Rymill Park has been renovated, sure there is no water feature as such but there are a number of watering holes, the entertainment patio is a dance floor and the active spaces are a combination of stages, merry-go-rounds, bungee trampolines, Ferris wheels and a trapeze.
For me the garden is one of the highlights of the Fringe, a place where performers and punters go to put their feet up, let their hair down and relax.
Kinky Fringe (Sat 10 March) took this to an extreme with people clad in leather and or rubber – well partially clad literally put their feet up and let their hair down. Stock whips, riding crops, fishnet body stockings, chains, candles and “ticklers” were the fashion accessories of choice.
All of Adelaide’s “bad boys and girls” came out of their dungeons and backrooms to be suitably punished. Fair enough it was a legal act between consenting adults, but why did all of the Garden need to be punished by the “performers” parading around in the butt-out leather pants and underwear as outerwear.
Particularly when you take into consideration their average age and size.
I don’t want to sound cruel but for some of them the fish net body suit they were wearing was more like a fish trawling net body suit. I was also concerned that grandpa might literally have the crap beat out of him by his mistress and his costume left no place to hide a colostomy bag. The g-string he was wearing offered little comfort to the spectators. Ironically this meant that the safest place for spectators was directly behind him (though a permanent loss of vision my result) because at least the bum floss would spray any leakage at a 45 degree angle.
Definitely unearthly, unsure it was a delight… for the voyeuristic audience. It was more amusing than alluring, more awkward than arousing. It is no wonder so man of them wear masks.
I am not sure what the sexual attraction is but each to their own I suppose. Whatever takes your goat, actually goats and other livestock belong to a whole different form of foreplay altogether.
Perhaps next year we can have a tent with men who wear nappies and have an unnatural relationships with an inflatable girlfriend.
If I had known that foreplay was going to be part of the Fringe program I would have registered a show and set up my game of Cleudo, a packet of M&Ms with all of the red ones removed and played my Bjork albums all whilst wearing a Smurf costume.
The rides provide a lot of amusement as members of the public try to prove that they can do what the professionals have spent hours perfecting, only to discover that abdominal muscles aren’t just necessary to get a job on a late night infomercial.
Flying trapeze is apparently quite a physically demanding activity. Ladies a word of warning, it is also not something to be entered into when wearing a skirt and g-string.
Bungee trampolining is also not something to be entered into when drunk. Initially quite spectacular for the audience as the “acrobat” who struggled to remain upright when standing on the ground is flung into the air. They end up dancing around like a rag doll being chewed up by the family Labrador.
You know it is not going to end well. It is a race against the clock. Will the ride finish before the lethal culinary combination of hot chips, yiros and beer is refunded.
I am sure Jamie Durie and Scott Cam and the like appreciate this notion of recycling and would make excellent use of the compost to revitalise the lawn areas when the party comes to an end.
All good modern garden designs include feature lighting. This garden has got this covered with nightclub lighting around the DJ stage, spot lights (plain and patterned) from ground to sky, lanterns hanging in trees and the unique lighting of car headlights.
The artistic is a large mirrored heart that hangs above the busking arena that looks as though it is straight from the set of a Kylie Minogue concert. Perhaps it could be rigged up to the judges voting buzzers from Channel 7’s Australia’s got Talent. As the buskers will tell you the joy of street performance is the immediate response from the audience. Well what could be more immediate and appropriate than a huge heart crushing the heart (and body) of the sub-standard performer.
Now that would be delightful, if not a little unearthly.
The 2007 Adelaide Fringe runs until March 31st