Phil Dadson and Adrian Hall tune in at Chick's Hotel
yesterday. Photo by Gregor Richardson.
I had the most magical Fringe experience last night. And
it didn't even involve going to a performance.
I was with a group of friends sitting outside Mou Very in
George St late on Sunday night - well, early on Monday
morning, to be more honest - when Melbourne ukulele player
Thom Jackson started to strum some tunes.
Then violinist Chris Prosser and Butoh dancer Sascha Perfect
from the Wellington production Quantum Enigma joined
in and before you knew it a crowd of more than 20 people was
involved singing, clapping and dancing.
Jackson is a ukulele virtuoso and rolled out everything from
Summertime and Danny Boy to Nirvana
classics over the next three hours.
University of Otago music student William Jackson added his
rich baritone and Joseph Worley, who will ride his
"Beam-Crawler" hybrid exercise machine across a disused walk
bridge over the Water of Leith in "Leith Crossing" this
Saturday, joined in with a Cossack dance.
It was like a gypsy family band had descended on the middle
of town.
It was truly the magic of the Fringe and an absolute treat to
experience.
Popped down to Chick's Hotel in Port Chalmers yesterday to
see the Phil Dadson and Adrian Hall collaboration "New Live
Sound Works".
The two old friends first met when they were sweeping Paihia
beach in 1971.
"This is our first collaboration together since then," Hall
grinned.
Dadson formed Auckland cult experimental band "From Scratch"
30 years ago and had assembled an eclectic collection of
home-made electric instruments for the performance.
"I've been making instruments for years," Dadson said.
"I'll build one instrument and it generates another.
"I've built a whole family of instruments.
"I call it my `sprong family'."
The sound machines have names such as the "sloop spring
string drum".
"New Live Cinemas" is on at Chick's again tonight.
See what it's all about at 8.30pm.
The evocative and raw Heel Ruby opens at the Allen
Hall Theatre tonight.
The work is produced and performed by New Zealand School of
Dance and Unitec graduates Emily Campbell, Zahra
Killeen-Chance and Carly Townrow and explores the
psychological architecture of Judy Garland, who was thrust
into an uneasy fame as Dorothy in The Wizard if Oz.
"We all have three masks: That which we present to the world,
that which we present to ourselves and that which is our
truth," Campbell says.
Another fascinating work opening today is the Core
exhibition at the Blue Oyster Gallery.
The exhibition is the denouement of the
one-off Core performance piece by Red River
held in a High St warehouse last Thursday night.
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.