Our hot pics for BrisFest 2025
BrisFest returns to town this year from 5 to 27 September for Artistic Director Louise Bezzina’s sixth and final festival. Officially kicking off with Riverfire on Saturday 6 September, Louise has once again curated a line-up of shows for this year’s festival that’s both an ode and a showcase of our city, and which also includes some stellar national and international artists
With so much arty goodness on offer, it can be hard to know where to start, so the writers of NEHIB have dived into the program and have come up with a list of what you simply must see at BrisFest this year. Here’s a wee sample to whet your appetite, with the full list to be found in NEHIB’s Ultimate What’s On Guide this month. If you want recommendations like this every month, subscribe now for as little as $2 a month to receive our newsletter with all the news about the hottest art happening around town.
Now onto the recommendations from the team.
Baleen Moondjan. Image supplied by BrisFest
Baleen Moondjan. 18-21 Sept. Queen's Wharf, Brisbane City
Stephen Page brings his first new work to BrisFest since stepping down as the Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre. Performed on a floating stage in Queen's Wharf with an epic set of whale bones, Baleen Moondjan celebrates the relationship of the Ngugi/Nunukul/Moondjan people of Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island) with the baleen whales.
Chatter. 23-27 Sept. West End Electric, West End.
A solo show from incredible clown Spencer Novich! You may have seen him in pre West End Electric version of Blanc de Blanc doing an incredible and darkly funny mime act with lots of different audio snippets. I'm excited to see what he does with an hour of his own.
BATSHIT. 10-13 Sept. Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm.
Leah Shelton's ode to her Grandmother is a heartfelt tale and a powerful reexamination of how women have been diminished and brushed off as crazy throughout history. A must see.
Back to Bilo. Image supplied by BrisFest
Back to Bilo. 3-16 Sept. Queensland Theatre, South Brisbane.
Belloo Creative brings to life the true story of Priya and Nades and their children, asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, the community of Biloela who adopted them and their collective fight to support the family to stay in Australia when the government denied their claim for asylum. This will sell out, if it hasn't already, so make sure to snap up tickets.
Gatsby at the Green Light, 2-28 September. Twelfth Night Theatre, Bowen Hills: ‘Celebrate the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby and get ready to party like it’s 1925’… expect cabaret, variety, and contemporary music. Sounds like this could be the talk of the town.
The Chronicles.10-13 Sept. Thomas Dixon Centre, West End.
The Stephanie Lake Company returns to BrisFest in their latest exploration of what it means to be alive. This time this company of contemporary dance's finest match their skills with the live vocals for a journey from womb to tomb.
Image supplied by The Undercover Artist Festival
Undercover Artist Festival, 22-27 September. Diane Cilento Studio, Queensland Theatre, Southbank.
Held in association with Brisbane Festival, Undercover Artist Festival is a gem that, in 2025, celebrates its first decade of ‘outstanding performing arts by disabled and d/Deaf artists.’ We’re sure every show will be memorable and inspiring, but our Undercover tips are:
Wired Differently 22-26 September: Screech Arts & Zen Zen Zo Physical Theatre’s recent Anywhere Festival production, PUSH, was fantastic—so I am really looking forward to seeing their latest show. Expect humour, courage, and authenticity, delivered by a talented ensemble of performers and creatives.
6 Degrees 23-24 September: we are huge fans of the work of Flipside Circus, so we’re looking forward to their collaboration with ‘Chimera Art’ that promises ‘breathtaking aerial acrobatics and 100 metres of chunky yarn,’ in ‘a bold, physical narrative of disconnection and discovery.’
Daydreamer 23-24 September: Daydreamer, presented by The Travelling Rose Theatre, is an autobiographical theatrical work based in poetry and catharsis. It’s a love letter to those with unseen disabilities who feel unheard and isolated. It allows the voices behind this common medical condition (epilepsy) to speak for themselves and to rise above being statistics, misrepresented tropes, or five second viral internet videos.
Something New 27 September: Excellent value, as this is your opportunity to enjoy a double bill of two new plays in development. Each work explores the lived experience of their writers—presenting rehearsed readings of Tracks (by Alex MacDonald and Todd MacDonald) and Pretty F***ing Autistic (by Oliver Hetherington-Page).
White Noise 25-26 September: White Noise has emerged from New Zealand creator Alisha Mclennan Marler’s lived experience as a mother with disability. The work is both personal and utterly communal, drawing on the audience to consider their own place in the conversation.
A Place in Sultan’s Kitchen. Image supplied by BrisFest
A Place in the Sultan's Kitchen or How to Make the Perfect One-Pot Curry, 16-20 September. Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, South Bank.
Theatre meets food in a show weaving childhood flavours, culture and stories AND there's an actual curry being made. We’re imagining the smell already!
Late Night Vice. 4-27 Sept. West End Electric, West End.
Strut'n'Fret brings their latest adult circus cabaret to town for BrisFest. This time though, it’s a little different. No cameras or influencers, just a debauched supper club of pure sexy escapist spectacle. Who doesn’t need some late-night revelry and theatrical chaos in their week?
Unveiling Shadows. 10-13 Sept. Metro Arts, West End.
Joshua Taliana’s debut solo work is an intimate and epic exploration of self-discovery, survival, and the soul. The Father of the trailblazing House of Alexander has co-created this deeply personal new physical theatre work with regular collaborator and icon of the Aussie dance scene, Wanida Serce. We are seated for this one.
Common People Dance Eisteddfod. Image Barbara Lowing
Common People's BrisFest Takeover. 30 Aug-6 Oct. Locations across town.
Just like Astrid with Pub Choir, Neridah Waters has brought dance back to the people with the Common People Dance Project. And there's a whole mess of dance-tastic fun for you to groove along to this month:
The annual grudge match / homage to the rock-eisteddfod, the Common People Dance Eisteddfod (7 Sept) returns for the seventh year to pit seven teams from across southeast Queensland in an epic dance off. See the teams dance it out to themes with a very southeast Queensland bent like, ‘The symptoms of peri-menopause in a subtropical climate undergoing climate change’ and ‘The tragic history of the Toombul Shopping Centre’. Who will win this year’s battle for the craptastic, Reverse Garbage trophy and the ultimate bragging rights of which side of town has the fiercest dancers?
Pick a side yourself and join the King George Square Showdown on 27 Sept, an epic, all-in dance off in front of City Hall. No experience required - you'll learn all the moves you need on the day.Make sure to register on the site
See the history and the stories of the Common People Dance Project at The People's Dancefloor at the museum of Brisbane from 30 Aug - 6 Oct.
Listen to the bingeworthy final episodes of the Common People People Project, a mockumentary podcast about the 2023 Common People Eisteddfod
This is just a sample of the goodness you’ll receive every month if you subscribe to NEHIB’s Ultimate What’s On Guide. Every month on the 25th we email you a list of cool indie circus, drag, burlesque, theatre, arts festivals, impro, experimental art, visiting artists, storytelling, poetry, warehouse parties, all the interesting and unusual stuff, plus occasional comps for free tickets or discounts and other giveaways.…
The list is written by the writers of Nothing Ever Happens, who are a brilliant bunch of cool weirdos who live in the arts world and know where the cool stuff is at. There is SO MUCH GOOD SHIT GOING ON. So much. And we know where to find it.
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