Who We Were

The Melbourne Fringe Festival is in full swing celebrating artistic self-expression and cultural democracy through daring, inclusive and experimental performances. Who We Were is a fantastic narrative sketch that is sure to make any ’90s and ’00s kid swoon as the show weaves together the iconic and the cringe-worthy moments that shaped our awkward but jovial childhood.

Hit By a Blimp – the comedy collective behind Who We Were – wanted to recreate the magic of a simpler youth, putting together a snapshot of the games we played, the stories we read, the music we listened to and by doing so, question how we ever did those things. In a sense, Who We Were explores the idea that we were a generation of pioneers, existing in the onset of the digital age and honestly having no idea what we were doing (millennium bug anyone?).   

Who We Were depicts the typical high school experience: secret teenage crushes, schoolyard politics, hormones, social anxiety and the struggle to fit in. When asked how much of the material in the show is based on truth, Jayden Masciulli, co-writer and co-performer, reveals, ‘each of us have our own memories of that era, but there are still so many similarities… it was undoubtedly going to be bittersweet. So that’s where the monologues came into it – they’re not necessarily hilarious, but down-to-earth and (hopefully) resonant’.

Who remembers battling your parents for the telephone cord so you could connect to the Internet? Who We Were includes a heartbreakingly honest depiction of the first online romances where you could be ‘Blocked’ on a whim or subjected to the power play tactics of setting a profile to ‘Busy’ or ‘Away’. BRB, I’m really talking to other people.

Other stand-out moments include the Powerpoint class presentation, which is riddled with WordArt, clipart and the overkill of bullet-sound effects; a sketch on the schoolyard underworld of Pokémon; and the always welcome Avril Lavigne and Jimmy Eats World song references, including the knock-out vocal performance at the end.

Who We Were is a terrific, feel-good mash-up of polyphonic ring tones, questionable fashion and nostalgia that every millennial needs to check out.

Who We Were
The Improv Conspiracy Theatre, Level 1, 19 Meyers Place, Melbourne
Wednesday September 14 – Friday September 23
melbournefringe.com.au/program?event/who-we-were