Shakespeare's Othello | Queensland Theatre
On the night of my attendance, it was interesting to note the array of ages in the audience, many of whom could have been in my very own children's age category. Methinks a testament to the enduring nature of Shakespeare’s works? Impressive to note was the resounding applause, standing ovation and numerous curtain calls. Again methinks a testament to the enduring nature of Shakespeare’s works!
The Boys | Pip Theatre
One of the most poignant parts of Graham’s script is that whilst we still see women being sexually and verbally abused, most of the violence is supressed and hidden between the lines of the text. It is up to us to draw those connections and to use our imaginations, for a lack of a better term. Fight director Jason McKell and intimacy director Michelle Miall both did a fantastic job in their respective roles, making these glimpses of violence in its various forms all the more realistic and confronting.
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.
Queen's City | Blak Social
Alethea [Beetson] has taken a refreshing approach to telling First Nations stories and has turned that singular, unbalanced narrative into a fierce, honest and sometimes searing commentary on how to move forward by showing us how to look back. The trauma and pain of our First Nations people is an indelible stain on the history of Australia. Queen’s City is an ideal example of a theatre production that can create awareness through its storytelling so that we can move forward and together as a nation (hopefully).
Holding Achilles | Dead Puppet Society & Legs on the Wall
And the way the tension between the two was established and then built was a masterclass. From the moment they first met and instantly hated each other, to a building of respect and trust, to the furtive, lingering glances, until that final kiss, the punters were with them every step of the way. I have never heard an audience explode with cheers and applause like they did when the pair finally kissed near the end of the first half. I’m sure that there were a number of people in the audience that also found it just a wee bit life affirming.
Sunshine Super Girl | Andrea James & Brisbane Festival
It was heart-warming to watch audience members on both sides of the ‘court’ standing for an ovation as the actors took their final curtain call. I can’t remember the last time I lept to my feet with such joie de vivre.
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.
Mistero Buffo | Rhum & Clay
The old archetypes of the Fool and the foolish are threshed out and made fresh in this fantastical satire presented by Rhum and Clay. I had done a little reading in advance but I was unprepared for the sheer force of personality and the wildly physical performance from Julian Spooner. It’s a firecracker of a show.
Slow Boat | Anna Yen
There is something about relating to characters on the stage that humanises stories so very much. We can read an article about the relentless inhumanity of the Australian government and the colonial importation of cheap Asian labour, but a depiction of a bloody and brutal desert scene and the rise and fall of pickaxes worms its way into your head in a much more effective way.
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.
ZOOOM | Patch Theatre
The dialogue is minimal and almost non-existent, yet through the innovative exploration of technology, the children are hooked from start to finish. The marrying of technology, the use of the light and the immaculate soundscape, gave off the illusion that we, the audience, are witnessing magical unfold directly in front of our eyes.
Fourteen | shake & stir theatre co.
There is so much material included that is ripe for nuanced and fresh commentary about the Queer experience, especially in rural communities, but it is so often sprinkled over the top of a single scene and never interrogated again. This is not to say every narrative thread must be tied off neatly but when so few of them are, it begins to make the work feel incohesive.
Holding Achilles | Dead Puppet Society & Legs on the Wall
Morton’s Holding Achilles’ queer lens, and re-gendering/de-gendering of key roles, offers fascinating new insights into an old story. My two strongest ‘ah-ha’ moments connected with the themes of parent/child legacies, and about the true nature of heroism - are heroes those who have the short lives that are celebrated in epic tales, or those who seek the ordinary long lives that are celebrated on the warrior’s shield?
Brown Church | The Naavikaran Collective
It is not long before I find myself completely taken in by the artists who have now formed a circle of celebration, clapping their hands to time. Naavikaran’s white flowy skirt accented with silvery foil-like material has a life force of its own. The other performers look equally royal in their costumes, twirling, swirling, locking eyes with one another, immersing themselves in the beauty and safety of friendships they have forged amongst themselves. I smile so much at the unfolding of this dance sequence simply because it is unadulterated, unpretentious joy.
The Pillowman | Good Time Theatrics
Directors Hannah Boyd (who also played Arial) and Sophie Wickes (who played Katurian) chose to adapt this work with an all-female cast; having the two police officers dressed in bright pink, almost cyber-punk like jumpsuits and gender-swapping the storyteller Katurian and their brother Michal. As a director myself, I thought this was an intriguing concept that had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the inconsistency of direction resulted in this casting choice falling flat and undercutting the power of this award-winning text.
Homily | theatrePUNK co.
The painful journey of survival as young queer person in a distinctly hostile world is not one we can tire of hearing in all its variations, at least not until the damned trial of becoming ceases to be and our queer brethren can just live their lives as awkwardly and safely as everyone else.
Ruby Moon | Ad Astra
Ruby Moon is an important work and was inspired by the headlines of missing children in the past. When we think of the tragic news of Daniel Morcombe and William Tyrell, and how today we live in a world where media plays such a big role in our lives that when a story like that happens it becomes almost unavoidable to not get caught up in the anxiety or feel the grief of their family. I think it does a great job at exploring the corruption of innocence and how our perceptions can drastically change after such incidents.
Love Lust Lost | Broad Encounters
It’s almost impossible to describe the experience to someone if they’ve never attended an immersive theatre show. It’s part musical, part Choose Your Own Adventure, part adult playground, and part fever dream, with a dash of meta-narrative and so much more. If you attended Broad Encounter’s record breaking run of A Midnight Visit last year, you’ll have an idea about what to expect – gloriously detailed set design that you’ll want to explore at length, beautifully twisted characters roaming the sets, secret passages, numerous secrets about the world that can be found throughout the rooms and interactions with the characters and even a few puzzles to get lost in. All the stuff that you’d expect from a good immersive theatre show.
Our Blood Runs In The Street | Shane Anthony and Ensemble
All in all, Our Blood Runs In The Streets does the job it set out to do. It provides audiences with a hidden history of this place and does so in a way that is emotionally evocative rather than destructive – with a slightly more nuanced range of representations and more rehearsal I think this work could have left me a sobbing mess rather than a lightly weeping one.
An Ideal Husband | Lewis Treston & La Boite Theatre
An Ideal Husband provides a grim insight into how a lot of the peril we encounter currently – climate change, corruption, rampant racism, homophobia, and xenophobia – could have been prevented had a few more people stuck to their principles and didn’t give-in to corporate greed or a lust for power. All while managing to be the most joyous experience I’ve had in a theatre in a long time. Deeply hilarious. Wild(e)ly entertaining.