Review – Bushpig

[This review is an edited re-print of our review from the Adelaide Fringe earlier this year.]

Aunt Vivian is back in town, minus a daughter. Ashlynn – or it is Trinity now? – made it as a TV sensation in the Big Smoke and wouldn’t deign to return. Now Bushpig is about to set out on her own journey, but where does she belong? Can she become a star too?

This is exactly the sort of theatre the Fringe is for: small, crafted, ambitious, glamorous, dark, magical and profound. Hannah Malarski is a story-teller with a frightening range, able to conjure up dozens of unique and diverse characters to populate her world. Jack Richardson, meanwhile, works simple lighting and sound effects in perfect synchronicity with Hannah’s performance to bring this fable to life. With a flick of a lamp switch or a well-timed looped vocal, he reminds us just how far you can completely upend the tone of a scene. Few other production teams are able to achieve so much with so little.

Bushpig was hands-down the most intriguing show to surface at this year’s Adelaide Fringe, and its limited run at Melbourne is likely to sell out. This is one you’re going to want to book tickets to in advance, because there might not be guaranteed tickets on the door.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3sBNgRZfsk&w=400]