The only South-side arts and theatre precinct running during the annual Melbourne Fringe Festival, The Boardwalk Republic has fast become a regular hub highlight of the Festival.
Drawing its’ inspiration from two of America’s most well known boardwalks in entertainment history; the infamous Atlantic City, and the family friendly Coney Island, The Boardwalk Republic returns again this year; brighter, louder and with more shows and attractions than ever.
Now in its third year and staged within the popular Gasworks Arts Park and buildings, the program is designed as a family friendly Arts Festival. With 15 shows in the line-up, The Boardwalk Republic offers up a veritable feast of entertainment for audiences with circus, theatre, comedy, cabaret, burlesque, magic, and sideshow all in the mix.
Highlights of The Boardwalk Republic 2016 program includes:
The Element of Consequence
Circus has a natural suspense, but what takes place when you embrace those dangers and then seek even more? Delving into the absurd, four fiery female acrobats entwine their skills and bodies to create a world where gravity doesn’t always pull downwards… 2016 Gasworks Circus Showdown winners, The Element of Consequence bring their unique dialogue of movement and circus to life with a fluid sense of chaotic choreography; showcasing a cast that has an inimitable sassy style, who are happy to break all the rules.
Sediment
After international success with Cantina and more recently Scotch and Soda, performer/director duo David Carberry and Chelsea McGuffin collaborate with circus artist Alice Muntz and delve a little further into the exploration of their genre bending art form; blending circus, dance and live music into a genre of its’ own. Inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground, Sediment explores the quirky, dark and at times comical nature of the human disposition to always question; to push, to pull, to strive, to fall, and to push again.
By a Thread
Long spools of white rope run through pulley sheaves and wrap around bodies, explicitly connecting the artists’ movements above and off the ground. Like the booms and sheets of a sailing ship the performers are hoisted and swung by one another to create striking tableaux and breath-taking dynamics. By a Thread offers rich visuals of inventive aerial acrobatics and spectacular skills from some of Australia’s best emerging circus artists. With intense training in a breadth of contemporary circus disciplines, the performers have pooled their knowledge and skills and then exploded the traditional boundaries of these disciplines.
Cath Jamison & Shane Hill: Hypnotic
Recognised as two of Australia’s major talents in psychic and mystery entertainment. They have featured on numerous television and radio shows, Australian Music Magazine referred to the performance as “That Weird Place Where Science Meets the Dark Arts.” Their unique ability, using an understanding of the human mind, with skills in mentalism and the paranormal, creates mystery, excitement and fun, getting audience members to demonstrate their own impossible skills and psychic abilities, and even the most zealous nonbelievers are left scratching their heads.
Pedal.Peddle
House of Sand ate up the 2016 NZ Fringe with two new dance/theatre works, taking out seven Fringe Award noms and three wins including Most Promising Emerging Company. Pedal.Peddle is the company’s first work, and the prequel to multi-award winning Castles. In her first solo, emerging star of the cross-artform stage Eliza Sanders brings all her artistic skills to the table. Text, movement, her physically virtuosic dance, visual art influences and song.
Super Musician by Die Roten Punkte
Otto & Astrid are Berlin’s Prince and Princess of art rock and Europop. Orphaned as kids, the brother and sister duo found shelter in a Berlin squat and never rockin’ well looked back. A lipstick-smeared, tantrum-loving duo, Die Roten Punkte (The Red Dots) are truly one of a kind. Astrid’s avant-garde style and legendary antics inspire both reverence and fear, while Otto’s dynamic stage presence brings to mind a whirling dervish on meth. Super Musician is a wild, rock ‘n’ roll cabaret ride, full of hilarious, truly catchy and award winning pop songs.
The Boardwalk Republic continues at Gasworks Arts Park until 1 October 2016. For more information and complete program, visit: www.gasworks.org.au for details.
Image: The Boardwalk Republic