Adelaide Fringe

Fringe Review: Hatch, Match & Dispatch

Cabaret at its best

Originally performed ten years ago for Adelaide Fringe, Hatch, Match & Dispatch is back with fresh songs and a new look.
Starring two of Adelaide’s best singers and cabaret performers-Fiona Talbot-Leigh and Annie Slade, the show takes the audience on a journey through their life-long friendship. Slade, a midwife, has been witness to plenty of hatches; Talbot-Leigh, a marriage and funeral celebrant, has been witness to many a match and a dispatch. And as friends, they have been there for each other through both the personal and the professional life-defining moments.

A good cabaret show tells a story, and this is no exception. Through their own experiences, these performers take us on a trip back through our own lives, and those pivotal births, marriages, deaths and moments of deep friendship.

Beautifully accompanied by Grant Hutchesson, the range of songs include hilarious originals, such as Slade’s A Song For Every Occasion, and popular covers such as Respect. A highlight of the evening is the clever arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s seminal Both Sides Now, sung exquisitely by Talbot-Leigh, interspersed with three lullabies Slade wrote for her own children. A lot of people were wiping dust from their eyes after that one! Other numbers included a rip-roaring gospel number, as a tribute to their childhoods as churchgoers, and an Amity Dry number bemoaning young parents who think everyone is as taken with their kids as they are.

Musical numbers were tied together with storytelling and banter. Although the latter needed some tightening, the huge hearts and personalities on stage made up for any askew timing. At its core, this is a show about middle-aged women, and their seeming invisibility, despite the massive amount of wisdom, knowledge and experience that they have to give.

Hatch, Match & Dispatch is a beautifully put-together show.

Reviewed by: Tracey Korsten
Twitter: @TraceyKorsten

Venue: Black Box Theatres
Season: Finished

Rating out of 5: 4

#Adelaide

#ADLFringe

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