Review: ADELAIDE FRINGE 2016: GNOMES VS ALIENS Is A Musical Tale of Life At The Bottom Of The Garden

Reviewed by Christine Pyman, Tuesday 23rd February 2016

This is not your typical, classy, Fringe event. Gnomes Vs Aliens is more the sort of show that you leave thinking "did I really just see that?" Presented by Such Clique at the Irish Club, this musical comedy springs from the fertile, or perhaps overactive imaginations of a group of friends who have put huge amounts of energy into it, and obviously enjoyed every second, writing, producing and performing this, as did the audience, which seemed to be composed primarily of friends and families of the performers. There are many rough edges and the piece would greatly benefit from some strong and experienced direction and dramaturgy.

The show is an original story with original music, covering an attempted alien invasion of Earth through a portal formed from a convergence of ley lines at the bottom of the garden of a young girl, Florence, and her family. Also at the bottom of the garden, are a group of very badly-behaved garden gnomes who foil the aliens in time-honoured fashion, with an epic battle which all members of the cast throw themselves into with great abandon.

A strong theme throughout is sexuality and, together with some mild gender bending, it brings this twisted fairytale into the modern age. The antics of the cat-shagging, coke-snorting, corner-pissing gnomes are the highlights of the show. Together with the deliberately dodgy set changes, this is destined to be a B or, more likely C grade cult classic.

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