Batmania Bus Tour

Batmania Bus Tour
Melbourne Fringe / The Very Good Looking Initiative / Theatre Works. September 11 – 21, 2019.

When Melbourne was a new settlement it was named Batmania (1835 -1837), after one of its founders, John Batman. At this year’s Fringe Festival, supported by Theatreworks, the collective team at The Very Good Initiative have developed two separate events under the banner of “Batmania” - an Expo ‘19 and a Bus Tour.

I chose to board the bus and venture into some wild antics led by our droll tour guides (Raymond Martini and Vidya Rajan) and bus driver (Elliot Gee). Located in the heartland of St Kilda, or should l say Batmania, we meandered around the demolition site of the old Novotel, pockets of desolate beachside to view the toxic ocean and the dimly lit port in the far-off distance, including the off chance of catching a lone jogger.

The tour is more than just a site-seeing metaphorical venture in to the vast hollow land of our sunburnt country; it is a subversive and challenging piece of anti theatre steeped in black comedy routines that has the audience feeling uncertain, bemused and maybe a bit scared.

The guides turn into zombies before running off into the dark abyss, meanwhile the driver decides to stop off at the local petrol station for a snack break, leaving us to chew on our bewildering experiences. We do arrive back safely to enter the last moments of the Expo ’19 show and the absurd banalities continue, or should l say finish.

It is great to see new innovative theatre outside of the box, and praise to The Very Good Initiative for continuing to their ground breaking and staggeringly provocative work.

Flora Georgiou

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