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.
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.
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.
The Bed Party | Sophia Davidson Gluyas
Gluyas seamlessly integrates the commentary into everyday conversation between five friends, creating sharp, witty and tongue and cheek dialogue. As a result, I can honestly say that it’s the sharpest writing I’ve seen on the PIP stage.
Crazy Fucking Bitches | A Little Life Theatre
We start by going back to the story of Eve and I liked seeing her in the garden, five Eve’s consuming perfect red apples in the lustful manner they deserve.
ITEM | Dance Masala's Nakhre Crew
The all-female Nakhre crew comprising main performers Andrea Lam, Angela Nair, Ashwin Singh, Janaki Gerard, and Mugdha Khatavkar brought so much vivacity into their respective art-making that their personalities really shone through as the piece unfolded itself in a tight, well-paced composition which spanned an hour.
Proof | Ad Astra
The actors really owned the sister relationship and there were many beautiful moments of connection in the play. A highlight is where Claire and Catherine are talking about a dress, something seemingly so small but there is a pause where I could feel the entire weight of their relationship and their grief for their father. In such a small moment you could see these two sisters really connect and be completely open and vulnerable with each other without having to say a word.
Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes | Josie Cross & Stephen Hirst
The emphasis on Jon’s inner thoughts and Hirst’s delivery poses the question of whether it is he who should be telling the story? Why aren’t we hearing the nineteen year old’s side? All of this gets resolved and answered in the most delicious way near the closing of the play. I actually shrieked in my seat and grabbed my friend’s hand in delight. Can you get better writing than that?
Bloom Girl | Charli Burrowes
Bloom Girl takes us to her world, a world of instant attention, interaction, gratification. Of being hyper alert ready for the next beep and armed with the next retort complete with the right hashtag. It reminds us of how demanding being connected to social media is, and what it like to be an influencer seeing what other influencers do. I’m led to think perhaps social media is a virus when I hear the mispronounced influenza spoken.
Slippery | Curtain World
There is a clear internal logic to the fantastical in Slippery, but with just enough of the familiar that it’s both hilariously weird and painfully relatable. Slippery feels like being pulled down a rabbit hole into a fantastical genderless fever-dream where everyone in the Vatican is gay, spoons are idiots, and cucumber vape juice will kill you. It’s unashamedly absurd, unapologetically queer, and hysterically funny.
In Your Dreams | Polytoxic
It is not often that I get the first line of my review handed to me during a performance. According to Polytoxic, my review should start with “five stars and checking [my] privilege”. We don’t do star ratings at Nothing Ever Happens in Brisbane, but I’ll happily make an exception for Polytoxic’s new work, In Your Dreams. This show promises a line-up of glass-ceiling smashing, system dismantling, genderqueer, fiercely intersectional artists, and delivers spectacularly on this promise.
Batshit | Leah Shelton
Leah Shelton’s BATSHIT was fast and frenzied. Inspired by Leah’s grandmother’s experiences of mental illness and forced medical treatment, the show was equally intimate and hard hitting. Kicking off with an ear shattering soundscape that was brilliantly timed with the lighting design, the precision of the scenographic elements were a highlight of the show.
Enemies of Grooviness Eat Sh!t | Betty Grumble
The way the content is presented you can’t help but talk about it, think about it and write about it. These conversations and thoughts are creating little ripples that are flowing out to the wider community. Every time Grumble performs another ripple is created. So perhaps a sex clown can save the world, one ripple at a time.
Tiddas | La Boite
There is a context to the play which must be remarked upon, which is the industry-wide dire lack of strong Aboriginal characters on our stage in general, and especially female Aboriginal characters. Despite the under-development of the characters, the actors performed the roles believably and naturally. It was truly delightful to see First Nations female characters on stage played by such fantastic calibre actors, and adapted from the book written by an Aboriginal author.
The Politics of Vodka Lime & Soda | T!ts Akimbo
I was genuinely really delighted by the musical numbers, and I was surprised because that's usually not my thing. They were really fun and would cut between sharp cheesy choreography in the characters heads, to their real life drunken stumbling and screaming into the microphone. I think this would have been really easy to mess up but the way it broke up the action was really natural and the actors' delivery had me deep belly laughing at several points.
Casting Off | A Good Catch
If you have ever eaten miso on toast, tofu and struggled to remember things, postulating dating and need to read the ethical slut or have wondered why church and state are not separate in parliament, or just a reminder that nothing’s off limits when a bunch of women are together. I want you all to see Casting Off. Don’t miss this show. It is absolutely without doubt, is a must see show and you will be left thinking about it for days after.
Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner | Darlinghurst Theatre Company & Green Door Theatre
Play wright Jasmine Lee Jones explores a range of issues in this creation. Issues we face in this society as women of colour with working through the trickiness of white-privilege, attraction and body-shaming, the male gaze, sexual assault, sexuality, colourism and the deep dive discord of social media. It reminds us all the social media can be a dark space and it’s easy to lose yourself in it. And also, how much our privacy is abolished in our absent minded engagement in it. How many times have you felt the pang of reaction / non-reaction to a post you share? We all do it. And it’s crazy!
Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner | Darlinghurst Theatre Company & Green Door Theatre
Under the direction of Shari Sebbens, the way the actors express their inner rhythm was so captivating. I read along to witty and vibrant UK accents interpreting tweets layered with gifs, emojis, memes and internet slang - the pair are so on point they hit each word on beat like a follower hits the love button. You like it, but then it’s not quite enough and you have to give it ‘another one, another one, another one.’
Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner | Darlinghurst Theatre Company & Green Door Theatre
In a lot of ways I see the internet as a fun ball and chain attached to my ankle. There are so many more ways to connect, but also so many more ways to have expectations placed on you, and whether you love it or hate it, there feels like there's a kind of an inevitability to it. 7 Methods captures that feeling so well. Even when the actors devolve into the frankly stupid overuse of memes and abbreviations in their real-life speech, it still felt right to me. It felt authentic. That sense of authenticity contributed to a near constant stream of laughter from me and the rest of the audience.
Circus in a Teacup | Vulcana Circus
The stories that the women told were deeply personal, and yet they were evocative of the experiences of many women. I thought of my mother, my sister, my best friends, and the many women who touched my life. I thought about the shared experiences, the coping mechanisms, and the healing processes. I was reminded of how resilient women can be.