Breaking | Counterpilot
A heavy feeling of helplessness and hopelessness overcame me as my anxiety increased with the unsettling news bulletins becoming grimmer and grimmer, sometimes bordering on the absurd, sometimes tinged with the darkest humour. Overall the weight of the well-scripted news bulletins was nothing short of palpable.
Babushka Regifted | Babushka
Yet, underneath all the laughter, Babushka Regifted included a lot of great social commentary. They delved into love, despair, poverty, consent (sitting on Santa’s lap), and particularly feminism. Some memorable quotes include “a woman’s duty should not be stuck in kitchen”, “ovaries should not be stuck in the oven”, singing ‘We Three Queens’ instead of ‘We Three Kings’ following the Star, and singing from the ‘Hyrrs’ (Her) book instead of ‘Hymm’ (Him) book.
Down the Rabbit Hole | Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts
Accompanied by a catchy, upbeat original musical score, the stark reality of dealing with mental health issues was laid bare. As they worked their way through their group therapy session with Dr Hatter, the characters’ myriad mental health issues are revealed through incorporating catchy dance numbers and engaging singing.
Slippery | Curtain World
There is a clear internal logic to the fantastical in Slippery, but with just enough of the familiar that it’s both hilariously weird and painfully relatable. Slippery feels like being pulled down a rabbit hole into a fantastical genderless fever-dream where everyone in the Vatican is gay, spoons are idiots, and cucumber vape juice will kill you. It’s unashamedly absurd, unapologetically queer, and hysterically funny.
Pierrot | Martelle Simon-Green
[Pierrot] was so intimate. I felt like it was just me and them and the simply dressed stage. I went with them wherever the performers took me. At times the performance was so tiny, but I was still with them, peeking into their stillness. I left feeling quite speechless which isn’t like me.
A Very Naughty Christmas | Woodward Productions
This is a clever, funny, adults-only burlesque-meets-musical-theatre. It isn’t high art, it won’t test your powers of concentration, and it’s probably not going to inspire social action—but it gets 5-stars from me. Sometimes we just need an enjoyable night out.
In Your Dreams | Polytoxic
It is not often that I get the first line of my review handed to me during a performance. According to Polytoxic, my review should start with “five stars and checking [my] privilege”. We don’t do star ratings at Nothing Ever Happens in Brisbane, but I’ll happily make an exception for Polytoxic’s new work, In Your Dreams. This show promises a line-up of glass-ceiling smashing, system dismantling, genderqueer, fiercely intersectional artists, and delivers spectacularly on this promise.
The Great Gatsby: An Immersive Theatrical Production | Viral Ventures
After a brief introduction to the show’s format by Robuck, the audience is dropped into the world of the novel, all being given the role of the narrator Nick Carroway. Throughout the show the rest of the cast intermittently interacts with each of us as Nick, which seemed to really resonate with a number of punters. Many were all smiles and giggles when they were referred to directly or invited to partake in a small part of a scene.
Poncho: Keep It Up! | Dani Cabs
There’s an undercurrent of struggle in Poncho, of wrestling with shame, of being emotionally cauterised by a culture that punishes any deviation to the rigid, limiting forms of male connection and expression that patriarchy demands. But Cabs has an innate talent for balancing tension and levity, which he deployed masterfully during the piñata sequence towards the end. He brought many in the audience to tears (myself included), and then, moments later, had us laughing again.
GODZ | Head First Acrobats
Having an all-male cast of physically fit circus artists and calling your show GODZ could easily be the set-up of something quite cringy; but I was delighted to have that option cast aside from the moment the show began. Lights shone down on Apollo, Cupid, Dionysus, and Hercules, starting the show with some very skilled and very silly group acrobatics. The team of godly larrikins from Head First Acrobats then treated the audience to a fast-paced and hilarious hour of Greek mythology inspired hijinks where nothing was sacred.
