Spoken Word

20 Mar 2023

Spoken Word: Episode 7: Bill Marshall and the Festival of Surrealism

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Spoken Word: Episode 7: Bill Marshall and the Festival of Surrealism

James was joined in the studio by Bill Marshall, co-ordinator and conveyor of the 7th Festival of Surrealism.

20^th Century Fish in association with Endlessoptimism, incontinently present: (The Seventh) FESTIVAL OF SURREALISMS, April 22 and 23^rd, at Temperance Hall in Napier Street, South Melbourne.

FESTIVAL OF SURREALISMS was founded by award-winning playwright Bill Marshall and first held to escape a mind-numbingly boring job in the Tax Office, in 1978. The 4th Festival was in 1981 at what was then called the Australian Nouveau Theatre, better known as Anthill. The Seventh Festival sees a return to its roots, with Temperance Hall being the same location as the original Anthill’s Napier Street address. Under the guidance of artistic director Jean-Pierre Mignon, Anthill staged many avant-garde theatrical productions by writers such as Paul Adkin and Alex Miller.

“Last year’s Festival featured such sweetly weird items as George Orwell eviscerating Salvador Dali, inflatable beach toys, death metal, infinite collage, kamishibai, nudity and baked beans,” says Marshall about the event. “This year we have the promise of more fun and frivolity, not to mention stupendous surreality”.

Compered by Captain W.N. Fish (Bill Marshall) and his loyal co-producer Marco Lawrence, the FESTIVAL OF SURREALISMS features non-stop performances of Dadaistic poetry, unusual musical offerings, wildly funny comedy, strange theatrical spectacles, psychedelic movies, avant-garde experimental sounds and bizarre “happenings”.

Some of this year’s contributors include Marty MonStar, Eddy Burger, π.O., Libby Charlton, The John Lawrance Hour, Steve Smart, Peter Murphy, Awkward Giraffe, Phoenix, Helen Child, Doctor Gonzo and Sean O’Callaghan, as well as films “Fantasy Man”, “Louder Than Words” (featuring Jas H. Duke and Ania Walwicz), “Mystical Rose”, “Fundeath” and “The Ballad of Captain Fish”. The full line-up will be announced via Facebook in the lead-up to the event. Turn up early to secure a spot.

If you don’t know what to expect from a surrealisms festival…Ask yourself, why fish?