Daddy review | Arts House

You are immediately drowned in a haze of pink light as you take a step inside the venue. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust and take in the dreamlike space you have walked into. It is then you spot a figure in skimpy, shiny briefs posed like Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam on a pink cloud of fairy floss and you wonder how you didn't see it earlier. The last in a trilogy of confessional works by dancer/performer Joel Bray, Daddy explores his relationship with his father and subsequently his culture, while also opening up about being a gay man and how he uses sex in an effort to fill an emptiness inside himself.

Bray brings to the surface the relationships, the history and the culture that he has lost due to colonisation. While there’s gravity to what he saying, the fluffy pink set pieces and props (sugar and sweets) are a stark contrast to his words. There’s a link between his childhood and adulthood and culture and identity that is unable to be separated. Not having the opportunity to learn how to speak Wiradjuri as a child from his father, Bray uses an app on an iPhone. This exploration of loss is further highlighted as he struggles to teach himself how to shake-a-leg, a traditional Indigenous dance.

The Honouring review | La Mama Theatre

In his solo work The Honouring, emerging performer Jack Sheppard (Kurtjar people, Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York) combines movement, dialogue and puppetry to explore how a person’s spirit or soul can be prevented from moving on when culture does not recognise it. With some impressive design elements, it is a performance that doesn’t shy away from exposing pain or grief while still retaining an air of hope and peace.

Sheppard shines when he uses his body to tell this story and he throws himself into the powerful choreography. Paired with the history of ritual, it is captivating to see how Sheppard chooses to express the emotions and issues that arise from suicide as a First Nations person.

Identity Steft - Melbourne International Comedy Festival review

I am, you are, we are Austr - hang on a second. If you've ever wondered what it's like to be an Aboriginal person living in Australia, Steph Tisdell has got you covered. Her comedy show, Identity Steft, takes a look at racism, white guilt and identity in Australia through the eyes of the Funniest Aboriginal Woman in Australia.

Tisdell is quite affable on stage, which is a good thing considering she spends the opening of her show getting acquainted with her audience. It's just as important for her to find out who her audience is as it is for the audience to find out who she is. She covers a lot of ground in her show but unfortunately Identity Steft suffers from a lack of focus and structure that ultimately makes it feel disjointed. Tisdell touches on the aforementioned issues but she never she never seems to drive her point home or make any bold statements about the realities of being an Aboriginal person living in Australia.

Identity Steft | Melbourne International Comedy Festival preview

She was the winner of Deadly Funny at the 2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and now in 2018, Steph Tisdell is presenting her debut show, Identify Steft at this year's festival. Tisdell, who has also been named the Funniest Aboriginal Woman in Australia looks at what 'sorry day' means to her and sharing her thoughts on white guilt and racism However, her show will also delve further into the more personal with Tisdell sharing her own mental health struggles and identity issues.

"Both my awful mental health and my identity crisis were actually what inspired this show. I desperately wanted to know more things about my culture but there were roadblocks everywhere. From every angle," she explains. "I needed to tell MY story. Which is one of feeling pride and fear at the same time. And I know it's one that a lot of Aboriginal people feel, certainly if they're mixed race."

BlaaQ Catt review | Melbourne Fringe Festival | La Mama Theatre

Returning for an encore season during the Melbourne Fringe Festival, BlaaQ Catt is a show that you simply cannot afford to miss. Produced, written and performed by Maurial Spearim, it is a powerful performance and story about how far modern Australia has got to go to make right the wrongs it has committed against the original inhabitants of this land.

Spearim plays Ruby, a First Nations woman, who takes us through the history of her people, predominantly around the white invasion of their land up until the present day. Referring to events such as the Waterloo Creek Massacre between mounted police and indigenous Australians in January 1838 as well as other significant Indigenous historic moments including their recognition in having the right to vote and the Mabo case, Spearim paints a picture that many refuse to acknowledge or accept.

Flashblaks review | Ilbijerri Theatre Company | La Mama Theatre

With their recent residency at La Mama Theatre, Ilbijerri Theatre Company, Australia’s longest-running Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander theatrical company, performed a staged reading of a new piece of work by Jacob Boehme and directed by Isaac Drandic.

Flashblaks looked at a variety of themes revolving around identity, whether it be cultural, sexual, individual or social. Boehme used three generations of women from one Indigenous family to tell this story and despite these generational gaps, the issues and struggles end in corresponding for each woman.