The Six Best Things to See at Brisbane's MELT Festival 2017
Brisbane's celebration of queer arts and culture is back for its third year.
The Six Best Things to See at Brisbane's MELT Festival 2017
Brisbane's celebration of queer arts and culture is back for its third year.
How do you know when an event has well and truly become a part of a city's cultural landscape? When you can't remember a time before it graced the annual calendar, that's when. MELT, Brisbane Powerhouse's celebration of queer arts and culture, has only been doing its thing since 2015 — but based on the program on offer in the festival's third year, you wouldn't know it.
Over the course of 12 days from January 25 to February 5, MELT will be living up to its name by melting hearts with its celebratory, inclusive and diverse lineup. Think LGBTI+ art, theatre, cabaret, comedy, music and ideas, all in one huge package. Yes, it's Brisbane's answer to Mardi Gras and Midsumma — and yes, you should snap up tickets to these six must-see eventsas soon as you can.
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Roll on up, the circus is in town — but Vulcana Women’s Circus isn’t any old acrobatic troupe. The Brisbane mainstays are known for their energy and experimentation. They’re also known for putting on quite the MELT show.
For the 2017 festival, that’d be Quiver. We’re pretty certain that the performance’s title describes how you’ll probably react. To try to entice that reaction, it will present a mix of queer and queer-friendly artists, who’ll all combine circus, dance, music and spoken word to contemplation notions of sexuality and gender.
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Ever wanted to see a Bollywood-style comedy about two vaginas falling in love? The idea mightn’t have crossed your mind, but you’ll want to see this show. The Adventures of Yoni 1 & Yoni 2 has plenty of fun with its concept, as you’d expect from the writer and producer behind Midsumma and Mardi Gras hit The Ultimate Lesbian Double Feature.
Affection, taking inspiration from Indian cinema and discovering what happens with the female body parts in question embark on the path to matrimony are all on the agenda, as told with humour and dancing. As for what happens next, well, there’s an answer to that — but you’ll just have to join creator Zoe Brinnand to find out.
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If you’re a fan of musical theatre, then you’ll know who Stephen Sondheim is. And even if you’re not, you still will — even if you don’t know it. The American composer and lyricist has played a hand in everything from West Side Story to Sweeney Todd to Into the Woods, both on the stage and screen.
There’s more to his talents and impact, of course, as Boys of Sondheim explores. The intimate cabaret celebrates the Pulitzer Prize and Oscar, Tony and Grammy Award-winner as one of the most significant gay artists of the 20th century, as well as the men his works have brought to life.
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In 2001, the movie-watching world was introduced to Hedwig and The Angry Inch. The story of an East German genderqueer singer who found solace in glam and punk rock had already graced the stage; however when theatre star-turned-film director, writer and actor John Cameron Mitchell took the tale from off-Broadway to the cinema, Hedwig truly stepped into the spotlight.
To celebrate just over 15 years of the iconic film, MELT Festival is doing two things in one. First, they’re playing the movie on the big screen in all its glory. Then they’re hosting HEDWIG in Concert, corralling plenty of vocal and musical talent such as Sandro Colarelli, Josh Daveta, James Halloran, Bertie Page and Lucinda Shaw, and turning the whole night into one heck of a party.
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Think comics only tell tales of spandex-wearing supermen or dark and brooding caped crusaders? Think again. Firstly, the world of graphic art is much more extensive, despite what the majority of page-to-screen adaptations indicate. And, when it comes to LGBTI+ efforts, Australia boasts quite the growing catalogue.
A selection of pieces pondering themes such as horror, fashion, narrative, identity, sex and sexuality form part of MELT Festival‘s Queer Comics, which graces the walls of Brisbane Powerhouse’s Mosquito Foyer from January 25 to February 5. As curated by Brissie cartoonist Phoebe Ayscough, the exhibition steps through the diverse and downright trailblazing side of the popular artform.
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Prepare to forget everything that’s traditionally creepy and awkward about beauty pageants, and embrace the sequin-studded, sashaying side of things instead. That’s the aim at the MELT Festival Beauty Pageant — which is about as close as Brisbane is ever going to get to having its own version of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
In a show of diversity and a celebration of drag queens, kings and trans beauties, competitors will battle it out to be crowned the city’s most fashionable figure. Expect wigs, glitter and many a jaw-dropping outfit, courtesy of categories such as Graceful Glamourzons, Tremendous Talent and Condom Costume with a Message.
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