Episode 8: Come For The Boy Band Parody, Stay For The Sparkling Wine And Fire Pole

We are beyond the Womad long weekend and have two weeks of festival season left. On this week's Art's Garden we talk shower burlesque thoughts, boy band dating parodies, Portuguese folktronica and making a career in circus. 

New Zealand performer Gigi Cartier joins the show to talk about Showgirl Roulette: a wild, improvised cabaret where a spinning wheel decides the lineup and random song selections push performers into freestyle chaos. We also discuss the craft of burlesque, the realities of nightlife performance, and how improvisation and spontaneity shape the show.

Portuguese artist Tereza shares the story behind Abraço (Embrace), a multilingual music project blending folk traditions, electronic dance music and influences from across Iberian, African and global cultures. Performing in five languages, Tereza explores identity, ancestry and connection through music.

From circus to wine tasting, Virago Circus producer Nicole Walker previews Flight, an immersive experience pairing aerial and circus performance with a curated wine flight at Beresford Estate.

We also hear from South Australian Circus Centre director Alex Charman about The Pack, a youth ensemble show exploring adolescence, trust and risk through acrobatics and aerial performance.

And musical theatre director Richard Carroll discusses the hilarious boyband parody Fuccbois: Live in Concert, written by Bridie Connell, which skewers modern dating culture through pitch-perfect pop pastiche.

Featuring interviews, music and Fringe previews from across Adelaide’s arts scene.

Featured artists and shows

• Gigi Cartier — Showgirl Roulette
• Tereza — Abraço (Embrace)
• Virago Circus — Flight
• South Australian Circus Centre — The Pack
• Fuccbois: Live in Concert

The Arts Garden
Broadcast on Three D Radio 93.7FM Adelaide

 Championing artists, performers and cultural creators from across Australia and beyond.

Transcript

Fringe Night Preview & Guest Lineup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome everyone to the Arts Garden for another Monday night, past the halfway point of fringe and festival time. So we've got a couple of weeks left. We're going to be hearing from quite a few fringe acts again tonight. Before the show, I spoke to Alex Charman from the South Australian Circus Centre, who have their Circuids show doing their second performance soon. So we're going to talk to them. Another circus performer, Nicole Walker, from Virago Circus, who are doing a show at Beresford Winery in the tasting rooms. And so you can get five different wines and watch some circus. After 7:30, we're going to have director Richard Carroll. He's the director of the Hayes Theatre Company and directed a lot of successful musicals. But he's also the director of Fuck Boys, which is a satire of boy bands and modern dating. But we'll explain all that later. And also Portuguese artist Teresa, who is performing at the Northern Sound System on Friday night with their tribute to their Portuguese heritage. But last week we kicked off the show with some New Zealand circus with the House of YOLO, and we talked about how the New Zealand circus scene and things like that, and that I was having another New Zealander on this week, and they said,

Gigi Cartier On Training And Adelaide Scene

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Who? And they said, We probably know them. And in fact, Gigi Cartier, you did train under the House of YOLO people, and you're going to be presenting your show, Showgirl Roulette, this week, weekend. So welcome into the studio.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Thank you for having me. Hi.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

My pleasure. What was that experience like training under the House of YOLO?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

House of YOLO is run by the Dust Palace, which is one of the most prestigious schools, circus schools in New Zealand currently. And they are based out in Auckland, where I'm from. And I've trained under both Eve and Jane, who are both in the show, and they're incredible aerialists. So it's very cool to be in Adelaide with them at the same time. I'll also be helping out with House of YOLO as their camera operator next week. So really looking forward to reconnecting with them, having a bit of a full circle moment.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Fantastic. And they've only just arrived in Adelaide, but you've been here for a little while since June last year, or you've been around out and around because you've been overseas and things as well, jet setting around. But you've been in Adelaide for a little while?

SPEAKER_01 2:22

A little bit, yeah. So I moved over, left New Zealand in June last year, came to Adelaide first, did a few spots at 1910, and also worked at Crazy Horse, and then popped over to the UK and checked out the Edinburgh Fringe. I was in a small cabaret there, but it was more of a kind of inspiration exercise per se, just immersing myself in like the biggest fringe festival in the world. And that was amazing and inspiring and all of the positive adjectives that one can use for that experience. And then came back here. And I actually live in Melbourne now, but I do a lot of work down here every month in Adelaide and I love it down here. So yeah, this is my new scene.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

And discovering 1910, and I saw you share some photos of the pool, and I saw you performing in the bathtub with some champagne, not giving too many spoilers away, but you can imagine on Saturday night how great is the facilities at 1910 for doing all sorts of crazy things.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

You

Club 1910 Stunts & Fire Pole Moment

SPEAKER_01 3:20

really can't beat it. A bathtub, a shower, an aerial point, a pool. You can do fire. Like I even did poll there on Saturday. We managed to get a poll up and I did my fire pole routine, which was really special because due to some logistical problems, I was going to do a fire pole in another show here, and it's been pulled, unfortunately. So it was good, really good to be able to get to do that act in Adelaide still. Last night, Saturday night.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

I just like how you said, Oh, it was the fire pole was really special because of, and then you explained, but it's a fire pole. So, you know, like a fire pole is always going to be really special. I would have thought that'd be excellent.

Showgirl Roulette Concept & Chaos

SPEAKER_00 3:56

But yeah, so you're presenting, so you had Club Cartier on the weekend, which was a shows that you were presenting, and then Showgirl Roulette is on this week from the 12th of March to the 15th of March. Can you tell us a little bit about the concept of the show?

