A couple of months away travelling and a couple more laid up with pneumonia and I saw fewer shows in 2017 than in recent years (but still well into the double digits). Reflecting, it is clear that quality over quantity can be incredibly rewarding. And what quality there was on offer… so much so that my usual top five favourite, has been blown out to the following ten:
- Torch Songs (Mama Alto, Brisbane Powerhouse, Wonderland Festival)
- Lady Beatle (The Little Red Company, La Boite Theatre Company)
- My Name is Jimi (Queensland Theatre)
- Once in Royal David’s City (Queensland Theatre)
- The Play that Goes Wrong (Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, QPAC)
- Chef (Persona Inc & Atobiz Ltd, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Festival)
- Nigel Kennedy: Vivaldi The New Four Seasons + Dedications (Nigel Kennedy, QPAC)
- Kinky Boots (Michael Cassel in association with Cameron Mackintosh, QPAC)
- Spectate (Counterpilot, Metro Arts)
- Humans (Circa, QPAC)
And honourable mention to the UK’s National Theatre Stage to Screen show Yerma… Gut-wrenching, phenomenal theatre thanks to Billie Piper’s devastatingly powerful performance.
And mention also to the following highlights:
- Best performance:
- Elaine Crombie as a hilarious house-slave in Queensland Theatre Company’s An Octoroon.
- Merlynn Tong in her intimate and vulnerable one-woman work, Playlab’s Blue Bones
- Cameron Hurry as badly behaved brother Valene in the darkly irreverent The Lonesome West by Troop Productions
- Best AV – Spectate (Counterpilot, Metro Arts)
- Most thought provoking –- Octoroon (Queensland Theatre, Brisbane Festival)
- Best new work – Merlyn Tong’s Blue Bones (Playlab, Brisbane Powerhouse)
- Best Reimagining – Signifying Nothing (Macbeth) (Hammond Fleet Productions, Brisbane Festival)
- Best musical – Kinky Boots (Michael Cassel in association with Cameron Mackintosh, QPAC)
- Best cabaret:
- Torch Songs (Mama Alto, Brisbane Powerhouse, Wonderland Festival)
- Lady Beatle (The Little Red Company, La Boite Theatre Company)
- Song Lines (Michael Tuahine, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Cabaret Festival)
- Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs (Alan Cumming, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Cabaret Festival)
- Best music – Nigel Kennedy: Vivaldi The New Four Seasons + Dedications (QPAC)
- Best opera – Mark Vincent Sings Mario Lanza and the Classics (Lunchbox Productions, QPAC)
- Funniest – The Play That Goes Wrong (Lunchbox Theatrical Productions, QPAC)
- Most fun – Let Them Eat Cake (Act/React, Anywhere Festival)
- Most madcap – Chef (Persona Inc & Atobiz Ltd, Brisbane Powerhouse, Brisbane Festival)
- Most immersive – Trainspotting Live (In Your Face Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse)
- Most moving – Once in Royal David’s City (Queensland Theatre)
2018 looks set to continue to showcase both the wonderful work of this state’s creatives and innovative works from both here and further afield. Festivals will continue to punctuate the cultural calendar, serving to oscillate audiences between feast and famine like a cultural bulimic… although with Brisbane Powerhouse’s Melt Festival moving to May (maybe at the same time as Anywhere Festival) it may be a shower than usual start to the year.
Blue Curtains Brisbane 