SYDNEY FRINGE: A TINY CHORUS

This may be a clown show, but don’t expect any banana peels. There will be a stray gherkin or two, but used to illustrate the profound poetry of the everyday, or as co-creator Eryn Jean Norvill puts it, “Everybody’s embarrassing bits, the awkwardities of our daily routines.” A Tiny Chorus was the surprise oddball hit at the Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festivals; surprising because it’s about two outsiders, Darren and Ralph, one mute, one overweight, both mentally unstable. And, they’re played by two women. “With this show, you never really know how people will take it,” admits Norvill, “It’s not Chekhov!” When in Adelaide, its quiet, “Image, emotion, energy and rhythm,” had to compete with drunken hecklers, and rowdy crowds outside the tent flaps. One reviewer commented, “Darren and Ralph fight the external noise … and their internal noise of ego and fear, to make something of acknowledgment and love.” Ultimately that is the journey they are taking you on. Slapstick is eschewed for the melancholy side of the clown’s mask; how he wears his heart (and humour) on his sleeve. “They’re looking to find connection with something,” says Norvill, “And they realise they just needed to look at each other to see where they belong.” A tiny chorus, with lots to say.

Sep 10-25, CarriageWorks, 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh, $20-24, 8571 9099, carriageworks.com.au