Melbourne Fringe presents ‘Out of the Echo Chamber’

By Chelsea Cucinotta

Melbourne Fringe is back in September with Out of the Echo Chamber, a theme that encourages conversation between artists and audiences alike.

This conversation plays out across various festival events, but is particularly relevant to Melbourne artists Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey’s PIVOT.

This creative program sees festival-goers in a private conversation, mediated by seesaws with built-in voices, which will incite discussion between participants through a series of stimulating questions.

Melbourne Fringe creative director and CEO Simon Abrahams said: “It’s time to step out of the echo chamber and get the conversation flowing, for art to be the two-way-street it’s meant to be.”

“Art connects us to each other. It inspires debate and questioning, it makes us feel funny in our bellies, it outrages us and unites us – whatever it does, it takes two to tango.”

The festival is spread across various Melbourne settings, with many performances taking place in Southbank’s Arts Precinct.

The darkest corners of the Arts Centre will be used for Discordia, a live performance narrated by SBS news presenter Lee Lin Chin. Experimental artists will work to paint truth as stranger than fiction and create a religious experience with the help of their audience. Participants can choose to be bystanders or take a more active role in the performance.

The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) will host Absolute (Un)certainty through projections and live music, whereby actors will bring migrant stories to life and contemplate the new opportunities and divided identity that moving places or countries bring.

Chunky Move will present ONLY A YEAR, an event dedicated to newborn babies. The immersive and participatory theatre performance marks the very first year of life as both the shortest and longest time imaginable in one’s life and invites reflection on both childhood and parenthood.

Simon Abrahams said the festival was all about taking risks.

“For our artists, Fringe is a safe space perfect for experiment and discovery, where big names can sit alongside emerging artists and push the boundaries of their art form. Whatever you decide to do, give it a red hot go,” he said.

Melbourne Fringe runs from September 14 to October 1 and features more than 440 events. For more information and for tickets visit melbournefringe.com.au