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.
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.