HOME BREW FESTIVAL

Three years ago Old Fitzroyers Phil Spencer and Brett Pritchard decided they’d been working hard and deserved a party. What came next was a music/theatre micro-festival that has sold out each year and garnered a raucous, sleazy reputation.

I spoke with the enthusiastic and charming festival director Phil Spencer who describes Home Brew as an experimental, boozy and disarming event with a friendly atmosphere.

“The musical acts define the tone of evening. This year we’re leaning towards more of a country/folk feel,” he explains. “Our main focus is on alternative ways of telling stories and we want to introduce people to theatre in an unusual way.”

Punters will be treated to musical performances by folk sensation Caitlin Park and “country popette” Fanny Lumsden; a one-woman-show performed from a toilet cubicle; a murder monologue told from the perspective of a murdered wife replete with a blues ballad; a singing telegram; and a one-on-one interactive performance via Skype (live from Holland). “It could be the world premiere of the first Skype theatre show,” Spencer laughs. “It might be brilliant or go horribly wrong.”

May 17-19, The Old Fitzroy Theatre, 129 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo, $30-35, 1300 241 167, rocksurfers.org