'Anyone Can Edit... Phaedra'

It is Tuesday, the 20th September.

It is 6pm.

I am at Metro Arts.

109 Edward Street, Brisbane City. QLD 4000

Come with me as I take you on my adventure.

"Tonight I find myself on an adventure. An adventure you say? Well yes. I am reasonably new to the 'arts' scene (dare I say?) and tonight will be the first time I have managed to get to an event orchestrated by - wait for it - the Brisbane Festival. Yes, I can see the nods of approval already.

"Now that I have your attention, let me tell you about what I discovered on my adventure in Metro Arts Land (Under the Radar Inc).

"Carley and I find ourselves dragging our poor feet up 4 flights of stairs to get to the studio room in Building 25. When I asked her where the lift was, she responded with 'It's over there, but it's Heritage listed.' I didn't really know what she meant until we got to the top, where I noticed this rickety old elevator which looked like it couldn't hold a toothpick, let alone two bodies. I glanced back at Carley and said, 'Well, I'm glad we didn't go in the lift.'

"Please bear in mind that I had NO CLUE what to expect upon arrival. When we walked into the studio, the first thing that I saw was a man in bright red jocks (nothing else) splayed out on a chair in the middle of the room. My first thought - what on EARTH have I gotten myself into? (On a side note, it does get better)

"There was one guy sitting cross-legged in the left hand corner of the room, facing the wall with an electric guitar in his hands. A girl in a red dress with a black umbrella opened over her head was in the front right hand corner. Another girl was in the back right hand corner, wearing a plain black t-shirt and aviator sunnies. Oh, and one other random guy standing just in front of the girl in the red dress. (There was another guy in the room but I don't quite remember where he was situated)

"Then the show started, and I inwardly cringed. The guy with the guitar was playing the most TERRIBLE screeching chords that were making my ears hurt. And what followed was just WEIRD - I can't think how else to describe it. This other girl came out behind a sectioned-off, black-curtained area and started writing post-its and sticking them all over the naked (I'm going to term him 'naked guy') guy while he just lay there, frozen (the screeching was still going). Sometime after this, the guy in the front right hand corner starts moving slowly towards the girl in the red dress, and then he proceeds to stroke her umbrella.... and moving down towards her back, before he pulls his hand back and then SMACK! grabs one arse cheek and holds it there (I will name him 'arse-grabber')

"So at this point in time, I'm like 'what the hell'. The other people in the audience are in rapture - sitting on the edge of their seats, watching every single person on stage to see what they'll do next. Meanwhile I'm perched there with one raised eyebrow, wondering what on earth these artsy-types are up to. Not to worry, it didn't stay confusing too much longer.

"After a whole lot more boring (slowly moving people wandering round stage, not really looking like they had any purpose, and that girl consistently putting post-its on naked guy), the screeching finally stopped and people start talking. At first it was mumbo jumbo to me - then they began talking about Wikipedia, and I was like 'Oh! I see. Wikipedia. Something to do with that.'

"Now, forgive me because my memory is terrible, so I might miss a fair few details here, but four of them got up and moved to the front and started singing this HILARIOUS song about Wikipedia. It was the most random, accurate piece of music I have ever heard. I couldn't stop chuckling. By far, the highlight of the entire show. And then naked guy gets up and stands in the middle of them and sings too! My interest is finally perked.

"From there we head into a giant screen being set up in the middle of the floor, and a montage of the girl in the red dress begins while someone voice-overs a repetitive text about the girl in the red dress - or was it white? Anyway, arse-grabber gets up, ties a piece of white cloth around his face and starts doing some weird interpretive dance in front of the screen. I was amused, to say the least. And THEN two of the other people wander in with velcro-catch gloves! They start playing while the voice-over tells of the outdated status of velcro and tennis.

"It becomes a bit fuzzy from here, but the screen lights up with a Wikipedia page 'Phaedra (mythology)' and someone at a computer begins typing up what has happened thus far in the show (I think I skipped a bit where a girl with a bag pulled over her head that had a picture of a cat etched on the front wandered onto stage, that and naked guy singing a random little song about taking a drink or something - oops). We (the audience) can't stop staring at what is written, and it's very novel. I WISH I could get the finalised text, however Wikipedia pulled it down awfully quick :(

"So in this part here, a lot of random pieces of dialogue occur, with singing and odd dancing, and a bit of acting, yelling and voice-over'ing happening while the audience are sitting in their seats, enthralled by the ranting about Phaedra and her story (that and the story of Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia).

"Anyway, so the highlight of the night (besides the Wikipedia song) was when the cast suddenly ended up in the audience discussing what to write on the Wiki page! I'm not sure about anyone else, but I was a bit confused. When it finally occurred to me that we were actually going to edit a Wiki page, I was absolutely delighted. This performance had taken a turn I had not expected, and the audience interaction was a definite bonus.

"Now to wrap up, I would like to applaud the cast for their interesting, intriguing, slightly confusing montage of Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia, and Phaedra. You were all really splendid, and have fantastic voices and animated faces. While I didn't know what to expect, so I didn't have too many expectations, I was pleasantly surprised. Special kudos go to naked guy and the girl with the aviator sunnies (she had a gorgeous voice) for being the most entertaining (to me!). If anyone gets the chance, you should definitely go see this performance - even if just for a laugh.

"My only wish is that the Wiki page had kept our alterations! Maybe next time :)"

And this, dear friends, was my adventure. If you made it this far in my tale, I applaud you as well. Many thanks to Carley for taking me tonight :) Ta-ta all!