According to Jeffrey Jay Fowler, if you’re looking for a theatre production that isn’t ‘a three hour realistic play about infidelity’, then you should probably see his show at the Fringeworld Festival this month.
This year the twenty six year old is restaging the highly acclaimed A History of Drinking. An intimate and interactive journey where the audience are invited to order drinks whilst learning about them. Speaking to OUTinPerth, Fowler explained the unusual yet innovative concept:
‘You sit in a semicircle in a bar space created in an art gallery and it’s a game show to begin with. You have to answer quiz questions that are very simple – the first question in the quiz is “What colour is red wine?” As the game warms up you get more difficult questions like what ingredients exist in certain spirits and what countries do certain spirits come from. What the quiz is for is to decide who gets to drink.’
It’s not just interesting facts that will accompany your drink. Each drink comes with a story that is played out by Fowler. The choice of drinks on the night dictates the plot, ‘once I’ve served the drink I perform a part of the story line, so there’s a story of interconnected characters. The main characters are a family from Australia who have been split apart because of drinking.’
Although alcohol is the main star of the show, Campbell warns audiences that it’s not something you should see just to get drunk. ‘I once had to stop the show because a guy wouldn’t stop talking and he got really abusive. It was quite funny, a reviewer from The West Australian was there that night and it got commentated on, like it was life imitating art. You’re sitting there watching this show about this character and his family and how he has this downfall because of his inability to stop drinking, and there is someone in the audience doing that exact thing, it’s interesting!’
A History of Drinking will be showing at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts Tower Studio from Feb 11-14, 16, 19-23. Grab your tickets from www.fringeworld.com.au
Nadine Walker
