The 10 Brisbane Festival Shows We Cannot Wait To Catch
Here's our pick of the must-see events on this year's bill.
The 2018 Brisbane Festival has unveiled one of its most vibrant, ambitious and eclectic programs to date and, quite frankly, you'd be mad to miss a single production. But if you have to play favourites, here's our pick of the must-see events on this year's bill.
River Of Light: The Story Of Maiwar
World Premiere
From Brisbane to Perth, Melbourne to Cairns, the land we stand on is the territory of Australia's first people. Always was and always will be. And it's with this spirit in mind that Brisbane Festival has devised an audacious public spectacle telling the traditional dreaming story of the mighty serpent that wove the Maiwar - the Indigenous name for Brisbane's river — into existence. Using cutting-edge laser and fountain technology, this incredible legend will light up South Bank three times a night throughout the Fest.
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From 8 Sep at Treasury Brisbane Arcadia
Virtual reality may be an increasingly popular and high-tech way to highjack the senses, but for those who prefer their immersive entertainment analogue, this supernaturally-edged theatre work is the show to catch. In a 40-foot shipping container, the audience will be absorbed into a world of darkness and unexpected subterfuge. Using a cunning mix of sensory deprivation, 3D audio and innovative stagecraft, this smash-hit UK-made production blurs the boundaries of physical experience in truly transformative ways.
From 8 Sep at Treasury Brisbane Arcadia
Life: The Show
World Premiere
Cabaret mavericks Strut & Fret know a thing or two about putting on a spectacle. Their previous outings — including the burlesque infused BLANC de BLANC and the feisty and fierce Limbo UNHINGED - have showcased this company's knack for conjuring high-energy thrills with more than a little titillation. So naturally, we're chomping at the proverbial bit to see their latest outing. An irreverent, risque, rip-roaring celebration of what it means to be human, Life features a world-class cast including Cirque du Soleil's master clown Goos Meeuwsen and Blaise Garza of Violent Femmes.
From 6 Sep at The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent
It's a little-known fact that Shakespeare had a son, perhaps because the Bard was far from a model father. Naming his boy Hamnet, Shakespeare abandoned his only child to pursue his career as a playwright, until he received word, not long after Hamnet's 11th birthday, that his son was seriously ill. By the time Shakespeare returned home, Hamnet was dead; it's no coincidence that just two years later, in 1599, Shakespeare titled one of his greatest masterpieces Hamlet. This remarkable production, by Ireland's Dead Centre theatre company, stars just one 11-year-old actor, and offers a fascinating glimpse of what it means to be the forgotten heir of one of the greatest literary geniuses to ever live.
From 8 Sep at Cremorne Theatre, QPAC
Just the title of this play is powerfully evocative. Home is a place of safety, a place of belonging, a place where we can be our truest and most authentic selves. It is also a mercurial concept that vastly differs for each of us. This beautifully inventive and technically breathtaking production by Geoff Sobelle and Beth Morrison Projects explores the many meanings of home, in a show that transforms from a piece theatre into a full-blown house party. And we're all invited.
From 12 Sep at the Playhouse, QPAC
British composer Benjamin Britten shot to international recognition with the 1945 premiere of this grand opera. Today, it's considered one of the most important operatic works of the 20th century. Telling the tragic story of an outcast fisherman living under the shadow of suspicion following the mysterious death of his apprentice, this semi-staged production stars Australian tenor Stuart Skelton, indisputably among the most sought-after singers of his generation.
From 20 Sep at the Concert Hall, QPAC
En Masse
World Premiere
Circa has honed a style that seamlessly fuses circus arts with deeply affecting storytelling. In this latest production, the company will be taking their inspiration from two masterworks of the classical canon: Schubert's darkly romantic song cycle Die Winterreise (Winter's Journey) and Igor Stravinsky's The Rite Of Spring. Premiered in Paris in 1913, Stravinsky's iconoclastic ballet caused riots at its first performance. It has since become a proving ground for dancemakers at the peak of their powers, and this will be the first time it has ever been interpreted through circus.
From 19 Sep at the Playhouse, QPAC
Dust
World Premiere
From the company that created the multi-award-winning Attractor, this latest venture by Dancenorth features the company's trademark talent for exploring complex semiotics through stunning physical expression. Dust examines how the circumstances of our birth, and the serendipity of our social identity, commands and transforms the way we engage with the world, as our lives flex with the push-pull between opportunity and restriction.
From 19 Sep at Brisbane Powerhouse
First gracing the stage of Melbourne's Butterfly Club in a low-key debut season at the Poppy Seed Theatre Festival, this brilliantly incisive and wickedly funny queer musical knocked the socks of theatregoers and critics alike, scoring an encore season at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Defusing and defying the "bury your gays" trope that all too often paints LGBTQ characters as tragic accessories in mainstream entertainment, this radical new take on Romeo And Juliet, by playwright Jean Tong, is the multi-cultural, subversive lesbian love story you never knew you needed.
From 18 Sep at The Loft, Theatre Republic
Man With The Iron Neck
World Premiere
According to data released earlier this year, people from Australia's First Nations are six-times more likely to commit suicide than their non-Indigenous counterparts. The spectre of self-harm looms large for First Nations Australians, and this powerful new work of physical theatre explores this ongoing crisis with light and insight. When Ash loses his best friend Bear to suicide, he becomes fixated on the story of a circus star who was somehow able to leap from bridges with a rope around his neck and survive.
From 26 Sep at Brisbane Powerhouse
Find full details of the 2018 program on the Brisbane Festival website.
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