Delphi Goes Bassooning – a tiny musical – is a solo musical written and performed by Janet Swain.

It continues to develop, and in September 2023 it will move into it’s fifth and final phase of development before shows at Meraki Arts Bar on Oxford Street in Sydney.

Delphi performed at Adelaide Fringe Festival 2023, where she performed 12 times at Holden Street Theatres.

The show has also toured as part of the Garage Tours – and is available now as a garage show for anyone interested – please contact me on sdynastymusic@gmail.com

Here are some reviews of the show:

This is Janet Swain’s first solo show – she references her cabaret band The Loveys, later in the piece. But this is hers, and what a triumph it is. This is what a Fringe show should be, through and through.

Arna Eyers – White – www.barefootreview.com.au

 This is Swain’s first solo show and one can only hope it will not be her last. With 9 self-penned songs woven through the performance, she gives us a glimpse into the influence her Grandmother, Mother and music had on her life. We are introduced to 4 characters, each with their love of music and the bond they share through the ages. She accompanied her thoughtful lyrics with piano and the bass tones of the bassoon. Swain’s voice was sweet-sounding with a warm melodic tone. Filled with emotion, it was obvious this show poured out of a heart full of memories.

 Kerry Cooper  StageWhispers.com.au

I saw Janet Swain in her solo show today, Delphi Goes Bassooning at Holden Street Theatres. What a lovely mini musical this is! An intimate hour at Ruby’s, with a storyteller singer, suitcases full of stories about her grandmother, her mother and her love affair with music. it was a tender hour full of heart and includes 9 original songs … and that gorgeous bassoon!

Meme Thorne 

So beautifully crafted, nostalgic, vulnerable, funny. I loved that it was so intimate and surprisingly revealing.

Andrew Mournehis

Very charming. Engaging storytelling and I loved the bassoon having a centre starring moment. Joy all through.

Fiona Sullivan

A solo show by Janet Swain THE STORY… A few years ago, it occurred to me that the story of my relationship with the bassoon was kind of interesting. I wrote a short 5 minute play, simple, no music – just the interaction between myself and my mother, who had for some reason gone to a railway auction in 1977 and bought an old bassoon – which someone presumably had left on the train, and never claimed. She gave it to me, found me a teacher, and that was that. Over the years, I began writing songs for the show, which I played for a few people who encouraged me to develop the idea even more. It’s been a slow process, things remembered and forgotten, depending on what else was going on in my life – my band, the Loveys, choirs, making a living, the Festival of the Voice – all of these took up lots of my time and energy.

It was my mother who kept reminding me about Delphi. As I say in the show, perhaps she saw something in me that I did not! Delphi is actually the name of my character in The Loveys, and is named after my grandmother’s favourite lipstick, Delphi Coral by Revlon. When she died we found about fifty old lipstick containers that she’d kept in the kitchen drawer. So what is Delphi Goes Bassooning about? On the surface it is simply about how a teenager is told to play a musical instrument she doesn’t like much. But the more I wrote and rehearsed, reflected, and pondered, the more clear were universal themes of secrecy, forgotten memories, generational legacy – the beliefs that are emotionally and culturally passed down through families. The stories are told through nine original songs, and five characters – a stroppy 14 year old, a mother, a grandmother, a cabaret singer, and of course, me! Even the bassoon gets to have an opinion.At heart this show is a love story for my mother and my grandmother, and a tiny musical about coming out into the world as an artist.

And so ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Delphi Goes Bassooning – a tiny musical.

• In 2018 I wrote a short play, and added some songs.
• In 2020 director Philippa Williams began working with me to present a work in progress. This was performed at Brunswick Picture House in Brunswick Heads and Drill Hall in Mullumbimby – in March 2021
• In 2022 I went to Sydney to continue developing the show with director Kenneth Moraleda and Chrissy Olsen – we presented a work in progress at The Hub Theatre in Sydney.
• In September 2022 I begin working with Choreographer Delia Silvan, after recognising that the show needed more movement direction and clarity. Chrissy Olsen is working at dramaturge, and with the support of Brunswick Picture House, we will be rehearsing and then presenting the show in November 2022.
• Delphi Goes Bassooning performed at Laycock Theatres in Gosford on Wednesday 8 February as part of the Morning Melodies Series.
• The show also performed in Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2023, where we presented 12 shows at Holden St Theatre.
• Delphi also performed to a sell out audience at Meraki Arts Bar in Oxford Street Sydney, and will return there on Wednesday 4 and Friday 6 October 2023, after ongoing development of the show in September.