Melbourne Fringe: Sad Digger Mad Mary

Sad Digger Mad Mary is a hilarious piece that treads the fine line between comedy and tragedy. Performed by superstar Tom Halls, it has you laughing one minute and seriously re-thinking your perception of context and history the next.

The work revolves around WW1 veteran The Digger, his (red) dog Bluey and the memories of a (truly) traumatic past. Things get complex/racy/insane/bizarre/deconstructed when “magic therapist” Mary flies in with the rains to shape-up The Digger’s universe.

Behind this work is a complex commentary about our relationship with our own mythos. What are the stories that have been deliberately forgotten and whose history are we rubbing out each time we glorify the stock-standard image of the ANZAC solider?

Throw these questions together with a queer de(con)struction of Australian archetypes and terrific direction by Yvonne Virsik and it’s a remarkable solo show about the myths behind our myths. Mateship isn’t what we think it is.