From 25–27 September, the performance collective Vaguely Adjacent (Nick Vagne, Sophie Florence Ward, Luke Standish, and Frank Dwyer) brought their quirky production Squatch Watch: LIVE to MerrigongX.
This experimental work set out to probe our relationship with conspiracy theories, certainty, and the noisy world of online spaces. Loosely styled as a live riff on the podcast format, the show mixed tongue-in-cheek commentary, audience interaction, and bursts of music and movement.
At its best, the comedy found sharp timing and delivered genuine laughs; at other moments, the wit fell a little flat. Still, the quartet’s energy and willingness to play with the audience kept things buoyant. The bigfoot/sasquatch/yowie conspiracy was explored with irreverent gusto, complete with dancing, improvisation, and a range of interactive stunts that drew strong engagement – especially from the largely under-25 crowd.
As devised theatre, Squatch Watch is both messy and inventive, a playful experiment that doesn’t always land but succeeds in creating a lively, participatory experience. With free tickets and a pay-what-you-like model, the company’s generosity of spirit matched their enthusiasm on stage, and the audience’s response suggested the experiment was well received.
The MerrigongX venue itself is spacious and welcoming, with excellent café offerings and plenty of room to relax pre- or post-show – an ideal setting for this sort of unconventional work.
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
The Tea Tree Players, under director Barry Hill, transports the audience to the freezing Yukon for this very amusing sing-a-long melodrama full of merriment and entertainment well worth attending as Adelaide’s own wintery conditions draw to a close.
The fun begins as the MC (Tim Cousins) introduces the play and the cast as they burst into song. The story proper begins during a day in June 1890 in the lobby of a dingy hotel in the Yukon Territory owned by the story’s villain, J Harrington Cesspool (Brian Godfrey). Cesspool is ordering around his employee Nanook (Georgia Gustard) as a fur trader Klaxon (Joel Strauss) enters with a bag of furs and haggles with Cesspool about their purchase price. After Trader Klaxon leaves, Cesspool tries to grab Nanook but she screams and the story’s hero, Corporal Dashiell H Goforth (Clinton Nitschke) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, enters the lobby to save her. Goforth then leaves but soon returns with Nettie Neetfoot (Charlie Klose), as she tries to evade the clutches of Cesspool, she explains that she is looking for her mother who has become lost in a blizzard as they searched for her kidnapped little brother. Nettie leaves the hotel to continue her quest.
As the story progresses, hotel guests Cleopatra Pannitt (Cathie Oldfield) the self-proclaimed “America’s gift to the Shakespearean stage” and her daughter Hyacinth Klutz (Selena Britz) both stuck at the hotel because the “touring troupe went broke at the local opera house”, are introduced. Goforth re-enters with the missing Mrs Neetfoot (Elizabeth Ferguson) and later Professor Fredrik Pjoole (John Hudson) from Washington DC arrives to study the local First Nations people’s “time-reversing experiments”. Goforth is accused of theft and tries to clear his name as the search for the missing continues.
Along the way, the MC emboldens the audience to “aaw”, “ooh”, “boo” and “cheer” but often the engaged audience is ahead of his prompting. Between scenes the audience is encouraged to sing along with the classics, “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”, “Roll Out the Barrell”, “Knees Up Mother Brown” and “I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside”.
Additionally, between a scene change in Act 1, the audience is entertained by the dancing Harry the Hippy Horse (Ashlee Brown as the head and Lachlan Blackwell as the other end). In a scene change in Act 2, ballerinas Tatiana Orlovski (Lachlan Blackwood) and Olga Ripsacorsetoff (Ashlee Brown) perform “The World Famous Balloon Dance”, which is one of the hilarious highlights of the whole performance.
The production team including Beth Venning for props and set dressing, Barry Hill for set design, Damon Hill for scenic artwork, Merci Thompson for costumes and Robert Andrews and Mike Phillips for lighting and sound design and operation, are to be congratulated for producing an excellent set, costumes and a near faultless technical performance.
The cast all perform superbly, Tim Cousins is warm and enthusiastic as the MC binding the performance and the audience participation skilfully together. Brian Godfrey, with his Riff Raff like appearance, makes a first-rate villain and is outstandingly juxtaposed by the brilliantly often over-the-top performance of Clinton Nitschke. Selena Britz is also commended for her performance and her song and dance routine. The rest of the talented cast also deliver outstanding performances.
The Tea Tree Players’ Girl of the Frozen North is great fun and is full of melodrama and audience participation. Barry Hill, the cast and crew are to be congratulated for this exuberant and splendid production.
Girl from the Frozen North runs from Wednesday 13 August 2025 – Saturday 23 August 2025
Venue: Tea Tree Players Theatre
Cnr Yatala Vale Road and Hancock Road, Surrey Downs SA 5126
She Works Hard For (No) Money is an ode to the superheroes in our lives: the women that make magic seem real when everything is miraculously taken care of.
Handled with precise hilarity, She Works Hard For (No) Money showcases the unspoken reality of women carrying the mental load of getting things done and sacrificing themselves to keep everyone a float; while juggling everyday pressures and endless labour.
Framed within dark humour, the interactive production thrusts the audience into the throws of the play. Immediately welcomed to ‘the office’ by members of the ensemble, the audience is escorted through different checkpoints until reaching the heart of the performance area. Once seated amongst props and intriguing stage blocking, viewers become immersed in the narrative’s drama.
Through boisterous scenes that establish the satirical tone of the show, the audience are shown depictions of women and men moving through everyday events (whether in the domestic sphere or workplace). The women perform activities where the men continually showcase their intentional (or unintentional) incompetence; highlighting the extra pressure women endure daily through expected gender roles and responsibilities.
Despite the humorous atmosphere, there are moments where the audience are brought to a halt for reflection. The tone of the narrative shifts from sentimental to melancholy, as the ensemble brings to life the unfair truth of work within the workplace being legitimised, or viewed as ‘real work’, over labour within the home. The devastation of these carefully crafted scenes presents the core message of the play with a breathtaking swiftness that causes the audience to reflect on how things can, and should be, improved within their own lives.
The ensemble of She Works Hard For (No) Money were meticulous with their performance; showcasing their skills with seamless transitions between characters and scenes. The writer and producer, Samantha Hill, director, Julie Ritchey, and crew handled the sensitive nature of the play’s themes with a precision that validated the experiences of countless women. The acknowledgment of the ‘not all men’ discourse was also conducted in commendable manner that brought the conversation back to the issue at hand; that we are here to give women a voice, for it is long overdue.
Although the heavier moments of the play invoke incredible sadness and rage, it also acts as a beacon of hope. By giving a voice to the women that carry the mental load, there is a tangible sense of hope for change: whether that be by a partner stepping up and recognising they should be doing more, or by a woman reclaiming her power and deciding to put herself first by shedding the mental load instilled by others. As the play comes to a close, the audience is left with a sense of triumph and with a silent promise that life can, and will be, better.
