The Ten Best Events at Brisbane Powerhouse's Wonderland 2016

When this year’s Dark MOFO program dropped, House of Mirrors immediately rocketed to the top of everyone’s must-do list. Created by Australian installation artists Christian Wagstaff and Keith Courtney, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a walkthrough space filled with reflective surfaces that will not only strands you in a maze of your own image, but turns your likeness into a kaleidoscope.

If you didn’t make it down to Tassie, we’ve got good news. Brisbane Powerhouse’s Wonderland has brought the installation to town, so you can wander through the disorienting, perception-altering, panic-inducing, optical illusion-based labyrinth for yourself. It will take over the area outside of their Stores building for weeks of reflective roaming pleasure, with the modern, minimalist twist on the fairground classic featuring 40 tonnes of steel and 15 tonnes of mirrors — and no added gimmicks, no special effects, no special lighting, no soundtrack or soundscape.

It has been twenty years since Kylie Minogue crooned “they called me the wild rose” and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released one of their best albums. However, you can’t just shower affection on something as haunting and evocative as Murder Ballads any old way. You have to do it justice.

A bunch of musicians and singers plan to do just that for Wonderland 2016 — and while it might seem as though they’ll just be offering up their version of the record, there’s surely a reason that this one-off performance has been dubbed music theatre. There’s more than a little theatricality in Cave’s lyrics and the band’s songs, of course, but we think audiences should expect something extra special.

Circus stunts never fail to look astonishing, but how do they sound? At Undertone, the performers use live triggering to create soundscapes from the show itself. That means that you’ll never see or hear the same show twice.

Instead, you’ll grab more than a peek at traditional circus disciplines, which have been given a few modern twists and stunts dressed up in shiny new choreography. You’ll also listen to a performance that reacts to everything going on around it, meaning that your reaction — whether you’re holding your breath, laughing at the hilarity or exclaiming in awe — is all part of the production.

Burger Force sounds like the kind of place you’d find on any corner in Brisbane, slinging everyone’s favourite combos of meat and bread. Actually, it’s somewhere that could lurk beneath any one of the city’s many greasy spoons — or it could in the independent comic written, directed, photographed, and designed by Jackie Ryan.

To be specific, Burger Force is the name of a fictional spy squad underneath a fast food restaurant, the comic that tells its tale, and the Brisbane Powerhouse exhibition dedicated to its artwork. Each image features real people and locations that have been ‘comified’ via a blend of software and hand retouching, with many of the series’ stars hailing from theatre, film, circus, dance, and burlesque. In fact, you might recognise some of them.

Intrigued? Of course you are. Hungry? That’d be understandable, too. Why not check out the free showcase until December 11, and grab a burger before or after? Who knows, you might just stumble upon a real pop culture detective agency while you’re having your meal.

Lou Reed knew what he was talking about when he named his 1972 album Transformer. Offering listeners a ‘Perfect Day’ and taking them for a ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, it’s the kind of record that leaves you forever changed. It did 44 years ago, and it still does now.

No wonder Brisbane vocalists Alison St Ledger, Lucinda Shaw, Sandro Colarelli, SS.Sebastian and Sabrina Lawrie are paying tribute to a true great of modern music as part of this year’s Wonderland. Join the quintet plus an eight-piece band as they play Transformer in full, which was not only originally performed by the late Reed, but produced by David Bowie. The performance will honour its inimitable sounds and the legends that first made it possible.

Sometimes, you’re just so desperate for more of your favourite TV show that you’re willing to go to extraordinary lengths. Some might think that recreating the seven kingdoms on stage is pushing it a little too far — but they haven’t met Graeme of Thrones yet.

We’re not saying that the hit UK parody has iron thrones, fire-breathing dragons, giant fortresses, white walkers and everything that George RR Martin has conjured up on the page and HBO has subsequently brought to the screen. We’re not saying it doesn’t, though. As it tells the tale of a guy with a dream (but without a budget), Graeme of Thrones definitely does boast the titular Game of Thrones super fan, and his amusing attempt to pay tribute to the program that he loves.

Take a burlesque troupe, add a member of Resin Dogs, and then combine their styles of music and movement. The end result is Drop It: Hip Hop Burlesque, with The Velvet Kittens and DeeJaye Katch joining forces to create a blend of burlesque and beats.

If you think they don’t quite sound like they go together, that’s okay — in fact, that’s partly the point. And yet it’s a great melding of smooth tunes and record scratches, collaboration and defiance, and harmony and conflict, all in one rhythmically entertaining, utterly toe-tapping package.

Chances are, if you were born before the dawning of Bratz, your first BFF was a blonde-haired, busty chick with pin legs and a (quite literally) killer waist. And she probably went by Barbie. Now she’s back with a little more height on her side in Little Black Dress Creatives’ latest production, Doll by Babushka.

The Babushka girls are reinventing your childhood bestie in a musical dream house for a very grown-up play date. Forget the old Barbie and her childish catchphrases; these dolls have an endless drawstring and will be belting out tunes all night long. It’ll be a little creepy, occasionally cute and darkly comedic as they tackle opera, ’80s pop, nursery rhymes and rock ‘n’ roll. Expect some Guns ‘n’ Roses and Offenbach in the mix.

Whether you grew up with an Action Man, Cabbage Patch Doll or a bald Barbie because you were sure her hair would grow back, Babushka dolls will have you seduced, comforted and in touch with the sinister side of memory lane.

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?

Space Virgin. John Farnham, I’ll Be Your Substratum. A Crotch Full of Diamonds. Danger Zone… Of Love. They’re all titles of comedic, erotic tales, and they’re as amusingly, purposefully awful as they sound — and they have the book covers to match.

That’s what Fanciful Fiction Auxiliary is all about: fictitious amateur romance writers penning stories that make Mills & Boon seem classy, complete with so-bad-they’re-good-but-still-really-really-bad artwork. It’s the latter that’s decking the halls of the Brisbane Powerhouse from October 28 until December 11 as both a prelude to and a part of their annual Wonderland festival, and it is certain to inspire many things. You’ll cry. You’ll laugh. You’ll whip out your phone, head to the FFA website and start devouring the accompanying text.

Expect big hair and shoulder pads aplenty, because it’s always the ’80s as far as romance book jackets are concerned. And expect a hilarious project from some very talented folks, including Pascalle Burton, Trent Jamieson, Krissy Kneen, Michelle Law, FFA creator Jackie Ryan and more.