When: 20 – 21 June | Fringe Benefits discount applies on Wed 20 & Thurs 21 June 9.15pm
Where: Artpsace, Adelaide Festival Centre
How much: Fringe Benefits members $20 | General 29.90 | Conc $24.90
Book: Check our weekly eNews for the discount code or email your member number toadmin@fringebenefits.com.au. Not a Fringe Benefits member? Sign up for free here >>

Tragic, hilarious and ferociously poetic is the best way to describe Tommy Bradson’s show at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

Go back to the early 80s when records rule the radio and groupies flock to gigs to fall for their idols. A bastard child follows his mother in the shadow of rock’n’roll where the men at the mic become the father he never had.
Multi-award winning down and dirty artist Tommy Bradson presents a love song to his mother, to Oz and to the men his mother loved.

Tommy’s show will feature re-imagined golden gems from Cold Chisel, INXS, Nick Cave and Australian Crawl.

When: 8 – 10 June | Fringe Benefits discount applies to show on Fri 10 June 9.30pm
Where: Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
How much: Fringe Benefits members  $25 | General $39.90 | Conc $34.90
Book: Check our weekly eNews for the discount code or email your member number toadmin@fringebenefits.com.au. Not a Fringe Benefits member? Sign up for free here >>

Hailing from the backstreets of Sydney, The Snowdroppers are a four man punk-soul-gutter-blues tour de force. Blistering live shows and a love of the profane have earned them a fanatical following of anyone who likes it wild, loud and dirty.

Showing as part of the 2012 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, expect to shed your grottier, stompier inhibitions at this performance.

When: 15 – 16 June | Fringe Benefits discount applies on show at Fri 15 June 7pm
Where: Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
How much: Fringe Benefits members $25 | General $39.90 | Conc $34.90
Book: Check our weekly eNews for the discount code or email your member number toadmin@fringebenefits.com.au. Not a Fringe Benefits member? Sign up for free here >>

This internationally acclaimed trio from Melbourne return to Adelaide riding a murder ballad of junkyard theatre, visual trickery, dark humor and rag’n'bone live music.

In their show, The Ballad of Backbone Joe tells a hilariously daft and gruesome tale of a murder set in a small country town, cooked up only the way The Suitcase Royal lads can!

For more information about the show check out www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au.

When: 13 – 15 June | Fringe Benefits discount applies to shows on 13 & 14 June 9.30pm
Where: Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
How much: Fringe Benefits members $25 | General $39.90 | Conc $34.90
Book: Check our weekly eNews for the discount code or email your member number toadmin@fringebenefits.com.au. Not a Fringe Benefits member? Sign up for free here >>

Paris Wells is a feisty singer/songwriter who flirts with alternative pop and electro-soul. Paris has made a name for herself playing at the Big Day Out, Meredith and Falls Festival, and touring with the likes of Lily Allen and Justin Timberlake.

In her latest show, Projected, she collaborates with street artist Brendan Coghlan (aka MONKEY) resulting in visual snippets that reinforce the narratives in her songs.

When: 8 – 10 June | Fringe Benefits discount applies to show on Sun 10 June 9pm
Where: Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre
How much: Fringe Benefits members $30 | Conc $44.90 | General $49.90
Book: Check our weekly eNews for the discount code or email your member number toadmin@fringebenefits.com.au. Not a Fringe Benefits member? Sign up for free here >>

Eddie Perfect (Network Ten’s Offspring, Shane Warne The Musical, Keating! The Musical) is back with his latest darkly satirical one man comedy.

Perfect’s first new solo show since Drink Pepsi Bitch! – Misanthropology is a kind of twisted social autopsy, examining the stranger cultural rituals we regularly find ourselves performing.

Catch him live at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2012!

When: 25, 26, 30 , 31 May & 1, 2 June at 8pm
Where: Arts Theatre, Cnr Angas St & Moore St, City
How much: Fringe Benefits members $20 | General $25
Book: Call 8251 3936 and quote your Fringe Benefits member
Special offer: Quote LEOTARD and get 2 for 1 tickets to either sessions on May 26

In an empty theatre, on a bare stage, casting for a new Broadway musical is almost complete.

For 17 dancers, this audition is the chance of a lifetime. It’s what they’ve worked for – with every drop of sweat, every hour of training, every day of their lives. It’s the one opportunity to do what they’ve always dreamed — to have the chance to dance.

This is A Chorus Line, the musical for everyone who’s ever had a dream and put it all on the line. Winner of nine Tony Awards®, including Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for drama, this singular sensation is the longest-running American Broadway musical ever.

If you missed the professional performance in January and want to see an enthusiastic and young cast perform this great show, then now is your chance!

Fringe Benefits members can get all your tickets for any session of the show at the special price of $20. Check the ticket details above to redeem the offer.

For more information about the show visit www.marieclark.asn.au/tickets/

Reviewed by Emma Lindblom

“Tom was impeccably played by Anthony Gooley, whose comic timing is as precise as an archer’s shot.”

“The second act brings hope to what seems to be a pretty grim situation with the introduction of a young and vibrant gentleman caller. I certainly wouldn’t scribble this guy off my dance card!”

Set in St. Louis in the 1930’s, The Glass Menagerie is the story of Tom Wingfield, a bitter and restless soul trapped in the life of a downtrodden warehouse worker.

Forced to support his sister Laura (played by Kate Cheel ) and mother Amanda (played by Deirdre Rubenstein), he yearns for the day when he can fly free from his responsibilities. Tom was impeccably played by Anthony Gooley, whose comic timing is as precise as an archer’s shot.

