Reuben Tsang in Concert
The highlight of the day was Franz Liszt’s Rhapsodie espagnole S 254. This suggestive traditional Spanish music opened with a cadenza, included rapid chords and octaves, that was spiced with the feeling of improvisation. Tsang dazzled me with his exquisite piano techniques and I was impressed by the way he swept those 88 keys so blazingly.
Dots+Loops: Rewind
The walk down memory lane ends, and we are ushered out in the foyer for the after party. There’s a bounty of cupcakes (I told you there would be cake didn’t I?) and HipHopHoe is waiting for us with an epic and eclectic set that has the crowd dancing their socks off for the last hour and a half of the night.
What Will Have Been | Circa
The three acrobats are the stars of this exceptional show that features incredible hand balance by Daniel O’Brien, a fluid and moving straps solo (and acrobatic ‘dance’) by Kimberley Rossi, and quite amazing strength work by Zac Stephens. In just over 60 minutes, the performers demonstrated their mastery of circus arts to create moments of beauty, strength, power, fear, tenderness, pain, humour, wistfulness, joy, and connection.
Banging Denmark by Van Badham | PIP Theatre
PIP Theatre’s Banging Denmark advertises itself as a fun night of solid entertainment and it delivers on this in spades. It’s real, raunchy, and wriggles its feminism in underneath the laughs in a way that keeps it squarely in the land of entertainment rather than delivering a gender studies lecture.
Gaslight | Queensland Theatre
Under the insightful guidance of Director Lee Lewis, Wright and Jamieson’s adaptation of this Victorian Gothic theatre work has been elevated to new heights where doubt, misinformation and deception takes centre stage.
The Wolves | Ad Astra
Hill does an excellent job threading the metaphor of the team-mates being Wolves through use of physical theatre and individual movement sequences, creating an animalistic quality to their characters.
Full Spectrum | Anna Whitaker & Riley Towers
The manipulation of the footage felt both hallucinogenic and as if the data was being corrupted. With the electronic tones accompanying the visuals, the experience felt like a computer analysing footage, perhaps trying to understand human behaviour.
Art of Courage | Sophia Hodych & PIP Theatre
After an air-raid siren sounds, we were whisked away to the inner rooms, corridors, and outdoor deck of PIP Theatre, where the “choose-your-own-adventure” aspect of The Art of Courage really came into effect.
Pygmalion | Minola Theatre
To answer the question of ‘Why this play?’ and ‘Why now?’. Based on Dekker’s direction, I’d argue that it was to remind us all that just because we may have the opportunity or resources to change someone’s lives who we believe is lesser than us, it doesn’t mean that we should. I’ll let you simmer on that…
When The Rain Stops Falling | Brisbane Arts Theatre
When The Rain Stops Falling will bring you an experience of sorrow, love, life and death in the same heartbeat. This is a beautifully written and wonderfully performed theatre piece, you do not want to miss it.
Dangerous Goods | Polytoxic
If you want to see a subversively hot, femme-fuelled show full of hot babes smashing the patriarchy, go see Dangerous Goods at QPAC. It’s one of the best shows I have seen. Bonus is, there'll be various guest artists throughout this season so no two shows will be the same. You’ve got another three weeks to see this unmissable show.
Chicago | QPAC & Crossroads Live Australia
Chicago is the best thing I have seen, perhaps ever. Chicago is A Night At The Theatre – I can’t emphasise enough the visceral nature of the experience or the extent of its quality. Let’s just say: I was in such a state of euphoria I completely blacked out. Go and see Chicago, I don’t care who you’ve gotta screw, shoot, or shun to make it happen, just go and see it.
Twisted Christmas | GALORE! Presents
We’re guided through this seasonal smorgasbord by our elven MC, Maddy – a staunch unionist direct from the North Pole who’s (1) truly and deeply jaded by capitalism’s co-option of the holiday and (2) concerningly quick to guarantee we’re all on the naughty list this year.
Cirque Jingle | JACs Entertainment
There are a lot of great choices for a festive-themed show this season, including shows that have returned for many years. It’s great to see that JACs Entertainment has produced a show that complements those choices, offering an event that is suitable for the whole family.
The History of the Devil | Polymorphic Productions
My plus one and I were eager to see what lay ahead of us when we reached MetroArts for The History of the Devil. We were hopeful that we would see some evocative, intellectually rigorous, and emotionally poignant theatre. The show Polymorphic Productions gave us was certainly the first of these three things.
GODZ | Headfirst Acrobats
When we talk about beautiful men, we will often say ‘Awh, he’s like a Greek God’. Headfirst Acrobats take this aphorism and run, giving us GODZ: a one-hour high comedy, high camp, circus extravaganza, all the while keeping it extremely sexy.
Subtitles Not Included | Thalia Novela
A thunderous applause fills the theatre from the many fans in the audience and the love for Thalia in for her debut show is very present – her comedy is excellent, the costumes and burlesque routines are exquisite.
Parasocial Parallax | AG Productions
I quite liked the character of Jordan and felt sorry for Mackenzie, but would I have felt differently if we had taken a different path? The only way to know would be to go back and make different choices, which I would happily do.
Spooktacular | Brisbaret
The night’s hosts Sophie Banister and Thien Pham have been running this event for three years now and so know their comedic style and their audience very well, and it shows.
Artiste | Brymore Productions
As with many a great clowning performance, the comedy is born from the rules created by the performer and how quickly those boundaries get broken. In this sense, the Artiste was as hilarious a rule breaker as they come.