A BLOKE in a dog suit, sniffing bums and “peeing” on unsuspecting punters’ legs had audiences in fits at the Fremantle Street Arts Festival a couple of years ago.
But I shudder to contemplate what three 10-metre dragons are going to do, as they charge through the city’s streets: the words “mayhem” and “awesome”, come to mind judging by YouTube clips of Hollands’ Saurus.
The Easter long weekend street arts festival is Fremantle on steroids, with more than 100,000 people expected to flock to the port city to see some of the best street performers in the world.
Many were found during a fact-finding mission to France by organiser Alex Marshall last year. Spain’s Leandre Ribera (No Se´) has been on a bucket list of “must-have acts” for years, Marshall says.
“[The] festival is gaining a reputation in Europe as a quality festival and place that really appreciates good street theatre, so it’s becoming easier to entice artists of the calibre of Leandre.”
The program is choc full of new and exciting acts, including French artist Marc De Cafe, who will be “painting” pictures quite literally on the cappuccino strip, using coffee grounds, a perfect fusion of French and Freo.
Australia’s Alakazam Millar is the Human Knot, who will tie himself in knots with some amazingly freaky contortions, while coming out of left field a bunch of Japanese warriors will carry out a mock battle.
In Fishing Boat Harbour—and I do mean “in”—Eau in Sea Major is an aquatic, acoustic show, with a trio of musicians giving a watery performance.
This year’s program also includes a shift to a gentler form of street art, with two acts coming out of Marshall’s French visit, Fallen Thoughts and Smile of the Shipwrecked.
“Delicate, intimate and intelligent work that an Australian audience might normally expect to find in a theatre was there in the street in the courtyards and squares,” he says.
“It was thrilling. So I was keen to bring a taste of that to street arts.”
Claire Ducreux’s Shipwrecked is a “delicate and poignant” performance, Marshall says.
“[It] was so beautiful and heart-warming, I can honestly say after nearly 30 years being involved with busking…this was the first time I was moved to shed a tear in a street show.”
Belgium’s Fallen Thoughts will leave audiences breathless as they “dance” through the branches of the arts centre’s beautiful trees.
“I thought a lot about these two shows and where we could stage them and the arts centre was the obvious choice.
“I would encourage people to hop on the CAT bus and head [up there].”
Not all performers are busking: France’s Le Chant Des Pavillons is a troupe of wandering minstrels—who were inspired by Australian author Shaun Tan’s The Arrival—and they’re described as a “delightfully weird marriage of strings, horns and vocals”.
Traditional pitches have spread further this year with one outside the National Hotel, at the corner of Market and High Streets, stretching down to Pakenham Street, and an “open pitch” on Henderson Street for local performers not in the program to showcase their talents.
The Fremantle Street Arts Festival is on Saturday April 19 to Monday 21.
by JENNY D’ANGER