The Bluff | The Drawer Productions
The Bluff is an Australian Gothic play that utilises all of the tropes of the genre to full effect to explore the impacts of a tragic event on a small community, the burden of guilt and shame, the effects of gossip and rumour and the very question of our own existence. There are marshlands, apparitions, isolation, guilt and so, so many secrets; all the good gothic stuff. And this is all finely balanced by enough light moments that we don’t get sucked into complete maudlin Wuthering Heights territory.
Constellations by Nick Payne | All Entertainment
It is a great work out to be onstage essentially unending for an hour and a half and both Katie and William held their space and power for the entire time. They were able to create seamless transitions between the scenes and had some exciting choices and exploration with the dialogue and repeated scenes.
Moon With A View | Moth Light Theatre
Moon with a View is a whimsical and wacky mixture that is often Monty Pythonesque—and occasionally reminiscent of Michael Bentine’s Potty Time—showcasing Calum Johnston’s acting, improv, balloon-manipulation, and comedic talents.
Death In A Statesman | Debase Productions
Death in a Statesman has a lot of fun playing with genre conventions, taking things we typically associate with gritty American crime stories and placing them on a journo in Bundaberg who uses a bike to get around. The whole audience was really receptive to that playfulness and humor, laughing heartily along with the fourth wall breaking jokes and the over the top minor characters. Noir and comedy make a fun combination and I think that genre blend made a good vehicle for a story about family and transitions.
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap | QPAC
For a script written in the 1950s, I was pleasantly surprised by the strong female leading the show. Played by clearly talented actress, Anna O’Byrne, Mollie Ralston was a witty and electrifying character. O’Byrne’s energy filled the stage and was captivating to the very end. The entire cast was incredibly well-suited. I particularly enjoyed Laurence Boxhall’s performance of Christopher Wren, a delightfully peculiar character that was often times the comic relief.
Again, You Have Trusted Me | Sarah Stafford
I think I’m a fan because Stafford can silence a room as easily as she can get one onside, and that’s a skill, an artist that makes work that’s rough and stabby and is Not For Everyone. It’s so refreshing actually. I actually can’t think of another work I’ve seen in ages that felt so sharp-edged, so fresh in style and tone as this strange dark tonic.
Global Fusion- India - 'Into the Light' | Thomas Dixon Centre & BEMAC
“I pay homage to the light,” says Menaka, gently reinforcing the intention of the performance to honour Diwali, the Festival of Light through an amalgamation of select Indian elements and Western influences. The mellifluous sounds of the Bansuri (bamboo flute) played dexterously by Darshil Shah juxtaposed against the lean silhouettes of professional Ballet dancers, Sarah Thompson and Jayden Grogan signal to us that more forces of global fusion are waiting to be unleashed. From the wings onto the stage, and into the light.
Howling Jackals | Micah Rustichelli
Howling Jackals is an exhibition of dichotomies; beauty and destruction, sacrifice and redemption, faith and hopelessness, god and godlessness, ice and fire, and blue and red. Micah Rustichelli has created an installation that explores the days after the rapture through provocative symbology and biblical themes that would make a theology professor blush.
Sad Boys Luv Art | Baby Blue
Dance, drag, costume, and performance come together in Baby Blue’s Sad Boys Luv Art. The show is a journey through male femininity that seeks audience interaction and reflection. Thalia Novela leads travellers through a fantasy world, with each new location introducing a new mythical creature. These magical entities are portrayed by Luna Thicc, Brandi Doll, Bailey Strothmann, Crimson Coco, and of course, Baby Blue.
Assembly 2022 | La Boite Theatre
‘Assembly’ is a glimpse into fresh, new, raw, uplifting, punchy, witty, funny, sad, ambiguous monologues written by upcoming playwrights who own their stories. It’s a smorgasbord of flavours. Some palatable, some not. It’s a teaser taster consisting of flawed characters, minimalist props, zero music/soundscape, bittersweet scripts where shades of light and dark reside comfortably side-by-side. Kudos to the actors who did a splendid job of bringing these stories to life within the allocated ten minute time slot.