Prison X | UNITED NOTIONS Film & KOA.XYZ
While it borrows traditional gaming elements, it also plays our as a documentary. It’s an opportunity to learn about a different culture and heritage as well as a current society in a different part of the world. And with it being created by not only Violetta Ayala, but a team of female Andean artists and POC designers, it brings a genuine authenticity in the work that they’re sharing.
Betwixt | Pink Matter
Betwixt invited the audience into the ‘In Between’: a space where words connected to movements and movements connected to music to tell unfinished stories to unsuspecting listeners. Through an enthralling combination of spoken-word poetry and dance, Pink Matter produced a fresh storytelling experience that pulled at the heart and compelled the mind.
Peach Papaya | GoldenCoastline
There is something special that happens when dancers come to support other dancers, and that is the way their energy bounces off one another. Even when nothing is happening. The performers might be standing completely still in near complete darkness, tinted only in the softest red. This is enough to spur a shout, or a cheer, or a “Get it!”. As though true silence is forbidden.
Cluedo! The New Suspects | Brisbane Immersive Ensemble
Across the venue, blackmail, flirtations, arguments, and even a broom closet triste were playing out between the six key figures. While a number of confrontations played out in front of large gatherings of the audiences, many punters had taken to chasing after the characters who took their interest to try to catch a sliver of gossip or accusation to piece together the story. Gasps, cheers and accusations from the punters fill the space as each new twist and turn unfolded.
Mental Illness Is Not A Crime | Haus of Beaver Productions
An undulating soundscape filled the room with an otherworldly atmosphere. Tents and noise cancelling headphones littered the floor. There was a wide assortment of things to poke and scratch and put your fingers in, particularly things which excited taste, smell, and touch – senses that don’t get a lot of attention in theatre.
Intoxication | Before Shot
At its core, the show is about love and relationships and the anxiety, self-doubt, self-loathing, and questions of worth that can come along with it. Christopher addressed audience members as if they were people in his life, people he admired, desired, despised. The audience became participants, watching and being watched in the circle.
Absolute Trash | Glitter Martini
Each one of the circus acts was incredibly well-polished and a real pleasure to watch. These are circus artists with a truckload of experience under their belt, performing some quite technical tricks that had me mesmerised from the very first to the very last moment.
Sex, Lies & Betrayal – Memoirs of a Hollywood Star | JTM Productions
As we enter the room, we are soon introduced to Miss Nightingale, played by the talented Karla Hillam. Immediately I was captivated and engaged, with the intimacy of the setting it made you feel at times like a fly on the wall of something real. Karla brought the confidence required to play a charismatic Hollywood Legend, along with the elegance of a Grace Kelly, and the depth to show the struggle, pain, and haunting memories.
Sometimes I Say Your Name Out Loud | Collectivist & Moment of Inertia
As the curtain rises, we meet the three caretakers of death, the Priestess with her goddesslike aura and picturesque flower crown, Mort with her sickle and Ronnie, a janitor clown who captured our hearts with all of her imperfections and her endearing smile.
Over The Back Fence | Vulcana Circus
Boasting more than 10 different acts across four venues, this was an immersive, engaging, and exciting journey, part way between a mystery tour and the best school excursion you’ve ever been on (only with no teachers and more beer).
Ingress | Bridie Hooper
The show was richly layered with all manner of symbolism, and heavily dosed with extremely high-level acrobatics. And of course, youthful vigour is itself a kind of immortality, for who can imagine being weak when one is full of strength? In the summer of life one cannot conceive of the winter of the body. But being young is not an immunity from self reflection, self doubt, self loathing, and self flagellation.
Shanty Club | The Salty Sirens
There’s such a power to communal singing. When a large group of people can come together with a similar interest and sing in union, whether you think you’re a good singer or not, it feels special joining in on the choruses and sharing in the collective voice. Elyse and Kristy have that understanding and knew how to get the audience engaged as they built up to the final shanty which allowed members of the crowd to come up with their own lyrics for us all to sing along to.
Sludge Bank | Chance Collective
It’s favourite kind of critique of the neo-corporate capitalist system. One that gives you a reminder to keep an eye on your consumer spending power and keep your ego in check, cause yes, if you are not part of the solution, you are most definitely part of the problem. Yes it’s kind of like your eccentric aunt is scolding you but with added songs and belly laughs and stupid jokes and weird puppets and strange voiceovers and homemade props and hilarious antics and cool hair. Ah art, it’s the best way to grow as a person.
The Realistic Joneses | Ad Astra
The Joneses truly are realistic and aren’t afraid to speak their minds about subjects that society deems taboo or overshare intimate details. The tension this creates makes us laugh, but it also makes us reflect on what society governs as a respectable conversation and whether we should repress or embrace our awkward reactions.
Vibrations | Dots+Loops
I am greeted by the delightfully odd, creatively fruity and ASMR-inspired sounds of Provocative Vibrations. Clearly extremely well thought and articulated and AT THE SAME TIME an unnerving chaotic mash-up of sound, action, noise and voice, this is a cool weird experience. There is something so delightful to think that right now, in Brisbane, there are people making such a fabulously strange mash-up of noises, and rehearsing them perfectly, and there are eager audiences out there braying to get a hold of it. It’s heart-warming, it really is.
Coterie Cabaret
The show is cheeky without being immature. Sexual acts and fetishes are truly celebrated, rather than used for a cheap joke. You may find this one a bit challenging if you’re adverse to exploration, liberation, diversity, and... packets of condoms being thrown into the audience. And honestly, if that’s you, I dare you to go.
Conviction | The Hive Collective
Beginning in darkness, four figures barely visible on stage, the tension is palpable. Together they deliver the one punchy monologue, setting the scene inside the wandering and turbulent creative mind of our protagonist, a self-critical independent writer. When the lights switch on, the characters launch into action in the writer’s latest play and we watch the action unfold seemingly as it is being written, edited, unwritten, and changed.
The Revolutionists | The Curators
The play is a comedy set in Paris during the late-1700s “reign of terror” … At first glance this all seems historical and far-away, but we are brought to the here and now through a comedic exploration of real and present themes: colonial oppression, women’s rights, and the intersectional beneficiaries (and lack thereof) of revolutionary movements.
Glass Child | The Farm
This is hands down the best piece of storytelling I’ve seen this year. This is a genuine challenge to any other productions to top it for sheer vibrating power. From the first scene, where Maitreyah’s voice cracks just ever so slightly, I know I am witness to something extraordinary. What follows is a whirlwind of emotions, for each of them, and most definitely for me.