Truly Gone Fishing — Review
ATYP’s reviewing program was created to give young people a platform to voice their opinions and experiences while developing skills in critical reflection. The views expressed are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of ATYP or its staff.
Truly Gone Fishing, 2024. Photo by Robert Hoang – Sydney Fringe Festival
As part of Sydney Fringe Festival this year, the world premier of a feral, farcical, physical comedy caught my eye. Truly Gone Fishing is an adult show that combines elements of circus and theatre into a show that is absolutely, positively bonkers. The show runs the gambit of humour – from a plethora of gags, to great word play, to referential humour, to meta-jokes, to situational and physical comedy such as pulling lobsters necks, heads and hands.
From the delightfully delirious brain of writer, co-director, and star, Kirsty Saville/Opera Darling, comes a stupendously silly tale about the ridiculous nature of a Sydney family’s desperate attempts to fit into high society. It is clear why the writer is involved in bringing the show to life as a director because the script flies by at a million miles an hour. And yet, as a performer, she grounds the story in her emotional connection with her sister (Savannah Melvin/Harba Darling), which allows for all the hijinxs that ensue.
However, the play wouldn’t work as well without the powerhouse performances of both Veronica Atley as their mother, Margarita Darling, and Arielle Cartwright, the ever-pompous yacht club owner, Rachel Scandinelle. Their chemistry, the way they bounce back and forth off one another, with their delivery is perfection. They provide the tension that gets the audience to invest in the cartoonish, Looney-Tunes-esque situations that Opera and Harba get into. And Mark Barry plays his part of Sam effortlessly – leading to a great second-act reveal.
Truly Gone Fishing, 2024. Photo by Robert Hoang – Sydney Fringe Festival
The light and sound design by Kiera Louise fills in the gaps between scenes nicely. While, co-director and dramaturg Naomi Belet, along with consulting director Laura Campbell, have helped to craft a show that is bursting at the seams with energy and enthusiasm.
From the girls using fishing rods as white canes because they have blinded themselves to yacht club pyramid schemes, to strip teases (yes, more than one!), to incest, to reality TV-sized reveals, this show has it all! If you go and see it, you may not learn how to have a happy, healthy and fulfilling life, but you will learn how to SERVE (jail time! Seriously, don’t try any of this at home!)
This is the epitome of a fringe show. It may not all add up, or even ‘make sense’, but it was downright hilarious and oh so insane! You’d be hard-pressed to come out of the theatre and not have a smile plastered on your face 🙂
★★★★
— Ben Webb