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Yeah, so Shogir Roulette is a little brainchild that came to me as a shower thought. I've always wanted to create a platform and create a show that uplifts spicy dances and SWs. And if everyone knows what that means. And it's just a really wholesome show where we actually wholesome is probably not the best word for it. I would say more like carnage. We're gonna have a winning wheel essentially, and it's gonna have the names of all the performers in their little pizza slices, and then we'll invite someone out from the audience to spin the wheel, and that will decide the run order throughout the night. And we're currently taking on our Instagram, which is the Club Cartier Instagram, music suggestions, which will go into a bucket, and our bucket is our sponsored Club Cartier bucket from Rhinestone Daddy, and we will be pulling random songs out of the bucket, and the performer whose name gets drawn on the wheel will have to dance to whatever comes out of the bucket.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Before we get onto that concept a little bit more, when you had your shower thought, it wasn't a stage shower thought, it was like a shower shower thought.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

It was a real shower shower.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Excellent. I just had to make that bad joke. Yeah, so uh, I've had some guests on from improvise theatre uh across the fringe as well, uh, improvised murder mysteries and improvised plays. It's just something fun about seeing performers totally improvised and what can happen, but also it's a real showcase of the skill of performers to be able to see how adaptable and how spontaneous they can be as well.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

100%. What I love about the show and why it's so important is it's a nod to the unexpected, and that's integrated with the theme of the roulette wheel, not knowing the gamble of everything. And particularly when you go into a casino, you never know what's gonna happen. It could be good or bad. And that's similar to the experience of a spicy dancer where they go into their shift and they don't know if they're gonna make loads and loads of money or nothing at all because it's all worked on commission. But they also don't know what music they're necessarily going to be dancing to on the night as well. A lot of clubs force you to dance to certain tracks, so it's very much a nod to that whole what if, what's gonna happen, and especially platforming the freestyle because a lot of dancers that I work with, they are just so good at freestyle because they have to do it almost every night when they go to work. So it's really special to give them that opportunity outside of the clubs.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Fantastic. And I'm googling on the computer here because I was trying to like seamlessly raise

Stigma, Ecdysiast History & Pole Roots

SPEAKER_00 6:37

the next issue. But your show Club Cartier on Saturday night, I'm trying to remember the word for it, but it was Ectesiest. Ecthesiest. And I googled Ecthesius, and there was a another way of referring to strippers or or SWs or burlesque dancers, and it was from the theme of shedding skin of a snake. You've talked about elevating and overcoming stigma and things like that, and platforming that that seems like it's very important from what you've been saying and showing the talent and the work and all the effort that probably gets underrated, even though m pole dancing is much more mainstream in Adelaide now, and lots of people doing it and things.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Oh, that's a lot there. But we'll say so, yeah, ectis, it's actually Greek ectisis, which is to shed one's skin, but it got coined, the term ectis got mixed together with enthusiasts around the 1940s, and it became this term ectisiist, which is essentially just another nice word to describe a striptease performer of any sort. It doesn't necessarily have to be of the spicy variety, it can just be a classic shogo as well. And I would just really like it. I think it's cool. I was always a bit of a nerd in high school. I loved the Latin, I loved the Greek, I love my classical studies, so it all links back to that. If you look really into the history of my work, a lot of it is related to the divine and the divine feminine and Greek mythology and all that stuff. So I guess that's why I called it that. But yeah, pole dancing is on the rise. We call civilian pole dancing or just pole dancing for fun. And that's great and that's cool. But we have to remember where it came from.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

And it it's kind of like because I was thinking about the opening of the Adelaide Festival was Pulp doing their song Common People and the song Common People about oh, you're just like pretending to be someone wanting to be pretend to be of the common person, but then they can just go home and and get like they they're from a wealthy family and they're just not actually living the life, but they want to pretend that they're living the life. And do you feel like that's a little bit not in a bad way, but as you say, there are distinct risks and stigmas and things like that.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

No, I get it, yeah, no, a thousand percent. Like there is there's a lot of nuance to this, but yeah, there is a lot of I we call it cosplaying where people take the elements that they like and use them and not necessarily respect the other elements and the survival aspect of the work. Yeah, there is a negative side to it all,

Neurodivergence, Work Realities & Freestyle

SPEAKER_01 9:01

but I like to look at the cup half full. So try and focus on the positives and try and platform the positives where I can and use my experience and use the tools that I have been given as a producer, not given, worked for, to really give opportunities for that stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Definitely. And I've read a lot of things about people that might be neurodivergent, for example, or like that our capitalism model where it demands like nine to five, five days a week kind of thing, doesn't work for so many different people. Other forms of work that can pay better for shorter periods of time does work. And so you know that survival element and finding ways that exist in the system and departing from our kind of economic system is very much part of it as well.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

1000%. I'm fairly certain, never say never, but I would confidently say 99 to 99% of the dancers I know are some form of neurodivergent. Yeah, the common, the classic nine to five or just answering to a boss and not necessarily being taking charge. Some of us, I'm speaking from the ADHD experience, but I thrive in chaos. And sometimes chaos doesn't work for that rigid system, and especially in the corporate environment, right? It's definitely very common, and I think the the lifestyle does suit a lot of people that are not neurotypical.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

The show girl roulette makes a lot of sense now with the chaos, just like random challenges and then responding, you get a bit of a dopamine hit when that happens and things as well. So that's fantastic. You're also looking for suggestions, song suggestions from people for the dancers to dance with. Can

Song Suggestions & Ticket Giveaway

SPEAKER_00 10:36

you tell us a bit more about that?

