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Wits and Whisky – Dorothy in Oz, An Immersive Cocktail Adventure

08/09/202507/09/2025 Linda Lokhee🏆🥇🦉

Dorothy In Oz: An Immersive Cocktail Adventure Rating

★★★★★

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Writer and director Alex K. Wregg brings his lifelong love of the Oz books by L Frank Baum to life at the 2025 Sydney Fringe Festival. His latest imaginative experience Dorothy in Oz is introduced as an experience where guests attend a birthday celebration for Princess Ozma of Oz. I had no idea about what lay ahead in our adventure and the mystery of this added to the suspense.

We started our journey in Kansas, sitting on hay bales and drinking a preshow drink from the bar titled Baum’s Marvellous Medicines – Potions, Tinctures, Remedies. It is here we met Dorothy, played with girlish charm by Bethan Williams. She was the guide that lead us safely into the world of Oz after she suspects a tornado was on the way.

The theme of the different lands where we begin is clear when we step through the tornado tunnel. There are tables beautifully decorated in vibrant colours, representing the different lands. As with all things magical, there were fairy lights adding to the atmosphere. The guests were greeted by The Scarecrow, played by Adam Watt, and we were able to gravitate to whatever table colour we wished to sit at to begin our night. Throughout the performance, Adam maintained the thoughtful and sweet nature of the Scarecrow and deserves a shout out for when he answered some of my questions with quick witted Oz related answers multiple times.

Production designer and build, Paul Bujak created a space that appealed visually and made me want to explore the area (the different lands) immediately! I did go for a wander around when I first came in.

On one wall, there was a poster of Oz, titled “The Marvellous Land of Oz” and it pulled together the five different lands; Winkie Country, Gillikin Country, Munchkin Country, Quadling Country, all of which surrounded the famous Emerald City. Bordered on four sides by the Great Sandy Waste, Shifting Sands, Impassable Desert and Deadly Desert, this map’s artwork was truly beautiful, and I could have studied it for hours.

In dual character roles, Marni Collier played Tip with a light-heartedness zeal and Ozma, and Kirsty McGuire’s performance as Mombi and Glinda made me laugh a few times! The four cast members bounced off each other to keep the flow going throughout the night and were there to support the guests if we got into any confusion about how to solve the given puzzles. There were lots of puzzles to be solved as a team (your country), and this was one of the highlights of the experience! I didn’t find the puzzles too difficult – think Escape Room meets family friendly World of Oz, and you can understand the fun to be had when working together with other people. I was on a table of five, but this number can vary, depending on the number of guests on the night. The puzzles were cleverly thought out to space separately the places where we went to complete the challenges.

Dorothy in Oz, An Immersive Cocktail Adventure, wasn’t your typical sit-down theatre performance. Instead, it was an interactive experience where guests became part of the story. Without giving too much away, it turned out to be a wonderfully fun journey into the Land of Oz that will captivate everyone, from the young to the young at heart. Although it has ‘cocktail’ in the title, the experience also caters for non-drinkers and has family friendly sessions, which will suit younger guests who have curious minds and wonderful imaginations.

If you want a diversion in our busy and hectic world, use your wits then relax with a delectable whisky-based cocktail, transport yourself to Marrickville Town Hall this September! For Sydneysiders, my message borrowed from The Wizard of Oz is “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire, I won’t look any further than my own backyard.” Explore your own backyard and book tickets to this experience, before the tornado hits town!

Season Run: September 3-28, 2025
Venue: Marrickville Town Hall
Run Time: Approximately 1 hour 20 minutes
Tickets: www.dorothyinoz.com

To book tickets to Dorothy In Oz: An Immersive Cocktail Adventure, please visit https://www.dorothyinoz.com/.

Photography: Phil Erbacher

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A Deep, Beautiful, Brave and Vulnerable Piece of Performance Art

08/09/202507/09/2025 Chantal Harrison Writer🥈

Once In A Blue Moon Rating

★★★★★

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“Once in a Blue Moon,” created and performed by Tala Issaoui as part of PYT Fairfield at the Sydney Fringe Festival, delivers a brief yet densely layered experience that fuses dance, ritual, and evocative visual storytelling.

Spanning just 30 minutes, Issaoui’s multidisciplinary performance beckons the audience into a shifting world of transformation. It’s a melancholic trilogy told through patterns, transitions, and potent symbolism.

The work opens with a striking video projection: Issaoui’s dance, rendered in cinematic hues and fluid imagery.

The transitions between film and live presence feel seamless, as the artist materialises onstage before a circular altar adorned with pebbles, an urn, and a pair of goblets.

The artist’s movements around this circle are cyclical and deliberate, blending ritual with choreography in a way that bridges the personal and the universal, with the lights, sound and music complimenting each phase.

Throughout, imagery and symbolism abound; the veil, for instance, which seems to float between meanings, might connote marriage, transformation, or transcendence.

The rhythmic motions, paired with dynamic lighting and a soundscape of often eery music, build tension and drama: thunder and lightning suggest fear and elemental power, while the act of dousing with water feels like a physical release, mourning, or rebirth. Texture becomes tangible as exaggerated makeup begins to spill down Issaoui’s face, accentuating the emotional intensity and the sense of unravelling.

The performer’s precision timing is key, with the crafted sound and lighting cues. These multi-dimensional effects surround the audience with layers of sensation, blurring boundaries between dance, ritual, and visual art.

Patterns repeat and modulate, symbolising repetition and cyclical pain, while the pace of the piece builds into a crescendo of melancholy.

