Melbourne-Premiere Productions Set for Northcote Town Hall, 17 September - 5 October

During the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Speakeasy will transform Northcote Town Hall into a Northside festival hub with a mini-festival of 5 Melbourne-premiere productions. Presenting a cross-section of contemporary dance, side-splitting comedy and a rock n' roll concert like no other, Melbourne's Fringe Festival will come to life in this one-stop-shop for all art-lovers from Wednesday 17 September - Sunday 5 October, 2014.

Audiences will roll in the aisles with two world-premiere comedies featuring modern-day pirates and a sitcom parody of Death of a Salesman from Wednesday 17 - Sunday 28 September, 2014. In Once Were Pirates story-book pirates Shane and Gareth find themselves in present-day Melbourne, where they discover the swash-buckling cut-throat antics of the high seas aren't that different from today's dog-eat-dog world. The great American tragedy gets a comedic revamp in Death of a Salesman: The Sitcom - set in a film studio, the audience witness the hilarity both on-set and off during a 'live' taping of their soon-to-be-favourite TV show "The Loman Empire".

Hot off a country-wide tour of last year's controversial, sold-out Melbourne Fringe show Unsex Me, creator/performer Mark Wilson attacks Shakespeare's Richard II from Wednesday 17 - Sunday 28 September, 2014. Described by Guardian Australia as a "performer to hurry out and see", in Richard II Wilson portrays a God-king who realises he is human and comes out with a treasonous consanguinity of celebrity, corruption and religious self-love.

The phrase "open your heart" is explored in new dance work Potential from Tuesday 30 September - Sunday 5 October, 2014. Choreographer and yoga teacher Janine Proost takes inspiration from her yogic vocation and has created a dance to the heart, from the heart, and about the heart. Expect group hugs, hot water bottles, karma sutra-esque poses and plenty of heartfelt moves.

Direct from the Brisbane Festival, Speakeasy's Melbourne Fringe Festival season come to a close with the blistering punk-rock retelling of the Bjelke-Petersen era Prehistoric from Tuesday 30 September - Sunday 5 October, 2014. Immersing the audience in the Brisbane of the late 1970s, this theatre-come-rock-concert follows four young people as they discover the thrills - and the hard lessons - of self-expression under a corrupt and intolerant regime. With original music performed live, Prehistoric is a tribute to those that refuse to stay quiet.

Darebin Arts' Speakeasy program of independent theatre is the home of cutting-edge performing arts north of the Yarra. Presenting a year-round program of new, exciting and dangerous theatre productions from around Australia, Speakeasy seeks to enliven the greater Melbourne area with world-class art and performances.

For tickets and more information www.darebinarts.com.au/speakeasy or call 03 9481 9500.

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