37: The play that exposes the dark underbelly of Footy
This is an excellent show par none that can be enjoyed by both arts and footy lovers. By including the vessels of sportsmanship, authenticity, integrity and an outstanding dialogue, this quality production aptly conveys the community spirit, thrilling energy and intense physicality of this much loved and popular sport. The talented ensemble tackles the deep themes that writer Nathan Maynard covers in this play with humour, energy and a whole lot of heart particularly when the top dogs are pitted against the underdogs.
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.
“Join us for an immersive celebration of the indomitable human spirit.” Sophia Hodych on ‘Art of Courage'.
Ukraine has an unbelievably rich and complex history, some of it horrific and heartbreaking, some fun and heartwarming. Immersive theatre provides audiences with an opportunity to choose which scenes to see, what knowledge to gain and what emotions to experience.
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.
Obstacle | Grace Longwill
What a body does, what theatre does, what doing a body and doing theatre looks like are all for her to decide. She has created a space that is accessible to her in every sense and while this may disrupt the viewers sense of “good” and “polished” theatre, she doesn’t apologise for it and we (or at least I) don’t have a single complaint about it.
Love it, hate it, leave it, return to it. Work out your local pride complex at ‘All My Friends Are Returning to Brisbane.’
Call it what you will the ebb and pull of the Sunshine State has its young people running away, and then running back to Brisbane, in a perpetual state of disenchantment and ocker pride. These themes are explored in the production, All My Friends Are Returning to Brisbane.
Hide The Dog | Nathan Maynard & Jamie McCaskill
As a first generation immigrant mother endeavouring to teach her daughter to have pride in her ancestry and speak her language confidently, I cannot stress the primacy of plays such as ‘Hide the Dog’ being supported and presented on multiple platforms.
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”.
Tracker | Australian Dance Theatre
Wiradjuri choreographer and Australian Dance Theatre Artistic Director, Daniel Riley, has brought together a talented team of creatives and artists to create a show that focuses on Daniel Riley’s exploration of the life of his Great-Great Uncle, Alec "Tracker" Riley.
Sheltered | Kathryn Hall
Kathryn Hall’s Sheltered is a charming, clever, cheeky, and compelling show (beautifully directed by Andi Snelling). Kathryn is disarmingly honest, speaking directly to the audience about the difficulties of leaving home, and establishing an independent life, while living with cerebral palsy.
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.
Capricorn | Aidan Rowlingson
The first forty-five minutes of the play was some of the most powerful theatre I’ve seen as Dow and Latrise were engaging in an tennis match of absurd proportions about their inner frustrations with themselves and each other, with Llewy-Allan providing comedic quips to add more bounce.
CAKE | IMRSE
This extravagant new work by IMRSE is a feast for the senses and an unapologetic exploration of cancel culture and the concept of an invariable history writing itself. Expect no less than extreme over-dramatics–in the best way, I promise! CAKE is hilarious, sexy, and high energy, offering a deeply satisfying way to spend a night out.
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.
The Father | PIP Theatre
Tony Nixon’s on stage persona as Andre is flawless - he realistically embodies the role of a person with dementia who is convincing in his struggles to understand the rapid decline of his mind and wellbeing. His physical stance, range of facial expressions, rare lucent moments versus ever increasing memory loss coupled with uncontrollable nervous tics signify the transformational changes and damage of dementia.
The Turquoise Elephant | Observatory Theatre
As Director Lachlan Driscoll notes, ‘each character has their bonkers idea of what’s going on outside and how to cope” Carleton observes that ‘we do nothing on a grander and grander scale’. And what, the play asks us, is there to be done? Who should do it?’ In such a situation, an absurdist, black farce is absolutely the way in which to encourage audiences to face up to current reality—and to start to talk about the ‘elephant in the room’ (now, for me, forever turquoise!).
34 Scenes About the Weather | Lunch Friend & Anywhere Festival
Featuring 34 Playwrights including two of Brisvegas’s treasures David Burton and Claire Christian, each scene had a distinctive tone and voice, even if sometimes the content sometimes overlapped. Actors Eliza Allen, Harrison Paroz, Jordan Stott and Grace Teng all had their own unique presence on stage and acting prowess. Even off-stage, when they were manually creating weather sound effects – such a brilliant addition – they carried that presence and watchability with them.
Recipe for Relativity | Here + There Productions & Anywhere Festival
The “escape” for this unique Anywhere Festival experience was to assist dimension hopping Hadley to leave our dimension before their DNA broke down from too much inter-dimensional exposure. To help them escape, we were asked to fix their traveling device, a meticulously crafted object that had multiple dials, lights, and doors to fiddle with made by show producer Regan Henry.
I'm Not Entirely Here | Vena Cava Productions & Anywhere Festival
While it was impossible to be present for every character interaction or read every scribbled note, I was able to create a complete understanding of the plot. The cast achieved this through moments where all present characters came together to move the plot along. As a result, everyone's experience at I'm not entirely here will be unique, but every experience will also be complete.
13: The Play | Legacy Ensemble & Anywhere Festival
Each of the thirteen performers seamlessly snapped between different set pieces and characters, sometimes even mid-sentence and didn’t miss a beat. In a split second, one actor could be a young child complaining to their parents and in the next breath, they were a gang member. Each transition was seamless as the last.