Helen Hopcroft's Nashville to be staged at Newcastle Fringe Festival

It's a rock odyssey that tells the story of an almost famous Australian band, whose ambitious manager promises them a breakthrough gig in the United States.

All they have to do is get to Nashville, Tennessee, and their future will be assured.

Fittingly titled Nashville, the show is part of the Newcastle Fringe Festival. It is inspired by Middle Eastern riffs, swampy Delta blues and guitar journeys to America's Deep South.

The plot involves a plane crash in the Australian desert that pushes the band past the limits of human endurance.

"It's about what happens when you get a bunch of musicians stuck in the middle of nowhere. It's kind of an anthem to creativity," producer Helen Hopcroft said.

"We had this breakthrough gig coming up in Nashville, but the dodgy manager wasn't going to pay Qantas prices, so he got this dodgy private plane."

She added that the show paid "homage to the toughness of artists and creative people, particularly over the last couple of years".

"Those guys just don't give up."

Nashville features 10 original songs by The Majishans [pronounced magicians], a new art rock band with a gift for storytelling and a charismatic stage vibe.

The Majishans are a four-person crew: veteran guitarist Antony Romero, multi-instrumentalist Tony Jozef and sound musician James Carte, along with Helen, of Mad Bitches Inc.

Helen is an artist who likes messing around with the line between art and life.

The show begins with the words: "I am about to tell you a story but none of it is true" and goes on to relate an entirely fictitious history of the Majishans, a tale of fame, love and murder.

"I'm fascinated by the trope of unreliable narration. I was curious to see if I could begin a show by telling the audience that everything that I was about to say was bullshit," Helen said.

"I don't like bullshitting people and I don't like them to feel the fool, so I'm quite honest that this is completely made up. It's that whole thing about suspending disbelief."

Helen is probably best known for My Year as a Fairy Tale, a piece of performance art in which she dressed as Marie Antoinette for a year while she went about everyday life in Maitland. She used the project to promote Maitland as a creative city.

"I didn't ever believe I was Marie Antoinette, but there was this weird blurring that happened between me and dead French royalty. Even today if I want to do something that's a little bit scary, I'll mentally pretend I'm Marie Antoinette. It's this weird thing where art becomes your life and your life becomes art."

Now she's shapeshifted to a rock star.

"This time round, I've invented this fictitious, famous female rock star and she's a cross between Chrissy Amphlett and the great British feminist writer Angela Carter," Helen said.

"She's this character that never existed, but I really wish she had because she's everything you want to see on a stage."

Of Nashville, she said: "This is easily the strangest, most beautiful and genre-defying project that I have ever worked on".

The Newcastle Fringe Festival runs from Thursday to March 27.

Nashville will have a run of shows at The Royal Exchange Salon Theatre in Newcastle and Croatian Sports Club at Wickham.

Visit newcastlefringe.com.au for details.

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