Reviews on a selection of shows at Ventnor Fringe 2022 written by Lydia Pitman, part of this year’s Fringe Review Team.
A Fistful of Ballads – Ventnor Exchange Spoken Word Collective (23/07/22)
Spoken word and poetic piece performed by a variety of people in this performance of A Fistful of Ballads. This performance was so enjoyable to witness a group of people who have the courage to write their truth and speak it out loud for an audience to hear. Each performer had their own theme with their writing from funny rhyming limericks to more soulful and deep speeches of their own experiences in life. It’s so encouraging to see a group of people on the island of different ages come together to be creative and support one another in their own unique art form. The Ventnor Exchange Spoken Word Collective welcome one and all to their creative group who meet fortnightly on Thursdays from 7:30pm – 9pm at Ventnor Exchange.
Rob Auton: The Crowd Show – Avalon Productions (23/07/22)
The Yorkshire comedian and author, Rob Auton, performed at Ventnor Fringe on Wednesday 23rd in the Nest, and there was quite literally not one seat left to fill. Amazingly witty and entertaining to watch, Auton got the crowd laughing and even involved in his act where he listed off a Google how to on tips for being a comedian, and he certainly ticked off all the boxes. Along with his clever sense of humour and sassy banter with the audience, Auton also knows how to write an inspiring heartfelt monologue about life and why it’s worth trying our best at what we want to do. If you missed him at Ventnor, be sure to catch Auton who will be performing at Edinburgh Fringe from the 3rd-29th August.
The Importance of Being…Earnest? – Say It Again, Sorry? (23/07/22)
Who knew what to expect with an intriguing title such as The Importance of Being…Earnest? This hilarious show is formatted around the fact that the lead actor of the show doesn’t arrive to perform and so the director decides someone from the audience must fill in for the show to continue. But of course, this poor audience member has no idea what the script is or how the story goes, so with the help of the fellow actors the audience participant does their best to become Earnest. As the show goes on, more actors drop out and are replaced by more audience members, creating more chaos throughout the production. This clever tactic really adds to the hilarious, entertaining, and unique experience for both the audiences and performers as no two shows will ever be identical when having new people partake in each showing.
Curios – Art_House_Life (30/07/22)
Curios, the contemporary art exhibition by art_house_life, was open free for the public throughout Ventnor Fringe to view a variety of artwork from twelve local, national, and international artists. The exhibition has been running for the past 7 years (minus the covid years) by Joanna Kori and Albedo Marz where the exhibition takes place inside 35 Madeira Road. Joanna informed us how it is a mixture of artists who get in touch with them to be apart of the exhibition to showcase their work, and how they will also reach out to artists as they have a wide network due to Joanna’s husband, David, being a previous professor of fine art taught many people over the years. The artists have a couple years in advance to think and decide what kind of work they’d be interested in showing as there is no theme required, and it also gives the artists and the organisers plenty of time to plan the space for the artwork within the house as the whole ground floor is used for the event. The show welcomes a variety of art forms such as sculptures, paintings, installations, videos, performances, and more so be sure to stop by next year to see what’s on at art_house_life.
