Excellent review for Autogeddon : Melbourne Indymedia

Melbourne Fringe 2006: Autogeddon
Northcote Town Hall, Melbourne; Melbourne Fringe Festival
Saturday, September 30, 2006. General Performance. Review by CHRISTINA CASS.
http://www.aussietheatre.com

Plays until October 12. Bookings: (03) 8412 8777 Wow. Autogeddon is an image-packed play/musical, delivered to a mesmerised and often quite stunned audience by the able hands of director Alice Bishop (The Sheryls). It really packs a petrol punch.

Autogeddon is an epic poem written by Heathcote Williams in the late 80s about the end of our world at the hands of the automobile industry. It has been adapted for the stage by Russell McGilton (Bombay to Beijing by Bicycle) and is produced by Alan Griffiths.

Bishop’s vice-gripped vision of McGilton’s adaptation is a maze of vivid re-creations of drag races and sexy auto ads until we get to a hospital room with an SUV crash victim – Dorothy – slipping in and out of consciousness.

Now imagine watching The Wizard of Oz on crack as Dorothy’s adventures on the subconscious road get darker and darker. McGilton, who plays the ever-morphing “Narrator/Wizard” unveils a rather bleak and lawless future if the literally pig-headed oil industry – “Oil Ogarchy” – is allowed to continue raping the Earth of her virtues.

This is not Mad Max or high-tech theatre. It’s performance-based, refreshing, true theatre where an incredibly talented cast plays all the parts – even car parts.

Although Autogeddon is still raw around the edges, the production values and execution are very high – you may be shocked but you won’t be disappointed. So make sure you get a ticket for this Fringe hit. Plus, you can say you saw John and Don, the Crash Test Dummies (no, not the music group) before they became an international phenomenon.