in modern day society - doing so through theatre, performance art, clown and comedy which is refreshing, unique and honest. From Bryony Kimmings, Tessa Waters and 'WOMANZ', Ro Hutson, Adrienne Truscott to Helen Duff herself, to my fellow comics like Jenny and Tamar, to the burlesque and cabaret performers from The Naked Cabaret and Tuxedo Cat, it is the women here that have blown my mind this festival. I am so lucky to be in an industry that nourishes such talent and that has such support for one another. Despite the dirt and mud of the rape jokes and 'anti-women' sentiment that still sifts through occassionally it is great to know there are producers, organisers, performers and writers who are biting back. There is no such thing as a typical 'Girls Day' - we are completely unpredictable.
Anways, many othe awesome things have happened too this week... a DJ Set, a Beyonce Dance Off, coffee with Paul Curry, but I must crack on... I have lots of postcards to write before this festival ends and I need to get a move on....
LOVE YOU LOADS
