The Ten Best Events at Brisbane Powerhouse's 2015 Wonderland Festival
18 days of epic onstage wonder.
The Ten Best Events at Brisbane Powerhouse's 2015 Wonderland Festival
18 days of epic onstage wonder.
If any month could be crowned as one of wonder, it'd have to be December. The festive season has us all pondering what Santa will bring, and what the new year might hold. Plus, we're all rewatching It's A Wonderful Life as Christmas approaches.
At the Brisbane Powerhouse, though, that's not where the end-of-year festival of wonder ends, but where it begins. Since 2014, the venue has been adding to the onslaught of amazement and cavalcade of celebration with an event designed for the astounding, joyful and curious.
That'd be the aptly named Wonderland, which unleashes its second serving of burlesque, circus, cabaret, music, comedy, poetry, theatre and variety shows from December 3 to 20. Your jaw will be agape, your mind alive with happiness and possibility, and you'll be feeling truly wonderful — particularly if you head along to our ten picks of the festival.
Top image: Studio Impressions.
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10
Think of art school, and a very particular image probably pops into your head. The room is sparse and solemn, the models are quiet and unclothed, and wannabe artists draw what they see onto big sheets of paper.
Offering the very opposite of that experience is exactly why Dr Sketchy’s creative extravaganza has been deemed an anti-art school. Here, newcomers and experienced artists alike can gaze upon burlesque performers instead of traditional life models, soak up an atmosphere of boozy chaos and generally have fun. BYO drawing equipment from home and drink from the Powerhouse bar. The latter is just as important as the former.
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9
If you like your entertainment of the pulpy variety, then Leah Shelton has the show for you. She’s embracing all the things the term conjures in her combination of live art happening and cabaret. Pulp mags, film noir, Ozploitation movies like Wolf Creek, and Quentin Tarantino flicks should be at the front of your mind, as they’re at the forefront of her performance.
In Shelton’s comic, physical and burlesque-oriented vision of a sunburnt country, cars rule, hitchhiking kills and dingoes eat babies. It’s the stuff genre-loving pop culture aficionado’s dreams are made of, as told with jewel-encrusted gore, lip-synch, pole dancing and black comedy. Yes, really.
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8
To some people, Doctor Who is just a television show and a character that likes telephone booths. To others, the time lord and his TV program are the inspiration for an all-consuming obsession.
Rob Lloyd falls into the latter camp, and has dedicated himself to amassing as much Doctor Who knowledge and paraphernalia as he can afford since 1996. In his honest and hopefully hysterical one-man show, he details his fascination and its consequences. He also dares to ponder and answer the questions every pop culture fan contemplates: how did he get here? Why is he so fixated? Is his passion healthy?
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Girls called Cinderella only find their Prince Charming in fairytales, so what’s someone named Cindy supposed to do in the age of Tinder dates and internet porn? Local comedienne and theatre-maker Genevieve Butler explores the complexities of modern romance in her latest show, while also delving into the stuff that comes after flowers and chocolates.
That’d be commitment, scandal and desolation — aka the more serious side to chance encounters and ideas of living happily ever after. This isn’t your usual rom-com, but if you’ve seen it in a cheesy flick or sappy story, it probably informs this awkward, humorous dissection of love.
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6
Otto and Astrid Rot claim to be brother and sister, play in a band together and have a fondness for the colours red, black and white. Yes, they sound like a certain American rock duo, and their group name only makes that more apparent. In German, they’re known as Die Roten Punkte, which translates to The Red Dots in English.
At their latest show, KUNST ROCK, you’ll discover why the Berlin export are more than just Germany’s answer to The White Stripes, and why the twosome — otherwise known as Australians Clare Bartholomew and Daniel Tobias — have been hailed as irreverent and hilarious around the world. Think The Pixies and Kraftwerk meets This is Spinal Tap and Flight of the Conchords, aka rock ‘n’ roll meets musical comedy mayhem. And if you love their performance, you can also check out their one-off club night as well.
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5
It’s a problem that everyone can relate to, and on more than one occasion. You reach for two socks, but despite your searching, you can only find a solo foot covering, sans partner in crime. It’s all alone and destined to be deemed odd due to its lonely status.
As the name suggests, Odd Sock! ponders this common predicament, attempting to offer an adventurous, amusing answer to the age-old question of lost socks’ whereabouts. With The Mime Guy in the performer’s seat, you also know what kind of show you’re getting as slapstick, silent physical comedy ventures into the unknown sock universe.
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4
Take a few former members of Australia’s Flipside Circus and Circa Zoo, and then add in a couple of Quebec-based performers. Next, watch the new troupe swirl through a world of seduction and whimsy as they put their dazzling physical feats and a healthy dose of caressing on show.
The end result is The Games We Play by The Five Fold Collective — and if it is as playful and promising at is sounds, then it’s really going to be something special. Here, extraordinary circus skills combine with a flirtatious mood where the audience is encouraged to engage with the performers.
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Immersing yourself in a treasure trove of theatre, art, cabaret, comedy and burlesque is enough to kick your appetite into overdrive. That hunger you’re feeling isn’t just for Wonderland’s bustling lineup, but for tasty food and a relaxing beverage too — and the festival delivers on both counts.
At the Wonderland Food Markets each Thursday to Sunday from 6pm ’til 10pm, Brisbane’s best food trucks, market stalls and other culinary traders will converge on the Powerhouse Plaza to serve up all the things your stomach desires. Bring some extra cash on Saturdays, because the Wonderland Treasure Markets will also be out in force. Yes, you can see a show, enjoy a meal and take home some eclectic vintage wares, because Wonderland has thought of everything.
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2
What would 19th century Paris look like if it was depicted on MTV? If you’re seeing visions of Baz Lurhmann’s Moulin Rouge!, that’s understandable. The courtesan that inspired the film is also the basis for this new Australian musical.
Marie Duplessis is the woman in question: a party girl, liar and legend who transitioned from a life of extreme poverty to a position as the most notorious woman in France. Hers is quite the tale, and Songs for the Fallen promises to be quite the show — the extraordinary true story it charts aside, it did just win best show and best actress at the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival after all.
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1
If Wonderland’s 2014 run had a breakout hit, it was I Want to Know What Love Is. If you saw it then, you were ahead of the trend. If you missed out, one of your friends has probably raved about to you in the year since.
The reason everyone was talking about it — and still is — is simple: the show takes 800 anonymous love stories submitted by you, your friends and your exes, and then turns them into a theatre performance. Long-buried memories and bedroom fantasies become on-stage declarations, as do crushes, conquests and secret confessions. Here, you really will find out what love is.
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