I muse on memories of the Melbourne Silent Dinner Parties, which all panned out to be incredibly romantic affairs – each night with it’s own bent, but all with an air of the amorous. The free flowing connections that formed on the first night have proven to become lasting friendships. Many of them stay in touch, and the group that formed around the couple who got engaged that night attended the engagement party. The couple, Joel and Karen, also plan to have a period of silence at their upcoming wedding embracing the energy in which they promised to get hitched. The evening had a subtle atmosphere, with much underlying the unspoken. Quite a calm group, with a lot of heart connection.
The second night of the festival was a much younger crowd than the first night, and got a little out of control. It was quite rowdy and heaps of fun, and it was no time before you couldn’t tell who came with who as the group merged into a mash-up. Peeps who certainly didn’t arrive together left together. One participant, Simon Eales left all his belongings behind, and when he showed up to collect them the next day I discovered he was a street press reviewer who subsequently wrote an article on the piece, the column called ‘Bangs? no Fringe’ for Front Row Arts in Inpress. His words may give you an idea of what the group were like. They physically connected by wrapping each other up in masking tape. At one point the whole table was tied together this way. Bonding! The group decided to break the silence around the table after about 3.5 hours. It’s the first time a group that has come in from a fringe festival has broken the Silence while still on the premises. Normally I find that when they are festival events, the participants approach the space as holding the silence, and feel free to talk if they are outside of it, but not before. Many a sidewalk debrief has occurred this way. This group ran down the sidewalk and ended up at the pub down the road and dissolved into the evening.
The third night it rained. No big deal, we had undercover, however it did mean that I had to break the tables up to make sure no-one got wet. This changes the dynamic as the groups are smaller and often curious about what it’s like ‘over there’ at the other table. With the help of one of the guests, we collected everyones car keys and played musical chairs with key pairs. Nice to break things up. One lady brought her partner along for his birthday, not telling him anything about the event until they got to the door and she quickly briefed him as I let them in. Wowswers, what a gift. We had a birthday cake, and sung the ol song in sign. Very sweet.
Behind the scenes it was one of the smoothest runs yet. Most of the crew came from my crazy extended family, as they are nearly all in Melbourne I seized the opportunity to collaborate with them in some Art&Life :: and loved every minute. What an incredible difference having all that support makes. And loads of them came along as guests too, which was about time! My particular thanks to the following for giving their time, resources, and wonderful selves to the events: Elizabeth Leticia Grace Cowin, Augustus Viola, Aviva Beecher Kelk, Emma James, Mary Kearney, Rob Krikori, Celia Ryan, Marg Welch, Mag Kearney, Frank Viola, Jack Viola, Susie Rourke, Danny James.
So now we head from one fringe festival to the other, as I prepare for Adelaide Fringe in March. The crew is coming together down there, and we have a few repeat offenders behind the scenes – we can expect to portion out potions on the plates with the fantastic Antonietta as our chef again, wonderful! The dates for that one are March 7, 8 & 9, so get your tix now at the festival website, or buzz me of you’d like to come help instead of buy a ticket, and see ya there in Mad March. Can’t wait to see some shows at AFF as well, and if you want my recommendation for something to see, check out Sketch The Rhyme!
The Silent Dinners 