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Yes, we are. So this morning, or might have been this afternoon, my afternoons are my mornings, but we opened up our song suggestions forum on our Instagram page. So it's a little bit confusing. So just to clarify, all of our social media is under Club Cartier. It doesn't make sense to run two different Instagram profiles because my ADHD brain is just going to get overwhelmed. So all of the ShowGirl Roulette marketing is on Club Cartier Instagram and people can go on the story right now and suggest songs. And the only request is that they're between four and five minutes. So it's not too short and not too long. So that's a sweet spot there. You'll see it on the story if you go on there now.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

Fantastic. And you've got a double pass for subscribers if they want to m call us up on 3D radio at 8363-3937 after we play a track. And so if you have a song that you'd like to have played on the weekend, then you can make that suggestion and in the process win yourself a double pass to go see the shows. Yeah, make sure you're a subscriber and give us a call on that number again. So that's 8363-3937. And so Gigi Cartier, thank you very much for coming in and look forward to seeing what spins on the wheel on the weekend and what comes up. You're on the Arts Garden, just with

Teresa’s Journey, Culture & Surf

SPEAKER_00 11:52

James. Earlier in the week I recorded an interview with a Teresa from Portugal, and they're going to be performing this Friday, the 13th of March, from 6 pm at Northern Sound Systems, the great venue up in our northern suburbs. They've got music every Friday night, a two-set lineup each night. So Theresa's performing at 6, and then Rose and the posies are 8.30, and then following next week, they've got Nestor again, and then Zavi doing all feelings, no genre. And people can head along. There's also free live music in the skate park every week from 7 till 8. So I really encourage people to go check that out. But we're going to hear more now from Teresa about her music journey and what you can expect to hear on Friday night on 3D radio. We are here with James and Teresa, who is going to be performing on the 13th of March this weekend at the Northern Sound System and playing from some tracks that are unreleased. So stands for Embrace. So welcome to the show, Teresa.

SPEAKER_07 13:03

Thank you. It's great to be here.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Fantastic. And people might have picked up your accent then. You've been on and off in Adelaide many times, but can you tell us where you're hailing from?

SPEAKER_07 13:15

Yeah, that's right. So I'm Portuguese. I'm coming from Portugal, and throughout the last year I've been on and off Adelaide's Gold Coast because I love to surf. I love the sea. I grew up close to culture and the beach. So it's hard to find a city where can have where I can have both at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

And people can make their conclusions probably just from what we've spoken about. But who has the better culture, Gold Coast or Adelaide?

SPEAKER_07 13:51

To be honest, Adelaide. I think it's uh pretty obvious. But the Gold Coast is a beautiful place, lovely to visit during the summer, lovely beaches, great surfing, and great people.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Fantastic. But I discovered the local music scene, the local cultural scene, and beyond the music that you're creating at Northern Sound System that we're gonna talk about soon. Yeah, I know you perform with multiple different cultural groups, Brazilian and Afro Beats groups in Adelaide. What can you tell us about the groups that you've discovered that people might have seen you performing at?

SPEAKER_07 14:27

Yeah, that's right.

Multilingual Music And Identity

SPEAKER_07 14:28

Adelaide is amazing, and the culture scene here is amazing. It's really a gem. So I've been in contact with a few groups, but I would highlight Brazilian Nuts Orchestra, Sassamba, and uh Son of Africa. It's a drumming and dance group, and I am performing with them at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Fantastic. And that brings us to the next subject, which is with embrace, you're embracing all of your cultural heritage in the show as well. And you're gonna be singing in multiple languages as well. So can you expand on how that's embracing the richness of your culture?

SPEAKER_07 15:08

Yeah, it's amazing because I came to Australia on this personal wanting to discover my own identity and kind of restart fresh and knowing more about my own ancestry and why Australia, because I don't have any relatives in Australia, in a way, was to explore the antipodes and the other side of myself that I didn't know much of. And luckily, I found in the Brazilian community and in other communities so much about myself, and that was the journey, and I realized that it's such a hot topic here in Australia because lots of Aussies have European and African and South American background, and so I've just saw lots of people that were in the same journey as I.

Creating With Northern Sound System

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Fantastic. And you talk about the tracks that are unreleased. We're gonna play one of them at the end of this interview. But the I've seen videos that you shared on social media of the creation and then working with Northern Sound System in the creation of this music, and I've had a chance to listen to and very much enjoyed it, which while we had you in. But can you tell us about the creation process and working with Northern Sound System?

SPEAKER_07 17:37

Yeah, so this is an ongoing process. So I've recorded the demos with Anthony Donato, my producer, and we saw immediately after the 10 sessions that these tracks deserved so much more time and attention. There's just such a deep research that needs to be uh taken care of. And so we decided to actually don't stress about having these uh demos and these songs finished and just workshop them live, and then with the artistic process,

The Band, Folk–EDM Fusion & Percussion

SPEAKER_07 18:14

just bring back all that juicy learning and content back to studio, and I'm just so happy that I made that decision. And with Northern Sound System, they are just amazing, they are the best team. I'm also doing a program called Studio Lab, and I'm learning immensely with these creatives, it's such a beautiful organization, very helpful and available to collaborate with you as an artist, and they have been amazing in this process.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

And also part of the process, I know you've got a band that you work very closely with, and they're not only band members but close friends as well. Can you tell us about the band members that you work with?