Issaoui is visibly moved by the work’s close, punctuating the experience with authenticity and emotional depth. The ritual ends not with clear answers, but with a shared sense that something profound, if hard to articulate, has transpired.

While “Once in a Blue Moon” may not suit every taste, I found myself admiring the precision and vision more than personally connecting with its abstract ethos. It stands as a compelling example of experimental performance in Western Sydney. The blending of film, choreography, sound, and symbolic staging delivers a textured, esoteric meditation on grief, transformation, and spiritual passage. Issaoui’s willingness to traverse the boundaries of art-form and narrative ensures this work is both brave and memorable. I admire and am in awe of the power of the personal artistic risk and wholehearted embodiment.

Recommended for those ready to meaningfully engage with experimental theatre. It is a deep, beautiful, brave and vulnerable piece of performance art.

To book tickets to Once In A Blue Moon, please visit https://sydneyfringe.com/events/once-in-a-blue-moon/.

Photographer: Benjamin Tiger La

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The Life Apart

07/09/2025 Anastassia Gerakas🥈

The Life Apart (Italian Film Festival) Rating

★★★★★

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The Life Apart is everything aficionados of European cinema long for — poetic obscurity, powerful performances, and cinematography so lush you want to step inside the frame. Paired with a hauntingly beautiful classical score, it delivers a sensory experience that lingers long after the final credits roll.

Set against the backdrop of an elegant Italian palazzo, the film captures the glamour and quiet dysfunction of bourgeois family life. The story begins with joy: the long-awaited arrival of a baby to a seemingly perfect couple — a striking, Penélope Cruz look alike, mother and her accomplished husband, a respected doctor. The nursery is pristine, a devoted maid is ever-present, and an affectionate aunt is ready to help. Yet, this ideal world unravels the moment the baby, Rebecca, is born with a prominent birthmark on her face and neck.

From here, the narrative dives into the mother’s fragile psyche. Her descent into mental illness is portrayed with empathy and depth — torn between shielding her daughter from a cruel world and hiding her away entirely. The father’s helplessness and the strength of the mysterious aunt, who champions Rebecca’s education and introduces her to the piano, offer a poignant contrast.

As Rebecca grows, so does her resilience. She finds solace and acceptance in an unlikely friend from a very different walk of life — a spirited girl who challenges societal norms with ease. Through this friendship, Rebecca discovers self-worth and agency, even as her mother spirals further into despair.

The film does not shy away from tragedy, but it also doesn’t let grief define its ending. Instead, it gently guides the audience — and its characters — toward hope, growth, and a redefinition of beauty, love, and family.

Themes of fate, identity, societal pressure, and inner strength are woven with subtlety and sophistication. Director and cast handle emotional nuance with a light but sure touch, while the cinematography elevates every moment into painterly perfection.

A must-watch for lovers of European cinema and classical music, The Life Apart is both a heartbreaking and life-affirming journey. Let it transport you to Italy and envelop you in its rich atmosphere. This is the kind of film you carry with you, reflecting on its quiet power long after the screen fades to black.

To book tickets to The Life Apart (Italian Film Festival), please visit https://italianfilmfestival.com.au/films/iff25-the-life-apart.

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The Balloon Dog Bites

01/09/2025 Steve Willems🥈🦉

The Balloon Dog Bites Rating

★★★★★

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The Sad Clown trope has been done to death, so it’s very refreshing to get a new type of clown; the type that loves their craft but has to perform for the obnoxious children of a wealthy family while coming down from a wild night and sporting a queer sex injury. Yep. The Balloon Dog Bites is a one-and-a-bit man comedy at the Old Fitz Theatre that manages all kinds of wrong in all the right ways.

Paulie Accio loves being a clown, leaning in to his goofy, fun-loving nature it’s his calling in life. Having studied the craft in France, he now struggles to make a living and often has to resort to accepting children’s birthday parties. It’s a humiliating necessity for a serious artist. That’s where we find him today, reflecting on his training in France and his attempts at being a serious clown while dealing with bratty children and demanding corporate-world parents at a birthday party in Birchgrove. The children and adults alike constantly belittle his occupation, with escalating humiliations culminating in a grim tragedy and moment of cathartic revenge.

I say one-and-a-bit man because while written and performed as a solo act by Michael Louis Kennedy, he employs the use of five audience members to read out the parts of several children at the party, which was a fun and fresh way to expand the story and involve the audience.

While the show is short and sharp, coming in at fifty minutes, the pacing is spot on. The story takes it’s time and is never rushed, with plenty of jokes to keep you laughing. Kennedy has a great sense of timing, not only when he tells the jokes but also in telling the story as Paulie, often mimicking other characters as he brings the events to life. It often felt like a stand-up comedy act, with careful pauses to allow for laughter or dramatic effect.

But the show also has a serious side, exploring how traditional family structures and views on parenthood often disparages the lives of queer or childless people. Anyone outside of a traditional role in a heteronormalized nuclear family is questioned, mocked, and belittled, with children prioritised over Paulie’s dignity. These ideas were never forced or obvious, yet played a vital role as the thematic foundation.

I had a lot of fun, as did the rest of the audience, who couldn’t stop laughing until the end and then jumped to give Kennedy a standing ovation. Be careful though, this clown act is very much for adults only.

The Balloon Dog Bites is playing at the Old Fitz Theatre in Woolloomooloo, Sydney until the 5th of September.

To book tickets to The Balloon Dog Bites, please visit https://www.oldfitztheatre.com.au/the-balloon-dog-bites.

Photographer: Phil Erbacher

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