one4review | On 01, Sep 2026

Sri Lankan and Australian resident Sashi Perera is having an absolute ball at the Festival. Arriving in the third week of the Fringe, when some performers are suffering from burnout, Perera is efficiently glowing. It’s also her birthday, which adds to the celebration.
Perera takes us through the journey that carried her here. Originally a lawyer, she eventually swapped the courtroom for comedy and successful TV work in Australia, a 180-degree career turn that seems to have left her parents somewhere between disappointed and deeply impressed.
Then there’s her marriage to what she describes as the most Caucasian man around. A visit back to Sri Lanka with a very white husband provides plenty of material, particularly when dealing with the wildlife, the culture, and the strange experience of wandering around with a man whom the locals treat like the lost Messiah.
The show’s title comes from Perera’s surname, translated as Pear Tree, but there’s considerably more going on than a clever title. She ramps things up with a potted history of Portuguese colonisation in Sri Lanka, public schools, knife crime and the career opportunities that can emerge.
Overall, Pear Tree is a rich, fresh and juicy comedic harvest, packed with colour, flavour and a light sprinkling of sugar from a comedian who is clearly on top of her game.
Along with the excellent Bron Ellis, she is a comic phenomenon and one of the best exports from Australia you will see at the Festival.

*****
Reviewed by Steve H
Just The Tonic at The Subway