THE WRITER’S PLAYROOM: BENITO DI FONZO
Playwright, poet and performer Benito Di Fonzo is much-loved by our newspapers for his unique brand of off-the-wall writing, which for his re-imagining of Bob Dylan’s life in The Chronic Ills of Robert Zimmerman for the Old Fitz Theatre in 2010, our reviewer called, “surrealo-absurdist.” This year looks to be another big one for the scribe, with a play upcoming at the Darlo (Lenny Bruce: 13 Daze Undug in Sydney 1962) and a Sydney Writers Festival appearance (Spoken Four, May 19).
Before those milestones, Di Fonzo is the first in the series to step into the Word Travels studio space for the Rocks Pop-up Writers Playroom program, during which the public can visit and interact with the writers – do try to avoid poking with a stick. At the end of the residencies, the writers will invite those that have been nice back into the playroom for a unique culminative performance and talk.
The Rocks Pop-up have been doing interesting things with the little sandstone subterrane they call home, with poetry collectives, design companies (this week, &Company are running a host of ‘How To’ short courses), and experimental arts installations flying their flags from the stoop to date. If you haven’t checked it out yet, we rekcon Di Fonzo could be just the excuse you’re after. (AB)
May 4-6, 1-2pm, L2/40 Gloucester St, The Rocks, therockspopup.tumblr.com
