Neon Toast is a performance with beautiful contemporary dance
that tells the story of a lonely baker. This theatre and dance
combination is a mix of baking knowledge and the emotional side of
finding the one.

Devised and performed by Kerrily Aitchison, Eleanor Riley and Rachael
Dyson-McGregor, Neon Toast plays homage to nostalgic live
performance with a contemporary edge. Sometimes I felt like I was
watching a Harold Pinter in dance form.

After two successful seasons of Just the Worst Time of Year for a
Revolution in Auckland, the Kiwi’s have brought their experimental
and eclectic theatre/dance to the Melbourne Fringe Festival and their
first performance in Australia.

The performance space is in the middle of a massive converted warehouse
studio, with heavy concrete floors and high ceilings. It’s cold and dark
and you feel like you are in a factory in the early morning. Especially
since it is on the aptly named Oven’s St Brunswick. I love these quirky
places for performances. This warehouse in particular added so much to
the atmosphere.

A mix of light hearted fun and emotionally charged moments; Neon
Toast brings out many different characters using any means possible
to find love. Some fine the heartache, some the joy. Our main man was
Harry, a lifetime Baker who shows us how lonely a baker’s life could be.

You wouldn’t think you could find a performance involving bread, neon
lights and dancing. The neon lights are used for a fantastic opening
movement piece that while it was fantastic to watch, I’m not sure if it
gave you the right idea of what was to come. It didn’t seem to mould in
completely with the rest of the contemporary interpretive style dance.

The three girls are amazing performers and their character switches were
flawless. All three were remarkably professional and perfectly
choreographer. If they made a mistake I didn’t see it and I was front
row.

I took along a friend who had spent many nights working in a bakery and
he understood more than I did how lonely their main character, Harry
was. Oh, and according to him their information on how bread is made is
correct. I wasn’t listening; I was drawn in by the connection between
the performers. The performers really understood what they wanted to
convey, which meant it was easy for us as an audience to see and feel
the characters. There was a real pull into this man, Harry’s, life that
I just wanted to get up and give him a hug. I wanted to see more of
Harry and less minor character heartache.

As with a lot of performances the music plays a pivotal role in bringing
it all together and the music in Neon Toast is fantastic. The
music was beautiful and smooth when it needed to be and nutty electronic
for the more light-hearted moments.

I highly recommend seeing this performance. They have put together a
beautiful and professional piece that warms the heart. Definitely
doesn’t make me want to be a baker, though I was hungry for a good loaf
of sourdough afterwards.

Neon Toast: Melbourne Fringe Festival

MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL
23 September - 11 October