FRINGE '04: Café Dement

The secret lives and passions of café staff is the focus of ‘Café Dement’, a comedy being performed at Crank Café on the Corner of Waring-Taylor Street and Customhouse Quay from 3 to 13 March in Wellington’s Revelation Fringe Festival.

“Café staff are usually invisible until they make a mistake, and Café Dement uncovers the not so secret lives of four such workers,” says director Rodney Bane.

“Many have staff who are anything but café workers, usually frustrated writers, artists, dancers, actors, and musicians, and the long hours low pay and frustration of co-workers is a natural place for drama to unfold. Café Dement shows one extreme evening with infidelity, disagreement, attempted murder and drug and alcohol abuse, usually in real cafés you’d have to wait a week to see all four,” says Rodney Bane.

As well as use of a café as a venue, there are other differences to usual theatrical productions; the audience will be served coffee, and at least one performance will be webcast.

This is ORT’s fourth Wellington Fringe Production following last year’s office comedy ‘Potted’ (performed in a fifth floor Wellington Office), ‘Interviews and other lies’ a show about TV performed in Capital E’s TV studio in 2002, and ‘Gaffe’ performed in the Circa Studio in 2001.

Oily Rag Producer Sam Fisher thanks Sponsors, Crank Café and Coffee Supreme for their sponsorship; ‘ORT is now in the habit of using non traditional venues and we are really grateful to Crank who have made this possible”.

Creative New Zealand and the Fringe Festival have been essential in getting this play produced.

ENDS

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