Tom’s sister, Laura, is crippled. Not only by her bad leg, but with her chronic shyness. Her quest in life to date is to remain unnoticed and her mother fears that she will end up as a “bird-like woman without any nest.”

Since her husband’s abandonment, Amanda is stuck in a world of fantasy, constantly replaying her gracious youth in the deep south filled with beauty, riches and gentleman callers (if she doesn’t say so herself!).

“What is our future?” Amanda asks. With an unmotivated son and a crippled daughter, she is living a life of fear and fragile hope that success will eventually come her children’s ways.

The second act brings hope to what seems to be a pretty grim situation with the introduction of a young and vibrant gentleman caller. I certainly wouldn’t scribble this guy off my dance card! Jim O’Conner (charmingly played by Nic English) comes over for dinner on the invite of brother Tom. Nerves are at an all-time high when Laura realises he is actually her high school crush whom she still ogles in her old year book!

Things appear to be going swimmingly until he utters the tragic words that no girl wants to hear come from the lips they have just kissed. What happens next? We’ll have to keep that bit under wraps and let you discover for yourself…

Overall, this is an unforgettable American classic that has been beautifully brought to life thanks the talented team at the State Theatre Company and the actors’ ability to perfect the St. Louis accent to a tee.

When: May 4 – 26
Where: Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, King William St, City
Tickets: Fringe Benefits members $29 | General $49 | Conc $42
Book: Select the Under 30 option when you book at www.bass.net.au | Call 131 246 | Visit any Bass outlet

SOCIAL PICS >>
We were at the Red Carpet Party. Were you? Check out our social pics >>

A special thanks to photographer, Megan Taylor, for taking the snaps. Normally she specialises in nature photography but we think she makes a damn fine event photographer too!

When: Thurs 17 May, doors open 9pm
Where: HQ, Adelaide
How much: Fringe Benefits members $40 (at the door only) | General $50+bf at Moshtix >>
Show your Fringe Benefits card at the door for the discount

Having pioneered the electro-punk and indie dance movement, making rapturous appearances at festivals such as Parklife, Coachella and venues worldwide, the German electro duo otherwise known as Digitalism will be throwing down their distorted baselines and thumping rhythms this Thursday at Light Square House.

Witness first hand Digitalism’s sound crossing the limits between Electro, Rock and Indie.

When: Thurs 31 May, 6pm
Where: These Walls Don’t Lie gallery, 8 Unley Rd, Unley
How much: Free entry

The long-awaited launch of the new gallery space, These Walls Don’t Lie, is expected to showcase one of Adelaide’s most diverse and extensive range of local artworks.

Ranging from fine art to street art, traditional to contemporary, their first exhibition will highlight each artist’s personal style and flare.

Featured artists will include:

Alex Gilchrist, Alex Kwong, Angus Long, Dan Withey, Donovan Christie, Ellie Kammer (featured on the left), Emma Appleyard, Erik Meeuwissen, Fletch, Fruzsi Kenez, Gary Seaman, Grots, Jack Bridges, Jake 1, Jake 2, James Dean, Joshua Miels, Joshua Searson, Joshua Smith, Kate Kowald, Lisa King, Lucas Croall, Luke Trevorrow, Matthew Stuckey, Nick Rutten, Nick Strutton, Sam Evans, Steve O’Conner, Store, Rebecca Murphy, Roger, Tarns, Thomas Borgas, Yanni Floros.

Reviewed by Miranda Richardson

“It’s an intense experience, layered with meaning and sensation, and well-worth seeing.”

Land & Sea explores the nature of reality through the physical depiction of a psychological world. It is simultaneously cryptic yet vivid, disorienting yet absorbing, challenging yet precise.

The show begins with the actors obscured behind a ghostly haze of pale fabric. Soon it is whipped up into the dark as the lights fade and the stage is clear, but the characters remain in the same dream-like state. Land & Sea sweeps up the audience and carries us through worlds linked only by essence. Very much like the mind itself, it continually morphs and shifts, giving thoughts texture and tangibility.

The beautiful set echoes this as it too moves in surprising ways. Its supposed boundaries are broken over and over, as characters walk through them or as it simply falls and folds out of itself, opening up new spaces.

Hilary Kleinig’s eerie music perfectly accompanies every word or change in mood throughout the show. She performs with the actors in a corner of the stage with smooth vocals, cello and piano. Geoff Cobham’s lighting design was equally exceptional, using light in incredible ways. At various points, the young girl (Danielle Catanzarati) carries a basket of lights, and eases into a pool of water reflections on the ground.

Land & Sea is presented through a dynamic group of actors. Jacqy Phillips’ aching voice fills the room when she speaks or sings, the young man (Thomas Conroy) shows many subtle changes in mood when you watch closely.

And Rory Walker effectively portrays a lonely man making futile attempts to assert his control over his surroundings. However, Danielle Catanzariti’s draws the most attention with her intriguing character of an intelligent young girl experiencing frustration at finding roles in life she did not expect. All four show a sense of loss and confusion.

This show is not all brain-meltingly abstract though — there’s some great humour thrown in, particularly when Jacqy Philliips’ character offers suggestions for a homeless person’s methods of ‘marketing’ her cause.

Land & Sea explores alienation, memory, control, disappointment, and existence itself. It’s an intense experience, layered with meaning and sensation, and well-worth seeing.

When: Sat 12 – Sat 26 May | Showing Monday to Saturdays 8pm
Where: Queen’s Theatre, Playhouse Lane & Gilles Arcade (off Currie St)
How much: Fringe Benefits members $25 | General $45 | Concession $35 | Group 6+ $35
Book: Go to trybooking.com or book at BASS with the codeword FRINGEBENEFITS
Fringe Benefits members must present their card for proof of membership when collecting tickets