Mudfest - Open for art

It was a cold, dark and wet night as the glitterati of Melbourne Uni made their way to the far-flung outpost The Open Stage, transformed into a decadently tacky calypso affair of fake flowers (fake enough to look real but actually fake) hallucinogenic deck-chairs (thank YOU rooftop bar!) and romantically placed down-lights. I will enjoy my $4 Stella very much, and talent-wise its good to know Melbourne Uni is one of the best places to get a good (FREE) night out and an exciting (gotta use that word sometime) start to the FEISTA DE MUD. Highlights of the night/festival where put together in a user friendly slideshow of A-Z, with sexy results: Ananth Gopal usurping Mr Bean as ultimate in the ol’ flicky tongue movement thing, (La Promenade des Gen Betes) HOTT (extra t for titillating), belly dancing from Danielle Asciak (Everyone Wants a Piece of Malta!) nothing like audience participation with Into the Unknown (snaps for focus, girls) The Greeks Omniprop up to it again (up is the operative word, in a biblical way- The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus). I was ‘mystified’ with outrageous accents/lisps with Heist (Mysterious Mysteries!). Also, Simon Taylor’s a hoot. The magic isn’t bad either.

Without sounding too desperate:

OH MY GOD GO AND SEE THE SHOWS MUDFEST IS GONNA BE AWWWWWEESSSSOOOOOMMEEEEEEE

This is Lauren Bok signing off from the Opening Night of Mudfest 11.

Join the Club

The Mudfest Club has been a Mudfest institution since the first festival. Originally it was housed in the Union’s coffee lounge (now Bluezone) and provide late night entertainment and alcoholic refreshments for students who stayed back on campus to take in the festival. Since then it has had stints in the Food Co-Op, North Dining Hall (now the Members Lounge) and most recently in a configuration of shipping containers set up in South Court. But this year the Mudfest Club has decided to embrace the festival’s theme of “hidden spaces” by locating itself in one of Melbourne University’s most unknown and under-utilised arts spaces – The Open Stage.

While the Union and Guild Theatres have back-to-back performances throughout most of semester, The Open Stage sits empty and forgotten over the other side of campus. “The University hates it being used as a performance space” says Chris Summers, Arts Officer of the Student Union. “Its ridiculously expensive”. Luckily Mudfest has secured the support of the Theatre Board in covering the cost of the venue. More then just political manoeuvring to ensure the University still sees The Open Stage as a vital resource on campus, Chris says the venue offers a unique opportunity to completely curate a space. While the organisers are being tight lipped about the designs for the Club, Chris assures me it will challenge people preconceptions about the space.

Nearly as secret as the Club’s design is the Club’s program, which had not been realised at time of printing. Chris says the response from acts wanting to perform in the Club has been really good, particularly from music acts. He thinks a particular highlight will be a “weird trippy performance group” called Mr Brady, which he compares to a 1970s version of Flight of the Conchords. There will also be a number of nights which will allow budding performers to turn up and get involved, including Comedy Survivor and Acoustic Idol. Another highlight is likely to be the 24 hour installation project in which four artists will produce an arts installation using only things they find on campus.

Your first chance to see the Club will be on Tuesday when it plays host to the Mudfest Opening Night party. Hosted by Simon Taylor, the night will kick off from 8pm. For coverage of the Opening Night and full details of this weeks Club program, see Wednesday’s edition of Mudmap.

The Open Stage is located on Level 2 of the Arts Centre, corner of Swanton and Grattan Streets.