The Sunny Tribe District | Robert the Cat
The cast were tight knit; not a move or beat out of place in delivering this chaotic script. Each member of the cast effortlessly carried the weight of the responsibility placed on the ensemble. From the Olivia Rodrigo sing-along, to the synchronised, lavish dance sequences to the perky rap battles to the overly sexual demonstration of how to pour water over each other, everything that they threw at us no matter how absurd or obscene was executed to glorious effect.
Love Lust Lost | Broad Encounters
This desire to return immediately to a show I have just seen is a trait I feel is unique to immersive theatre. Most theatre tickets will send you to witness a story, while a ticket to Love Lust Lost is a ticket to send you into a new world. A must-sea.
Love, Lust, Lost | Broad Encounters
Words cannot give this show justice, as the level of immersion and the depth of character cannot be overstated. Immersive theatre is the way of the future, and Love Lust Lost proves that. No show has ever made me so curious, and I want more people to see the show simply so that I can talk to more people about it. I would say I will see the show again, but I worry that won't be enough.
The Ugly One | AllEntertainment
This performance is lively and light-hearted, not skirting away from its darker undertones but embracing them with a jaunty devil-may-care attitude. It’s an absurd play, with the supporting actors playing multiple characters each with the same name; which had me tumbling for clarity on a couple moments. It is relentless; the scenes blur quickly into, across, under and over each other, and the actors did a fantastic job of taking us along for a ride with them.
Club Extimacy | The Black Box Collective
Each character felt like a person I’d met in a club bathroom, or at least someone like them. The work was a revolving door of fleeting interactions, as the world of the club thumped just outside the piss-stained walls. A hilariously authentic depiction of the bathroom chats and antics that many of us know all too well, this show accurately captured the liminality of club bathrooms.
The Time Travel Café | Spacefold Technology
Each of the five players were extremely talented in their own right, and they worked brilliantly as a team. When their timelines crossed it felt like the magical realism of an epic Doctor Who episode, when all your favourite companions come back to save the day.
Murder On The Not-So Orient Express | Mystify Events
The story, written by Siobhan, had all the tangled storyline fun of a classic absurd crime mystery, with lots of crossovers with the pasts of the passengers, and a plot full of exciting twists and turns. Audience members were inserted into the show by the actors, taken out of their seats and placed right into the action. The cast were skilled at picking these people, and moving on quickly if someone seemed hesitant to be thrown into the spotlight.
STOP THAT NONSENSE | Nicholas ‘Prince’ Milverton & IMA
In spite of its brevity, STOP THAT NONSENSE managed to touch on what it takes for a young black man to excel with the loving support of his adoring parents and set within the context of race, privilege and perception underpinned by colonialism. I look forward to the playwright expanding STOP THAT NONSENSE into a full-length work where the many levels of black excellence can be explored in greater depth.
Hello, Stranger! | The Drawer Productions
Wonderfully written and directed and full of beautiful, nuanced performances, Hello, Stranger showcases the incredible talents of The Drawer Productions. Moving, challenging, educative, funny and full it impactful moments that have stayed with me, it was another standout production from one of Meanjin’s companies to watch. It was certainly one of the standout shows of the 2022 Anywhere Festival for me.
The Virtuous Burglar | Xth Act
While the play was primarily blithe, it explored issues of adultery, madness and hypocrisy in marriages and relationships. It made me reflect on human’s behaviours by exposing and mocking the ugliness of lies, pretence and power in society. “Let love be without hypocrisy”.
In Melodiam | Here + There Productions
There was an impressive mix of physical puzzles, cyphers and even equations for us to solve throughout In Melodiam, most of which were linked to the story and the era that our Hero came from. Together, this helped to immerse us further into our Hero’s world. Kudos to the team for creating so many puzzles that both fit the era of our Hero and which helped us to better understand her story.
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.
Slippery | Curtain World
Slippery is almost too slippery (lol) an experience to be described in something as rigid as words. A campy absurdist horror comedy with a built in murder mystery. The conventions and tropes of each form/genre are used expertly by Esther Dougherty’s script to delve into the psyche of each character and the intricacies of their inner lives as well as the plethora of hard hitting topics it tickles and teases throughout.
ASK | Tristan Niemi
You could absolutely feel the tension in the room, it was palpable. I felt the recognition of my role as a voyeur in this maelstrom, and my heart started to race. It was thrilling. I felt compelled to keep asking questions. In fact, I asked questions through the whole show, for various reasons. Originally it was curiosity, and even partly some sort of weird benevolence towards the artist in the beginning. This was killed off by of an uncontrollable desire to hear as much of their story as possible.
This Way to a Fireside Chat with Lucifer | Lightning Bolt Collective
But in my consultation, I was quickly informed that Satan is here to run in the national election. Lucifer's candidacy feels at home in an age of populist and potentially demonic global leaders, running on an appealing platform of climate justice and the fulfilment of my every desire. The conversations around politics grounded the experience while simultaneously making light of the often depressing political landscape. Voting often feels like deciding which party is the lesser of two evils, so why not vote for the devil?
Leaves of Glass | The X Collective
The cast endures the emotional intensity of Phillip Ridley’s script in a most admirable way. They maintain the energy of the text and keep it engaging despite the numerous, lengthy, and unnecessary blackouts. Caroline Sparrow and Sandra Harman in particular give deeply nuanced performances that ground their scenes in the mundanity that memory plays are known for.
To Hunt a Killer | Dark Stories
To Hunt a Killer had a distinct connection to Brisbane|Meanjin. The team constructed the narrative around a specific site that is well known to many Brisbanians, which absolutely made this piece special. Equally, this would be a cool experience for those visiting the city and would give an opportunity to explore a popular area in Brisbane in an experience you just would not get during the day.
The Anniversary | Salvador Dinosaur
I’m not even going to try to mince words, The Anniversary is a physical comedy masterclass. The performances, direction, physical comedy, sets, props, puppetry – basically everything - combine to create a rollercoaster of a ride that had me crying with laughter throughout. If you are a fan of absurdist comedy, clown or dark humour, do not miss this one if it comes to a theatre near you.
RUNT | Dee, Cornelius and Wilks
We are ruled by the body. We think our chattering minds are leading this affair but really it is the body that sings and screams, the skin that hungers for touch. You can go mad if no one touches you. You can go mad if love gets all twisted up. We know that children need safety to grow strong and true, they need enough attention to validate them, that emotional maturity and regularity is directly linked to the security we experience in our formative years.
The Rabbit Hole | Ad Astra
Both characters experience this grief differently, with Becca packaging everything away and trying to distance herself as much as possible and Howie watching old VCR tapes and trying to hold onto whatever is left of his son. Both Bailey and Hirst deliver exceptional, emotionally gut-wrenching performances as their respective characters. Each have a stand-out moment when their grief boils up to the surface and explodes.