Poison | Lot Vekemans
They paved the stage with woodchip and paths of white quartz. From the first step, the first crunch of the lily-white stones, I am transported to the quiet paths of cemeteries up and down the country, the courtyards of crematoriums.
Dinopocalypse | Ruckus Slam
What if dinosaurs did not die out in a mass extinction 65 million years ago and instead went underground and evolved over tens of millions of years into a vaguely humanoid species not too dissimilar from ourselves? And what if a catastrophic event drove them out of their homes and forced them to seek safety in our own and our government sought to contain them, both for their safety and for our own? And what would you do if you got a chance to visit the facility that contains them, at the launch of their dinosaur integration program?
A Rose Among Horns | Genevieve Butler
This is not a show for urban critics. This is a hoot of a show. It’s clever, and it’s complicated, but it’s also easy on the eye, and not so very hard to sing along. We already know how the story ends, after all.
There's Something About Mary(s ) | Cassie George
The songs are cleverly picked to provide an extra, often humorous layer to the story, while tugging at the nostalgia that often comes with music that we all know and love.
One the Bear | Black Honey Company
Decolonisation is an action, not an abstract concept. And it can be as simple as putting a new shape in an old box, a less-seen colour on a jaded set, a rarely-seen rhyme on a prestigious stage. Decolonisation is worthy work, but it doesn't have to feel worthy. It can feel like a whole lot of fun.
Betty Grumble | Sex Clown Saves The World
Adults only, take no prisoners, leave no lover behind; this fucked up take on cabaret literally starts in a tip and ends in a furnace. It is scandalous, it is shocking, it is… political? Totally political. It’s debonair, it’s filthy, it’s fucking weird. It’s proper wired.
I just came to say goodbye | The Good Room
The audience rippled with trepidation for a minute, when they said this was a lock in. That’s right, my friends, once you are in you must stay in. And if you leave you can not come back. A fitting physical metaphor for the unfurling darkness ahead.
The Bluebird Mechanicals | Too Close to the Sun
Time moves, stands still. The narrator tells us our future. She has something to say. She has gone to great trouble to craft the tale. She has come a long way to tell us the story. We had best listen.
Danger Ensemble | The Hamlet Apocalypse
This show gets it. It gets that Shakespeare is funny. It gets that it ought to mean something. It pokes fun of it, whilst taking itself seriously at the same time. It is committed to the original, even as it tears it apart with both hands. It gets that tragedy is a car-crash, that you can't tear your eyes away from.
I Am My Own Wife | Doug Wright | performed by Ben Gerrard
Some of the strongest words are Charlotte’s own, especially when she speaks about why she never restores anything, lest it loses its character. All scars are sacred time-keeping, all fault-lines are memories, all cracks are to be treasured; they are the living proof. Is she talking about antiques or human bodies. You get to choose.
Cargo Club | CfAT & DarahRouge @ MetroArts
These artists have made deeply personal work; the line between script and history is too blurry to grasp. These are stories that need told, and these are the people that need to tell them.In a stunning collaboration, these ten diverse and talented artists have created a work that is sublime, ethereal and very, very raw.
Terror Australis | Leah Shelton
The comedy is impeccable, it’s utterly bad form all the way through, a peculiarly Aussie delight… and yet she never once has to use a tired cliché or a sexist stereotype.