Chillies add some spice to Forest Fringe opening

AS EVERY performer knows, the show must go on.

And for those who turned out for the start of the Forest Fringe festival, that meant even if you are overcome by the smell of burning chillies.

Performances at the free venue in the young, hip and hippy Forest Cafe, hailed as the 'Fringe of the Fringe' and an antidote to the big commercial operations, kicked off on Monday.

But the audience and performer in the main evening show, Hitch, about a young man hitching to G8 protests in Italy, were racked by 60 minutes of coughing after chillies burned in the cafe below and the building filled with acrid vapour.