Sleep and the City | Emma-June Curik
The performance was a thought-provoking experience that left me with a whirlwind of emotions. It combined the three things that tend to lead to the best original work: raw vulnerability, education on a misunderstood topic, and catharsis. This combination seemed to result in a unique sense of community and belonging that I hadn’t expected.
Erth’s Shark Dive | Erth Visual & Physical Inc.
Erth’s Shark Dive did indeed deliver on the immersive 'cage diving' aspect, but it offered so much more than I had anticipated, leaving a surprisingly profound impact on me. The performance was informative but also deeply moving and beautiful, providing insights into the underwater world that I hadn’t expected.
Club Undercover | DIDG and Goddess Naavikaran
We went from seeing adapted traditional First Nations culture to a psychedelic journey to Club Culture using the power of dance and our ideas of what ceremony is transformed. So, it may seem like I am fangirling but it’s not just inspiration porn, its inclusion at its best and I loved it.
Betsy & I | indelabilityarts
Language is how we relate ideas to each other, and not having language for an experience can be as good as total isolation in it. Through learning the words for her experience, Ivy was able to reach out to those around her and say, “This is who I am. This life is mine, and it’s not yours to define for me”.
Lightscape | Brisbane Festival
Lightscape has taken over public spaces in cities around the world, including Sydney, for more than 10 years. And it is now our turn to experience the global phenomenon during this year’s BrisFest. There’s a lot of publicity about it and many grammable moments that you’ve probably seen in your feeds which has drawn the masses for the length of the festival, but the question I keep asking myself is, is it worth the cost of admission?
Five BrisFest Shows for your next mother and child date
Why not make your next mother and child date a show at this year’s Brisbane Festival and consume some live entertainment that you can pour over with a glass of wine post-show.
don’t ask what the bird look like | Queensland Theatre
Matilda Brown and Michael Tuahine each deliver stellar performances as they navigate the present and try to reconcile their intertwined past. Their initial meeting which starts off cool and distant, is wonderfully played out through their prolonged silences and obvious aversion to conversation.
"The House (of Alexander) has actually shown me that the world is my oyster and the possibilities are endless." Aniita Maka on power of chosen family in Ballroom.
Seeing women like mama Ella … She was the first openly transwoman who worked in the airlines, and she’s worked in many different industries and how she has navigated through that lifestyle is something we don’t envisage for ourselves, because we feel its out of our reach. To see someone overcome that and negotiate through that stuff, is what inspires me and keeps me going as a person.
Queen's City | Blak Social
Alethea [Beetson] has taken a refreshing approach to telling First Nations stories and has turned that singular, unbalanced narrative into a fierce, honest and sometimes searing commentary on how to move forward by showing us how to look back. The trauma and pain of our First Nations people is an indelible stain on the history of Australia. Queen’s City is an ideal example of a theatre production that can create awareness through its storytelling so that we can move forward and together as a nation (hopefully).
Mosaic Multicultural Festival | Multicultural Australia & Brisbane Serenades
These are just some of the many performances featured in the massive action-packed program - there was so much content to discover. The event was so joyous and provided me with numerous insights on how multicultural Brisbane really is and its relevance to celebrate and promote. Not only that, but the audience loved seeing their own culture represented, just like a mini Olympics for the arts.
The Knock 'Em Downs | Clint Bolster & Annie Lee
Lee and Bolster were painfully ambivalent, even indifferent, to anyone and everyone’s presence. And best of all, when audience’s participation didn’t cut the mustard, they made no attempt to hide their disappointment. If your ball throwing skills were aimless, you knew it. If you took too long to hand over your ticket, you knew it. If your hoop throws onto the pointy clown noses were lacklustre, you knew it. And not just because of the clown’s body language – with impatient eyes and slouched shoulders – but also because of the ‘loser’ sound que they’d hit each time someone’s efforts deserved public condemnation.
Considerable Sexual Licence | Joel Bray
I found myself looking around the room and wondered how many people had been drawn to the show from its name and hero images. If you hadn’t seen Joel Bray’s work before, you could have fooled yourself into thinking that you were able to see a titillating dance romp. Oh how wrong those punters would have been.
The House | The House of Alexander
The House to me spoke to Pasifika and Asian communities and the need for the creation of contemporary rituals, spaces and practice. Culture is a living thing. We need to evolve with the time and the needs of our people. In The House their cultural pride is on their sleeves and smiles, even from members who have been ousted by their families, still respectful of their roots. Work like this gives permission for all diaspora queer folk to know and believe that culture, gender and sexuality need not be mutually exclusive and can exist together in harmony, even in excellence.
Guttered | Restless Theatre
The company’s writings on the work mention “denial of the dignity of risk” as one of the central themes explored, a phrase which I hadn’t encountered before, but found so eloquently encapsulated through the metaphor of gutter guards and ramps. As a person without a disability, I felt myself reflecting on this idea of “well-intentioned help”, and the ways in which internalised ableism informs my everyday actions.
Manifesto | Stephanie Lake Company
Manifesto is a feast for many of the senses; a compelling show that offers ‘time away from time.’ Nine drumkits, nine chairs, nine talented drummers, nine dancers, three costume changes, and thirteen creatives combine to create one special 60 minute experience.
Eight shows to dive into in the final week of BrisFest22
The final week of the festival is absolutely chockas full of sexy art to bring the fun, feels and frivolity that a post COVID Meanjin needs. For our final series of recommendations as taken from our latest monthly newsletter, the team brings you eight shows to dive into in the final week of the festival. Show’s are selling out fast, so get your tickets soon or be prepared for a serious case of FOMO.
BlakWarehouse Party | Blak Social & Brisbane Serenades, Brisbane Festival
I was blown away by the music I was lucky enough to experience. Dameeeela, DJ Kritty, Sovblkpssy, and DJ PGZ provided the music, their tracklists were all unique, but all highlighted the best First Nations artists around the country with unique styles and remixes. Brisbane's First Nations dance music scene is deadly, and I am inspired to seek out more.
Slow Boat | Anna Yen
There is something about relating to characters on the stage that humanises stories so very much. We can read an article about the relentless inhumanity of the Australian government and the colonial importation of cheap Asian labour, but a depiction of a bloody and brutal desert scene and the rise and fall of pickaxes worms its way into your head in a much more effective way.
Six shows and events you shouldn't miss in Week Two of BrisFest22
Not sure what to check out during week two of BrisFest? Don’t worry, NEHIB’s got your back and bring you six shows your shouldn’t miss during week two of the festival, as recommended in our latest monthly newsletter. Get into it, Meanjin!
Fourteen | shake & stir theatre co.
There is so much material included that is ripe for nuanced and fresh commentary about the Queer experience, especially in rural communities, but it is so often sprinkled over the top of a single scene and never interrogated again. This is not to say every narrative thread must be tied off neatly but when so few of them are, it begins to make the work feel incohesive.