Buddy Malbasias (L) and Clare Dark (R) perform Bahala/o, photographed by Georgia Haupt Two dancers, a pedestal fan, and a whole lot of rice took the audience on an emotional journey in Bahala/o, a truly contemporary dance theatre piece and the first full-length work by Buddy Malbasias. Directed, choreographed, and performed by Malbasias, with dramaturgy... Continue Reading →
Review: Camerata: Your Eternal Memories (Camerata, Brisbane Festival, QPAC)
Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra with Kate Miller-Heidke (centre) and Barbara Lowing (far right), photographed by Alex Jamieson Presented as part of Brisbane Festival, Camerata: Your Eternal Memories was a rollercoaster concert, bringing the chamber orchestra together with national treasures Kate Miller-Heidke and Barbara Lowing to share memories and music with warmth and playful humour.... Continue Reading →
Review: The Natural Horse (Salad Days Collective, PIP Theatre, Brisbane Festival)
Lauren Dillon, Lachlan Orton, and Georgina Swayer (front), photographed by Karina Abbasi Salad Days Collective presented the Australian premiere of T Adamson's absurd and endearing The Natural Horse at PIP Theatre during Brisbane Festival. Directed by Rebecca Day, with assistant direction by Jai Bofinger, and designed by Ada Ludkin, The Natural Horse is a wonderfully... Continue Reading →
Review: Baleen Moondjan (Stephen Page, Brisbane Festival & Queen’s Wharf Brisbane)
Photographed by Morgan Roberts Stephen Page’s Baleen Moondjan was a work of impressive skill, vision, and Festival-scale spectacle, combining song, dance, and live music beneath huge whale bones stretching toward the stars. Staged on the Brisbane River with the audience seated on the edge of Queen’s Wharf, it was a unique and humbling experience to... Continue Reading →
Review: A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen (or, How to Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry) (Merrigong Theatre Company, QPAC & Brisbane Festival)
Image credit: Tracey Leigh Images Joshua Hinton’s A Place in the Sultan’s Kitchen (or How to Make the Perfect One-Pot Chicken Curry) was a delicious family history. Alongside his brother Dominic, Hinton told a story about lineage, cultural connection, and searching for a sense of belonging while he cooked his grandmother Mehmeh’s chicken curry live... Continue Reading →
Review: The Chronicles (Stephanie Lake Company, Brisbane Festival)
Photographed by Daniel Boud A spectacular contemporary dance work about the cycle of life and the journey from birth to death, The Chronicles was presented as part of Brisbane Festival by the Melbourne-based Stephanie Lake Company, following its world premiere at Sydney Festival in January. Photographed by Laurent Liotardo From the first uncurling fingers of... Continue Reading →
Review: Bad Nature (Australasian Dance Collective, Club Guy & Roni, Studio Boris Acket, HIIIT, Brisbane Festival & Brisbane Powerhouse)
Bad Nature for Brisbane Festival at The Powerhouse Theatre, photographed by David Kelly A jaw-dropping collaboration between Brisbane’s Australasian Dance Collective and The Netherlands’ Club Guy & Roni, Studio Boris Acket, and HIIIT, Bad Nature was a transportive new work about the relationship between humanity and the rest of the natural world. Photographed by David... Continue Reading →
Review: La bohème (Opera Queensland, Brisbane Festival & QPAC)
Elena Perroni and Valerio Borgioni as Mimì and Rodolfo, photographed by Steph Do Rozario Opera Queensland presented a stunning, fully staged production of Puccini’s beloved opera La bohème in QPAC’s Lyric Theatre as part of Brisbane Festival 2025. La bohème was first performed at Turin’s Teatro Regio in 1896, composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893... Continue Reading →
Review: The Platypus (Soft Tread Enterprises, Brisbane Festival)
Rebecca Bower and John Leary in The Platypus, photographed by Mark Gambino Francis Greenslade’s The Platypus is a metatheatrical two-hander that puts a genre-hopping spin on the kitchen sink drama. Jessica and Richard’s marriage is crumbling. Richard is healing from a vasectomy, and resents Jess for suggesting it. Jess feels unwanted, and seeks excitement in... Continue Reading →
Review: Gems (L.A. Dance Project, Brisbane Festival, QPAC, TEQ & BEDA)
On the Other Side, photographed by Jade Ellis Inspired by the three-part classical ballet work Jewels, which was created for the New York City Ballet by its co-founder George Balanchine in 1967, Gems is a trilogy of contemporary dance works by French dancer, choreographer, and founder of the L.A. Dance project Benjamin Millepied. In an... Continue Reading →
Review: Dance Nation (THAT Production Company)
Image credit: Kenn Santos THAT Production Company brought Clare Barron’s Dance Nation to Metro Arts, a powerfully, truthfully complex coming-of-age story framed by the trials and triumphs of a troupe of teenaged dancers. Directed by Timothy Wynn, with assistant direction and choreography by Jennifer B Ashley, Dance Nation follows a group of young people on... Continue Reading →
Review: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble & PIP Theatre)
Image credit: Benjamin Prindable Photography Lose yourself in the enchanted forest of A Midsummer Night's Dream, brought to life with music, mischief, and magic by the Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble. In this Shakespearean comedy, four young lovers find themselves in the forest outside of Athens – Hermia loves Lysander (reimagined in this production as Lysandra) but... Continue Reading →