With an obsession for crap tourism, Molly (Melita Rowston) goes on a search for a giant pink earthworm puppet named Karmai. In the 1970s, Karmai was a mascot for the rural Gippsland town of Korumburra; the giant worm even appeared in Melbourne’s Moomba Festival. Along with her puppet friends (puppeteer Benito di Fonzo), Molly is determined to find Karmai, no matter what it takes.
Part children’s show on acid and part cheesy variety show, Hey! Yeah! It’s Molly’s Travelling Worm Show! feels like a time capsule of Seventies kitsch. From folk museums to a celebration of Moomba parade royalty, Australia certainly was attracted to the tacky. The show exhibits a sense of joyful glee towards this highly gaudy era, which unfortunately feels rather forced at times. Molly’s motto is ‘follow your dreams… no matter how shit they are,’ which unfortunately also applies to the terrain which the show travels on.
Rowston’s exaggerated rendition of herself as the relentlessly enthusiastic Molly becomes grating at times. Her love for crap tourism is never explained, and Molly gradually turns into an annoyingly kooky caricature rather than a beloved protagonist. Narda Shanley plays various characters aptly throughout the show, from a talking tree oracle to a scowling hotel manager. Puppeteer di Fonzo animates the likes of Ossie Ostrich and Maude the Crow, often dishing out snide comments that just might steal the show.
Hey! Yeah! It’s Molly’s Travelling Worm Show! makes no attempt to try and understand the crap tourism phenomenon, but embraces it wholeheartedly. There is no trace of irony throughout the show and Molly’s genuine love for the craptacular is a rarity in modern society. Although Hey! Yeah! It’s Molly’s Travelling Worm Show! does make some missteps, the show encapsulates a sense of unrestrained exuberance that is somehow infectious.
Rating: 2 ½ stars out of 5
Hey! Yeah! It’s Molly’s Travelling Worm Show!
by Melita Rowston
Director: Philip Rouse
Lighting/AV Design: Richard Whitehouse
Performer: Narda Shanley
Pupeeter: Benito di Fonzo
Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne
Part of the Helium independent theatre season
13 – 24 August
