Knee Deep | Casus Creations
Knee Deep is a beautifully-crafted display that wordlessly spans both the Intimate and large scale. The 60 minute show is absolutely packed with contemporary circus skills, including literal high-points of towers, hoop, trapeze, and silks—and intimate moments of playful wooing of the egg, and interchangeable, duets, trios, and quartets that move across and though the space.
Diva Dive | Finucane and Smith
This is a variety show with a travelling circus feel to it, its numerous stunning acts from around the world sewn together by MC Moira, some kind of vampiric love goddess. She carried us through a host of dazzling dances, spine-tinglingly beautiful singing, trapeze, burlesque, boylesque, physical comedy and all manner of gender-defying feats.
Assume People Like You | Melon The Human
Melon the Human demonstrates clowning at its finest, providing an hour’s worth of circus with the skill of a yesteryear street hustler. He kept us there. Melon’s fluidity in all the balancing, balls, rings, giant cube gags, tennis ball decoys he scatters throughout his performance are masterful. A stellar performance for his first time running this show. Most definitely worth a looksee.
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.
BRED | Briefs Factory
As impressive as the physical elements were, some of the more powerful moments were the dialogue parts. Emily delivers a powerful spoken word poem that had everyone in the room listening and Luke Hubbard stole the show for me in a closing performance that delved into the ongoing racism in the Australian police force and Indigenous deaths in custody, something that resonated with me deeply.
In The Arms of Morpheous | ARC Circus
There was something very satisfying about watching Robbie Curtis, the sole performer in In The Arms of Morpheus, float and bounce around in a magical dreamscape. His movement was very fluid and light and the first trick with a big, bouncy cloud of fabric was such a good introduction into his world. Curtis combined some really impressive swinging pole, tumbling and juggling with a lot of well done clowning.
Cab Suave | Sparkle Society
Cab Suave is both a fresh and flirty take on circus cabarets and well needed reimagining of film noir for the modern era. Packed with all the circus you could need, a script full of zingers, and whole lot of charm, it’s the perfect piece of escapism for the virus that shall not be named.
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.
Cirque Bon Bon | JACs Entertainment
Cirque Bon Bon does not hold back and offers a rich circus experience. It features a very talented crew of artists who perform the most iconic circus acts including acrobatic archery, aerials, juggling, hoop dance, unicycle, acrobatic skating, and roue cyr.
Absolute Trash | Glitter Martini
Filthy by the Scissor Sisters plays and the acts roll out from side stage. The first few acts consist of beautiful women dressed in hazmat suits, a wheelie bin scene with a bin chicken, a gorgeous garbage bag dress, and burlesque skits all connected by the ever-present rubbish that lives all around us, that we keep continuing to create!
The Most Spectacular Cake | You Me Three Clown Co
Obvious spoiler warning, the cake ends up all over the stage. We know it's going to happen. There's clowns, there's cake, there's plastic wrap on the floor, we know where it's going to end up. In less skilled hands, this could detract from performance. However, Wren and Ash build everything up to the greatest crescendo possible, before each accident happens with an unexpected twist that's more ridiculous than the last. This is good old fashioned slapstick at its finest that left all in the audience bellowing with laughter.
Nerve | Lauren Watson
The display of sheer strength and determination shone through this work brilliantly, as Lauren lifts her body onto the Lyra, in which she cleverly pulls from one of the disassembled wheelchairs on set and performs a superhuman aerial routine with impressive shapes as the haze floats peacefully on the surface floor and the mood lighting stunningly highlights her willpower.
Street Serenades | Brisbane Festival
I seem to have spent quite a bit of the last week lurking around Brisbane parks (and even a council pool). Don’t worry; I was waiting to see circus, dance, theatre, sword-swallowing, and to catch some local bands. And I wasn’t alone, as I was in the company of a few other hardy souls, as we waited for the latest Brisbane Festival Street Serenade.
Auntie's Fiafia Night | Casus Circus
Imagine two powerful women with vibrant flower covered moomoos, fanning themselves with woven fans, and big palm leaf plant beside them, laughing and gesturing as the performers take turns trying to earn a smile from them all night long. This shows just how respected elders and women are in Pasifika culture and that was an amazing take away for those who may not be of that background/culture.
Demolition | Polytoxic
When arriving at my seat a wave of proud brown girl joy makes its way through my spirit as the demolition work site sets the scene for what is going to be one of the most memorable shows that I've witnessed. I was about to undergo a unravelling of identity and I was more than ready!
Demolition | Polytoxic
The importance of solidarity really stuck with me and I felt like I was being shown an inclusive version of sisterhood that I could really relate to. This was no highly sanitised mainstream girlboss sisterhood, but the kind of solidarity that can be difficult and gritty and requires you to show up for other people and do the work.
Dirty Laundry | Briefs Factory
Briefs Factory’s Dirty Laundry is sexy but it also has a lot of heart and soul. It’s a show that not only dazzles but is also about connection and finding joy and pleasure in moments of uncertainty. It’s a show that will make you wolf-whistle, stomp your feet and leave you thirsty for more.
Demolition | Polytoxic
Polytoxic’s show Demolition is not only a staggering showcasing of Circus and Theatre, it is a moving and uplifting Call-To-Arms. The effortless shift of scenes drew my senses in and catapulted me from issue to issue that many women in this world face on a daily basis.
Demolition | Polytoxic
This work left me feeling seen on so many levels - as a Queer non-binary person struggling to fit the status quo, as a Maori woman who wasn’t raised on her Marae or Ancestral lands, as a Mother realising the importance of embracing culture for your children’s future, as a woman being surrounded by the constant pressures of living up to the patriarchal structure and never feeling good enough. I felt uplifted, hopeful, powerful and full of rage.
Seen But Not Her | Vulcana Circus
I felt like I was watching the inner workings of a glorious music box. The cogs in this microcosm represented by the musicians and their instruments, and the mathematics intrinsic to music generally, and more specifically in the complexity of a piano trio such as this. Also trapped in the music box, layered over these inner workings were the physical performers, who for me were like spirits or muses who represented the imperfect nature of creativity.