SPEAKER_07 18:57

Yeah, it's such a diverse group. So basically, I have Callum, my best friend, he's a beautiful guitar player, he'll be playing bass on my show. But he's from Adelaide, Aussie, Kieran Hunt, my my guitar player, and also a beautiful instrumentist, and we are exploring amazing sounds and options with this loop pedals and going deep on electronic music because basically I do this fusion of folk and electronic dance music, and so he's giving me so much assistance on that part, and yeah, really crazy. And then I have Jonathan Fox, he's with me at Sun of Africa, and he's a beautiful percussionist and Ikerubispo, who I met at Brazilian Nuts Orchestra, and he's also a Brazilian percussionist, and he's bringing lots of juicy textures and elements to the show that yeah, just made the whole performance richer.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Fantastic. And there's a double bill on the 13th of March, and then there's been music every Friday at Northern Sound System throughout the fringe. Have you had a chance to check out the other nights? I know how busy you've been, but also you're gonna be sharing the night with Rose and the posies as well. Have you gotten to know some of the other artists that are playing on the lineup through some of the programs at Northern Sound System as well?

SPEAKER_07 20:35

Yeah, artists at the moment are quite busy putting up their shows. And I have had the opportunity to watch some shows myself, and I just love the fringe vibe. Everyone is so helpful and great, really. But I'm just looking forward to doing my performance and then just watch as many shows as possible. But yeah, in general, lots of good shows at the fringe.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

No, definitely, and I

Family Influences & Vulnerable Voice

SPEAKER_00 21:06

know we've talked off air about the approach to music in your family as well, because your father has a big fascination in music as well. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how that shaped your music? And I know your mother was a singer as well, so the family influence of music.

SPEAKER_07 21:32

He just loves music, and he was the one who seeded this passion of mine, and he has written this lovely book called Poese. So the fusion of poetry and jazz, and how poetry influenced jazz, and the other way around. And I just grew up in a family of instrumentists. My sister and brother, they are both instrumentists, so Yeah, and my sister, she's a painter but and a dancer. So I guess, yeah, it runs in the family and we love to get inspired by each other.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

And with your musical background, you talked there about the family influence of jazz, and you also talked about the folk influencing your music, but you've also done musical theater as well. And whether that be you some of the the vocal training that comes through that, but also the stage craft and things like that, that there's definitely would be some influences from that experience and training coming through with your live show as well.

SPEAKER_07 22:35

100%. Mainly the stage craft. I see myself as a performer, and at this stage, music is my medium. I started in theater, I've been an actress for over 15 years, and I've done some directing in Portugal as well. But to be honest, movement and dance and music was always my my first passion, and that was the one that I'm choosing to pursue at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

How did this fusion of folk and dance come together? Was that part of Matthew's direction or your direction? Or how did that fusion come together with the final sound of this album?

SPEAKER_07 23:17

Definitely it started in my family with the love for jazz and poetry. And then I was a dancer myself when I was younger and a gymnast, and then I decided to explore that into more detail and just to pursue my studies in the theater and I've studied film. I had this opportunity to study in New York. And I guess all that trajectory gave me the tools and the confidence to be on stage. I've performed in musicals in Portugal, but to be honest, I've always seen my voice as a more jazzy voice because it's quite fragile. I have a very fragile voice which carries lots of history. And it's interesting because in musical theater you try to show your strength and lots of belting. And I've always preferred a more, in a way, honest and vulnerable way of expressing. So the way I write my music and I compose is always to shed those layers of protection and artificiality

Embrace Performance Details & Release Plan

SPEAKER_07 24:31

and just really show my authenticity.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

And that kind of links into embrace as well, because the more vulnerable you are as a performer, I think the more the audience embraces you because they can tell that there's not that gap between you and them.

SPEAKER_07 24:50

Interesting. Yeah, that's exactly my goal. And that was something that I've always been aware of as a performer. And when I was a theater director, I've always tried to break that that wall between the actors and the audience, and I tried exactly to do the same in my music.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Fantastic. People can embrace your music on the 13th of March, this Friday. And so that's from 6 p.m. at Northern Sound System. And where can people go to find the music when it's released and follow you on social media and things like that?

SPEAKER_07 25:28

Uh I actually don't know when it's gonna be released. It's as I said in the beginning of the interview, me and my producer Anthony Donato, we want to take actually these songs back to studio, and I reckon it's gonna take a long time until the songs are done. And I feel like I owe that to myself, to that research and to to the songs. They can find me on Instagram and they can find me on all platforms. Come to my show, abrasu, embrace Holdun on the 13th of March, 6 p.m. at Northern Sound System.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Thank you very much for coming in and sharing. Looking forward to hearing the music as it progresses.

SPEAKER_07 26:14

Thank you, James.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

You're on 3D radio with James.

Introducing Teresa’s Demo Track

SPEAKER_00 26:18

The music won't be available in its final form for a little while, but luckily we do have a little bit of a taste of the album, and we're gonna hear demo versions off a track called Utopia. Bear in mind it will continue to evolve, but I think it sounds pretty good already.

SA Circus Centre: The Pack Debrief

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Now in the interview with Teresa, they talked about being a gymnast as a child, which kind of it's a bit of a segue. I did have a conversation earlier before the show went to air with Alex Charman, who is a director at the South Australian Circus Centre. Have already performed one performance of their show, The Pack, at the fringe. They've got another one coming up very soon on the 22nd of March. And we're going to hear my chat with Alex Charman about training and directing young circus performers to have careers in the industry on 3D Radio and the Arts Garden. Alex Charman from South Australian Circus Centre, you've had one performance of the pack so far, and another one coming up on the 22nd of March at the Octagon at Gluttony. How did the first one go?

