Titanic: The Movie, The Play | Act/React
Bochenski cheekily turns the appearance and attire of each“Young Rose” into chuckle fodder as she invites them up, and the guest is deftly guided and prompted by the cast, all commendable improvisers who are able to springboard from each audience participants’ lines, however hesitant or giggly the delivery.
The Waiting Game | The Reaction Theory
Callum Ford’s direction was fantastic. The way in which the work was staged and the layout of the space as a restaurant, meant that we were enthralled in the characters’ world from before the show even started.
Dwell | Collectivist
Collectivist’s first production, Dwell, takes this concept and runs with it. Twists it, turns it, mashes it and destroys it in the best possible way, turning the traditional cabaret into a whole new beast. Similar in concept to HBO’s Room 104, in the world of Dwell’s hotel, anything can and will happen.
As If No One Is Watching | Vulcana Circus
As If showcases the diversity of these women's experiences, including the mundane life that forced upon us, our inner demons and how we can take back the night. There is something that everyone will be able to connect with here, and I dare anyone to not be moved by what they see.
Hold My Beer | Half-Hitch
Like a good night out, dares and games result in the cast swapping roles, utilising two stages and much of the room and the audience being drawn into the show and into the fun on the stage. T his provides some of the best moments of the show, as the performers compete against each other and audience members to unexpected results.
Skyward | Republic of Song
We begin with a beautiful dreamy introduction, a delicate song performed on cello and piano as we watch a mesmerising timelapse. Throughout the performance, Bale explores the inherent urge to escape, to fly free into the sky, and the inevitable sadness that comes with the realisation of gravity, and impossibility, and mortality.
Amelia Anonymous | Virag Dombay
There are moments in Amelia Anonymous that are truly memorable. A sustained moment of sitting in the rain, symbolised by blue torches flickering in the darkness over a single figure, is genuinely inspired. The warmth of the various relationships covered by the play starts to shine through beautifully towards its conclusion.
#FirstWorldWhiteGirls | Spirit Animal
#FirstWorldWhiteGirls figuratively burnt the house down at the Brisbane Powerhouse's Comedy festival tonight. It's infectious, funny and all too real.
Mutating Roots | Mayu Muto
In Mutating Roots, common aerial apparatus are cleverly transformed beyond their traditional forms in circus. Muto has added interesting textures and shapes to each apparatus, creating new depth, light and shadows to explore these themes.
What I’m Here For | Elbow Room
It was enjoyable watching the actors interact with individuals walking by but it was just as intriguing the passers-by try to piece together what was happening in front of them and there was a group of about twenty individuals staring at two or more particular people with headsets on. Some stopped to take photos, others tried to listen in but some just walked by...
Crunch Time | Counterpilot
There’s an explicit attempt to link the democratic processes at play in the work’s conception with debates and developments happening around global politics. Sibthorpe’s notes reference Brexit and Trump. There’s a development within the work that explicitly plays with the idea of leadership spills. If there’s a moment that elevates CrunchTime above a good dinner party, it’s that one.
Elixir | Head First Acrobats
In Elixir, Head First Acrobats have created an almost perfect piece of bubblegum circus pop. Don’t let their glistening six-packs cheeky grins and buffoonery trick you. These three gents are smart and highly skilled entertainers who know how to work an audience.
WonderWombs | The Dust Palace (NZ)
This is top quality contemporary neo-burlesque. Full of provocations that subvert stereotypes of 'woman', it is righteously sex-positive and utterly refreshing for it. Yeah these girls are hot, but it's never about who is watching, it's all about how good it feels within.
Invisible Things | Alex Mizzen
The show pulls out a lot of darkness, a lot of deep hidden internal thoughts, and I realise about a third of the way through that this is very real for Alex, she is not acting this experience, she is having it.
Notorious Strumpet & Dangerous Girl | Jess Love
The show has enough pithy statements and throwaway jokes that those who haven't experienced mind-numbing addiction will find it funny, moving, an education even, an insight. But for those of us who have been down that path, it is a bittersweet cloudy mirror.
We Live Here | Flipside Circus
It's so good to see these stories on stage, in a world where every other show is about the artists own challenges, self-indulgent narratives of privileged lives. This show advocates for those that have no time to sing their own praises, and is all the more gorgeous for it.
Bitch On Heat | Leah Shelton
Leah doesn’t pull any punches as she utilises high-camp, absurdist, lip-synching performance art to explore the history of the sexualisation and vilification of the female body through ancient myths, porn, the politics of stereotypical 50’s house wives, and revenge movies heroines.
Neon Tiger | La Boite
What is really lovely about this is that it is a side of queer female liaisons that isn’t often shown. The soft, the gentle, the foolish.
BaBel | Backbone
A beautiful, rough, raw, crazy impossibility of show pulled together in two weeks, by international maestro Younes Bachir, a Belgium director renowned for creating amazing large-scale site-specific works.
Chasing Smoke | Casus Circus
What makes Chasing Smoke truly stand-out though is that shines a spotlight on each member of the ensemble. These intimate moments prove to be some of the most powerful of the show.