Following its successful debut in 2014, The Royal Croquet Club will be returning to Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga for next year’s Adelaide Fringe.
Following its successful debut in 2014, The Royal Croquet Club will be returning to Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga for next year’s Adelaide Fringe. Co-director Stuart Duckworth is excited to be bringing the event back in 2015, and says hosting more Fringe shows will be the focus. “The whole idea behind us applying again and really wanting to do the event again is to do the best elements of what we did [in 2014] better. The premise behind our application, and I think the reason why we were successful is, [because] we really want to increase the Fringe content we had. We’re partnering up with a couple of different organisations to help bring some shows to Australia, which either haven’t been seen before, haven’t been seen in a while, or are companies doing new shows. “Obviously Fringe has a whole variety of venues and performances and we certainly want to focus on some content which may not be represented at other venues. We certainly aren’t trying to copy anyone’s event, nor are we trying to take away from any other activation. We want to enhance what’s already offered and bring something new.” Duckworth adds that The Royal Croquet Club “will look and feel different to 2014”. “No two events that we do will ever be the same in terms of layout, in terms of feel, in terms of offering, in terms of design. All the elements that we had originally, some will be carried through with a twist, and there’ll be new themes, activation areas with food and beverage offerings [and] the performing spaces will be completely different. We want to create an experience.” The Royal Croquet Club was the only group that applied for use of Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga during the busy 2014 Fringe season. This year it beat competition from six other proposals that were put through a selection criteria matrix and assessed by an Adelaide City Council panel. This followed a two-week submissions period in June. “Unlike other areas of the city that are used during the Fringe… Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga is Council’s only programmed event space,” Vibrant City Program Manager Penny McAuley said in a press release. “This means that event organisers must show that their event is in keeping with the unique identity of Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga. We want to support a variety of activities for the whole community to enjoy.” The 2015 Adelaide Fringe runs from Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 15.