SPEAKER_11 31:46

It went really good. Yeah, we had an almost sold-out audience, and they were really receptive, and the kids did really well as well.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

Fantastic. And I saw at Gluttony definitely at Gluttony, 10,000 Hours by Gravity and Other Myths, and really exploring the journey that circus performers are on, and people audiences get to see this

Youth-Led Themes & Authenticity

SPEAKER_00 32:07

journey. I saw the circuits fringe production maybe a couple of years ago, and yeah it's so fantastic to see and have the opportunity to perform at the fringe for their development.

SPEAKER_11 32:19

Oh sure. It's a fantastic opportunity to be in gluttony. It just gives them such a different experience than doing it in a theatre, doing it in a hub. It's something quite special.

SPEAKER_00 32:29

I'm sure they get blown away, they've got their artist passes and they've got their gluttony passes, and they get to go around and be inspired by and see some of the best circus performers, if not the best circus performers in the world, how much they love exploring all of that.

SPEAKER_11 32:44

They absolutely love it. They definitely utilize it for sure. We are quite lucky that the show after us in the octagon is the mirror, so that's one of Gravity and Other Miss other shows, and we were able to have a group voted with them just before our show, so that was pretty special as well.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

Fantastic. And with this show, The Pack, as the ensemble, they're navigating the complexities of adolescence, the themes of wanting to stand out while blending in and pushing limits while seeking safety as well. And I noticed that when I saw a couple of years ago the show, the themes very much touching on the issues that they are facing. How do they uh and you as a director of the show, how do you come to the themes that they are going to explore in the show?

SPEAKER_11 33:26

Normalized we normally have a brainstorming process just before the start of our fringe season starts kicking off. So it actually comes quite a lot from them, and then I utilize a bit of their in involvement with some of the inputs that I have into making the shows. But really, if it comes from them, then they're more invested in it, and we actually get a really great product if they care about it as well. So quite a lot of the ideas stem from their experiences and how they feel, and putting that on stage, I think that creates quite a special thing for the audience to watch. Because it makes them really invested in what they're trying to portray rather than telling a story they have never experienced before.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

I definitely felt that the aut authenticity of it. You can feel the authenticity of it, and it's not something that's being forced upon them, it's something that they're very much wanting to tell.

SPEAKER_11 34:14

Yeah, exactly. I think it brings it something quite special for them that they feel really invested in, and it's their show, and it makes them want to perform it even better every time.

SPEAKER_00 34:25

Excellent. And you're using found and circus-inspired materials and testing the ideas of weight, flight, risk, and trust. How can

Trust, Risk, Flight & Music In Circus

SPEAKER_00 34:32

you tell us a bit more about those themes and how people get to see those in the show?

SPEAKER_11 34:36

Trust comes into every part of circus, no matter what you're doing. You have to trust the people that you're around. So that's a really obvious one. But specifically with all the acrobatic skills that they're doing, you can't do it with just one person. You've got to do it with a group or a pair or a trio. And I think that's quite an incredible bond that they make, that these shapes and balances that they do have to be with other people that they trust. And then the flight and all that risk comes in with the aerials, which is just so spectacular to see these people really high above the ground doing these skills that they make theme really easy, but they've spent years and years practicing them and having them be so young is actually quite inspiring. I think they're incredible.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

People really definitely made me feel a bit inadequate when I saw them. I was like, oh, I've been wasting my life. Why can't I do that? They're younger than me and look at what they can achieve.

SPEAKER_10 35:27

But that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 35:29

But they also realize through the process and young people, it's such uncertain times in the world at the moment and their futures are so uncertain, but they have that theme that they take away from it as well about how if they all pull together they can create their future as well. So that's a positive message to leave on as well.

SPEAKER_11 35:47

If you've got your group of friends around you, the people that can support you, then you can get through most things. And I think that's really important for young people, specifically now, but in general, just everybody to have those people around you that you can trust and trust to catch you when you fall, whether it's on purpose or by accident they're there. And so yeah, I think it's something that we need in the world right now. Um, and I hope that comes across within our show that people can experience that and then take it into their everyday lives as well.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

And so we've talked about the opportunity for performers to get experience and develop, and such a great opportunity in South Australia with the circus infrastructure and events that we have.

SPEAKER_11 36:26

Yeah, this is actually my second show that I've choreographed and directed for the SA Circus Centre, and this one has definitely been quite an interesting and I would say different challenge to to direct. I know the kids a little bit better now, and so I feel like we can create something a little bit different compared to what it was last year. It was still great last year, but this year I feel like I actually have got to know them really well. And it's been really nice because I used to be a part of the circus troop when I was younger too. So it's come a full circle, and that's been really special to come back and direct for them. Yeah, come back to my roots a little bit, which has been really nice.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

And I know you've got a a background not only in circus but also in dance as well. And so

Community, Classes & Year-Round Shows

SPEAKER_00 37:09

how do you combine those two skills in do you insert a little bit of the dance into the pack or or do you keep them quite separate?

SPEAKER_11 37:16

No, I think it's I think it's important to include all of them. Everybody kind of listens to music and moves to music even if they don't realise it in their everyday lives. There's something that can get included in a circus performance using music and dance just means that it makes the show a collaborative experience and people can be really invested in it without actually realizing that they understand when something's gonna happen. If there's a skill that's getting built up with the music, people automatically know that there's gonna be a big thing at the end or the crescendo of the music. So utilising that and the movement and the music to make sure that people are really invested, I think is really important and it helps people understand how the show's gonna run even without really knowing what's gonna happen. That kind of makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 38:04

Yeah, definitely. I've got a hunch because I saw, as I said, Gravity and Other Myths that some of their performers are very good dancers as well. Do you think if you're a good circus performer, then you're a good dancer? Do you think there because of both physical control and body awareness and things like that? But I'm not sure whether the rhythm and the musical musicality definitely crosses over in all instances, but do you think there's an overlap there?

SPEAKER_11 38:26

I think there can be. I think there can be for sure. And I that's something that we have worked quite hard on this year is to get their rhythm and musicality feeling quite strong. And I've had some people comment that they actually look like their dancers as well, which I think they should be quite proud of, because some of them definitely aren't. There's a few that do dance at school, but you couldn't tell. They all are worked really hard to make sure that's something that they've put effort into as well.

SPEAKER_00 38:53

But it particularly with a lot of the big as circus shows at fringe, music is such a big part, not of all the shows, but a lot of them as well. And so having that background is very important, and even live music and things.

SPEAKER_11 39:06

Yeah, it would be awesome to be able to do some circus to live music. I think that would bring just another level of awesomeness to the show, but maybe for the future.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

Yeah, no. I think I saw Limbo, that's the big one that had the live musicians and circus the last year. But excellent. And with this, you've got the performance on the 22nd of March, but then I'm sure the South Australian Circus Centre keeps and circids are busy all year round as well.

SPEAKER_11 39:29

Oh, absolutely, yeah, we're a non-stop. Yeah, the last one obviously is our 2nd of March, like the ride at the very end of Fringe, but we've got a couple of other shows coming up throughout the year that hopefully audiences can come and see as well. Um, normally we do the Premier's Beactive challenge and we do a performance and teach workshops at for that event as well. We definitely get out and about and people know about us, which is pretty nice when you're out in the community.

SPEAKER_00 39:57

And always an opportunity if people are listening and they've got kids and they think I saw they're introducing a new initiative in or one of the election policies in for one of the parties this year is making sure kids are active for two and a half hours a week in school. If people want their kids to get a bit more energy out, even than that, then they can send them along to Sir Kids and get them involved as well.

SPEAKER_11 40:18

There are classes for ages all the way from two up until adults, so everybody can have a go, and it's definitely a really lovely, inclusive space, and everyone can have a go at being active in a really fun way. And a bit of a non-competitive way as well, which I think is quite different to some sports, is that it's very inclusive and everyone gets to have a go at everything, which is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Excellent. Well, Alex Sharman, all the best with the pack and the final performance on the 22nd of March. And yeah, looking forward to seeing all the future productions that you're directing as well.

SPEAKER_10 40:52

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 40:53

You have a good day.

SPEAKER_10 40:54

You too. See ya.

SPEAKER_00 40:57

So, as I said, that was Alex Sharman from Circuits and the South Australian Circus Centre. You're on the Arts Garden with James.

Fuckboys Live: Director Richard Carroll

SPEAKER_00 41:06

We're joined by the director of Fuckboys Live and Concert, Richard Carroll. Welcome to 3D Radio. Richard. Thank you so much for having me. My pleasure. And so this show it has premiered, I think, in 2024, Interstate, and it was under a previous direction, and it's written by Brady Connell, who is a fantastic award-winning improviser. She's in a won an Aria Award for her comedy writing and just working across so many different disciplines. You're saying off air, she's a bit of a comedic genius. How good is it being able to collaborate with her and put your your spin on this production that she's written?

SPEAKER_08 41:44

Oh my gosh. Bridey is an absolute legend. She, so I've been a fan of hers for a while. I saw the sort of first version of Fuck Boys that happened at the Old Fitz Theatre in Sydney a couple of years ago, she said. Um, and she is so funny. So she's written this entire show. It's a one-hour comedy show, but it's basically like a little musical in the form of a boy band concert. And she's written the script, she's written all the songs, which are pitch-perfect boy band parodies. And honestly, collaborating with her has been a dream. She is such a great collaborator, and she's all about finding the funniest, the clearest, the cleverest, the freshest way of every joke or every moment. And so, yeah, I'm a massive fan.

SPEAKER_00 42:26

Fantastic. And as you say, it's right up your your alley as well with Hayes Theatre you've directed once and the Calamity Jane and Oklahoma and had fantastic success with those productions, and so the musical uh theatre genre is being able to bring that to this. That's right. Yeah, there's not enough, there's not enough boy band musical theatre shows, I don't think. That's so true.

SPEAKER_08 42:48

Why aren't there more? But yeah, I normally work in yeah, in musical theatre and cabaret as well. So a lot of the time I've spent in Adelaide has been at the cabaret festival as well as The Fringe. This show it melds music, comedy, cabaret, and music theatre. So

Boy Band Parody Meets Modern Dating

SPEAKER_08 43:03

it's something for everyone, I suppose. The boy band is like the idea is that they're the biggest boy band in the world today, and this is their last ever concert of their farewell tour, and you can see how that all takes place and how it unfolds as the hour goes on. But they're very much inspired by a lot of the 90s and 2000s boy bands like Backstreet Boys, Five, NSync, all the way through to of course One Direction as well. And so, yeah, there's a lot of Easter eggs for anyone who's had boy band moments be important to them in their lives.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

I definitely noticed with the I could tell from the facial hair that's been painted on that it was a bit early nineties. And I've been speaking to a few guests about that era of music, Backstreet Boys like 90s to early 2000s pop. I'm always surprised because I'm getting old now. But then I'll if I'm ever out at a music festival or anywhere where there's the young people, they all know Backstreet Boys and NSYC. It's just You never know what music's gonna age well and which a music's gonna just be timeless, but it's definitely a genre that everyone of all ages will enjoy and get something out of. That's right.

SPEAKER_08 44:10

Well I mean they are amazingly catchy songs and they're amazingly produced. A lot of them were produced by Max Martin, who did Backstreet Boys and N Sync, as well as Brittany Spears, and like he he's got a massive catalogue of hits. But I've that's been one of the joys of doing this show is of course, like immersing myself in that boy band stuff, and it has astonished me how well it all holds up. And some songs that I'm super familiar with, and then some songs I think, God, I actually haven't heard this in 15, 20 years, and it's still a banger.

SPEAKER_00 44:38

Yeah, well, it's funny because at the time and even now there might have been some they are being parodied into the show, the culture of them it's easy to overlook. Not everyone can write a song that'll last for decades and decades. There is an art to that as well. That's absolutely and but we haven't talked about the theme. People might be drawn to the music and the comedy, but it's also exploring obviously the title is a phenomenon that might have always existed, but cads, people, players, and things like that. But the social media age, but also the dating app age, yeah, and dating in the modern environment is something that the show's exploring as well, and that could that's so universal

Ghosting, Gaslighting & Pop Hooks

SPEAKER_00 45:16

for people.

SPEAKER_08 45:17

That's right, and that's what's so brilliant about Brighty's writing, is it's this awesome sort of boy band concept, but also, yeah, they are fuckboys, and they so it's very much inspired by Brighty's encounters with and her friends' encounters with various men, often off dating apps, and the sorts of dynamics that exist in relationships these days, from gaslighting to ghosting to like all these sorts of things. And what's amazing as well, that the reason that the song parodies work so well is because you realise how these sort of quite toxic behaviours have been romanticized and how well they fit into sort of pop songs as romantic ideals. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:53

Oh, and that it if you can combine the catchy music with the comedy at the same time and hit people on both levels, whether it be a parody of an existing song or just in the style, it's just it's a sensory overload and it makes it so much funnier as well, because you're expecting one thing and you're not getting it, you're getting it in in both barrels as well. And and so we're gonna hit one of their tracks in a moment called Slow Fade. What can you tell us about this track?

SPEAKER_08 46:21

Slow fate is about ghosting, basically, yeah. So it's it's about love bombing and then ghosting. And again, you'll see this one has shades of sort of backstreet boys, actually shades of like Craig David as well. And it's an example of the tracks were produced by Dave Muratori, who did all the music for fangirls, so they're brilliantly produced awesome pop songs, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:40

Fantastic, and just finally, because so many people are going through this with dating as well, even though it is in and sometimes it's the best way in in a comedic show, it feels it's the catharsis of oh, it's not just me that's going through that, and and people just realizing oh, there's a name for that. Oh, it's not meant to be like that as well. It's teaching while entertaining at the same time.

SPEAKER_08 47:02

That is right. I think that many people, certainly women, but I think all sort all kinds of people will come see this show and will find a lot of it like extremely relatable and maybe healing, who knows?

SPEAKER_00 47:13

And maybe when they get ghosted or whatever, they can send the

Playing “Slow Fade” & Catharsis

SPEAKER_00 47:17

slow face to send a link to the YouTube video and go, This is what you're doing to me. I know what you're doing now. Brighty Connell has told me. So excellent. Richard, thank you very much for coming in, boys. From the 10th of March, the opening tomorrow night until the 22nd of March and the end of fringe. That's it. The Kingfisher at Gluttony. I'm sure it's going to be one of those hits that word of mouth will spread as it goes on, but get there early from tomorrow night and check it out for yourselves. Yeah, thanks so much. See you there. See, here's the foys fresh from their international selling out Wembley Stadium with uh slow fade.

SPEAKER_05 47:54

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_13 47:57

I got something to say to make true. What a coincidence. I also have something to say. Something to say.

SPEAKER_00 51:47

Nicole Walker from Virago Circus, you're about to take flight again this weekend on uh the 13th of March and then the 22nd of March. Flight has been very popular in different locations in previous fringes. Can you tell us and remind audiences what the concept of flight is all about again?

SPEAKER_09 52:05

We were lucky enough to uh get to know the team at Pirate Life in 2022. That was actually the first fringe show I ever produced. And in an on the spot idea, I always wanted to do something a bit immersive with circus. And I really liked the idea of promoting local products like Pirate Life, obviously with their beer. So that's where the idea came from. And I mean actually a friend of mine helped me coin the name Flight. I'm a bit of a play-on words of obviously there's a flight of beer, and then there are people that are going to be airborne. At some stage, we were quite intentional with how we would create like the tasting card. So there'd be I guess in a sense the artist would match the tones of the drink, whether it was with

Virago Circus: Flight With Wine

SPEAKER_09 52:47

their costume or with their energy or with the way in which they moved, and then we would pick an MC that we felt like suited the show. So we've had a few and all have been wonderful, but very excited this year because we were asked by Barrison Estate, which is in McLaren's flat, to do the same show but with wine, which is something that I had always wanted to do. Yeah, it's very exciting.

SPEAKER_00 53:06

So that uh I'm sure as you say, five different performances, five different wines and five different wine themes as well, which is a a new opportunity for costumes and and things. You don't have to give spoilers if you don't want to, but uh, can you give us a little bit of a taste of what uh kind of wine-themed performances there'll be?

SPEAKER_09 53:26

So we are gonna be experiencing Berithford's classic range of wine, so from a sparkling to a charade and a few in between. I guess what makes Berithford so unique is that the tasting pavilion is this really beautiful open glass area. So if you imagine it's like a box rectangle. It's very open and all the walls are glass. And so a lot of the performers aren't going to be just on a stage because they either they might surprise you from where they are and they're moving around the venue because the idea is that you're very much immersed in the experience of their movement as well as I guess the scenery of the venues around you and the wine that you're tasting as well. The same similar structure like similar structure to what we've done before, but obviously just with different backdrop, different venue, and obviously with wine instead.

SPEAKER_00 54:12

Definitely. And people will be fighting over the to perform when the sparkling wine's being served, maybe. I don't know.

SPEAKER_09 54:18

But maybe they have the opportunity to obviously purchase drinks because obviously something that I'm very passionate about is promoting like South Australian business, which birth to it is. So hopefully if people are interested in drinking the wine and they like it, they've always got the opportunity to purchase wine as well. So that should lie on the venue and have beautiful wine.

SPEAKER_00 54:41

Definitely, and particularly because whether it be the Barossa or the McLaren Vale, I know there are some fringe shows, but there's so many beautiful outdoor venues there, and it is really a a great opportunity, whether it be in the future have a hub in McLaren Vale or something like that. 'Cause it is so centralized in the city at the moment. So much open space and opportunity for people

Immersive Tasting Room Acrobatics

SPEAKER_00 55:02

to go down, see a fringe, particularly when people are coming from interstate. I was at the Adelaide Festival on Friday night and bumped into some people that my friend was showing around the city. We'll go up to the hills and we'll go to the wine regions during the day, and then we'll go to the festival in the city at night, then it makes sense to combine the two together.

SPEAKER_09 55:22

Absolutely. And on the Onge Fringe Council is such a big council, I think. In time and with a bit of a bit more market research and understanding that community a bit more, I think we can potentially build more events. Because there is so much open space and so many beautiful venues.

SPEAKER_00 55:36

So there's the Hopgood Theatre down that way as well. That's such a big theatre as well that people can pop on into it.

SPEAKER_09 55:44

So we also no longer have a really nice art centre, which I think are hosting quite a few spring shows actually. So that's another place for people to check out if they're not wanting to venture into the city.

SPEAKER_00 55:55

And uh what can you tell us about the other performers?

SPEAKER_09 55:57

Uh yeah, so we we don't have the luxury of having rigging this time around. We obviously always love to have more aerial artists that come safely to go and allow it. But we're using like what's called a lollipop clearer. So it's on a you might have seen the poles that are on the little platforms called X poles, and you can also get an attachment to put a hoop on top so it doesn't require you to rig to the ceiling. So we do have an aerial, but no rigging per se. And we have a couple of new performances, which is very exciting, but I'll keep that a little thinking. Oh, to be fair though, they're ha they've actually been announced on our social media, so you just have to follow Braga's circuit to find out who's gonna be performing. I don't want to give too much away, but we're very lucky to have all of the artists we have. We've got some incredibly talented artists in South Australia, so hopefully showcasing them, especially the younger ones who are really just before speaking to you.

SPEAKER_00 56:55

I spoke to Alex from Sir Kids as well. Yeah, talking about their Sir Kids show as well and making a career in Circa, so it all ties in very well together. And but so is it going to be the same five performances in each show, or will you have a rotating cast as well?

SPEAKER_09 57:11

We only have one apparatus that's rotating, but the rest are all there for every show. So pretty consistent casting once.

SPEAKER_00 57:20

Fantastic. And you talked about oh you'll have to check our social media to get all the details of

Apparatus Choices & Casting

SPEAKER_00 57:25

that. Where can people find you on the social media?

SPEAKER_09 57:29

It's just at Burago Circus. Um you can also just stretch it on Facebook as well. I'm it might be showing my age, but I haven't yet yet onto TikTok. Maybe one day.

SPEAKER_00 57:39

I was gonna say, because when you're talking about this stunning glass kind of pavilion and things, I was like, well, that's made for social media reels and things like that. And like you've gotta have the TikTok for that, but you just have to invite all the influencers to take their footage and um and share it on their TikToks as well. And then plans for Virago throughout the year as well. I know you've had a busy time.

SPEAKER_09 58:01

Yeah, so I think my goal is definitely around an immersive kind of art experience. We still have a good relationship with Pirate Life. They've been pretty busy. Um they've got as you would know, they have a lot of events at Pirate Life, and they've just had a birthday celebration, which is one of the biggest celebrations they have in the year. I think stay tuned for more things there. And then yeah, I've just got some other ideas around food experiences and live art, whether that's through circus or dance or got me creative with the idea of it being a very spent-free experience, and hopefully getting new people to see circus and the other way around as well. Maybe people that were more interested in circus might become more interested in food or something like dancing the other way around. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:46

And next year you can have a fringe hub. You can call it the Vineyard of Unearthly Delights and down at McLaren Vale. That'd probably be a lawsuit there. Alright, Nicole, thank you for making the time. You've got performances starting on the thirteenth of March, so Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then Sunday the following week.

SPEAKER_09 59:02

So twentieth, twenty-first, twenty second, and twenty-third.

SPEAKER_00 59:05

And people can just Google for flight in Adelaide fringe and they'll be able to check all of that out.