Rabbit & Watson review | Darebin Arts Speakeasy

Love has always inspired stories of devotion, sacrifice and impossible odds, but few take that journey quite as literally as Rabbit & Watson. Shane Woon's latest work reimagines the Chinese mythological figure Tu'er Shen, the Rabbit God of gay matchmaking, placing him in the unlikely world of Australian football. When Rabbit's centuries-old lover returns as Watson, a rising AFL player, he must navigate love, identity and the expectations placed upon him across the celestial and human realms. Blending Chinese mythology, Boys' Love, fantasy and AFL culture, Rabbit & Watson is a thoughtful exploration of what it means to search for belonging while carrying the weight of history, family and tradition.

Normally, I would bristle at the idea of a two-hour show without an interval, but Woon's concept and storytelling are so intriguing and refreshing that I never found myself growing restless or checking the time. Even so, the script would benefit from some judicious editing to tighten its structure. A subplot involving young footballers Cypress and Jaxson could be removed without diminishing the central narrative or its engagement with homophobia, sexuality, and relationships. With another character already questioning their sexuality, this storyline is repetitive rather than expanding the narrative, diluting the impact of the more compelling arcs.

Mature Skin review | Northcote Town Hall

Written by Gabrielle Fallen, Mature Skin traces the charged connection between Paul, a successful cis gay fragrance designer in his 40s, and Jasmine, a young trans woman and retail worker who sells his products. A chance encounter in the bathroom of a work event quickly deepens, leading them into a relationship that probes passion, kink, fetishisation, queerness, trans identity, and shifting power dynamics. The play navigates intimacy and attraction, highlighting the vulnerability and complexity of their interactions.



Peter Paltos and Bailey Ackling Beecham bring an affecting chemistry, built on a tension that sits somewhere along seduction and resistance. Their characters circle one another with a mixture of fascination and discomfort, and the actors maintain that equilibrium with poise. The result is a volatile entanglement, where magnetism and hesitation are never quite separate.

Poems of a Transsexual Nature review | Melbourne Fringe Festival | Trades Hall

Cynda Beare is a trans, neurodiverse, Palawa artist and writer and performer of in Poems of a Transsexual Nature. The show tells the story of a young brotherboy who goes to Country for the first time and is forced to reckon with the past, the present, and the future, with plenty of uncertainty, epiphanies, and sex along the way. 

Beare gives a wonderfully committed portrayal of Apollo, capturing all the conflicting thoughts and emotions that are racing through his mind as he grapples with the power of returning to Country. The narrative is told as part confessional, part enacted scenes, and part burlesque, with each one doing well to support the other and enhance the story in ways the other two styles can't. 

That said, the piece could gain from a bit more direction and cohesion. It has a scattered quality that sometimes works to its advantage, but occasionally leaves you wishing for a steadier hand to guide it. I would’ve loved to see more of its poetic sensibility, those instances where language, imagery and emotion come together to illuminate Apollo’s arc. The references to the black cockatoo were especially powerful and grounded the work beautifully in ancestry and Country.

Dead To Me: A Comedy Ghost Tour review | Melbourne CBD

In Dead To Me: A Comedy Ghost Tour, comedian Matt Bell not only talks us through the second most terrifying experience of his existence but he literally takes us there. An encounter with a guy he matched on Hinge with provides some brilliant material that leaves him wondering if this is the most unhinged person to come into his life.
 
We meet Bell at the Melbourne Town Hall and we are presented with a pair of headphones in which Bell speaks to us with. A little bit of housekeeping and we are off to our first location from this infamous date. We are led to restaurants, bars, cafes and entertainment venues (it was a long night) and get filled in on all the sordid details.

SPARK review | Theatre Works

Sequels suck. Or so people say. The main criticism being they are a rehash of what came before it with no real exploration of fresh ideas or character development. In 2023, Ryan Henry presented his work CULT, an examination of acceptance through a queer lens of fitness and achieving the ultimate body. Fast forward to 2025, and Henry returns with the sequel to CULT: SPARK. While it definitely doesn't suck, there is a lack of ... spark in this production that looks at love, self-acceptance and self-awareness through a technologically centred queer lens.



In SPARK, Henry plays Simon a 30-year-old gay man who is still single! After an awkward date in which he has turned a gay man straight, Simon is visited by a digital assistant called Iris (spell it backwards), who is determined to help him uncover his authentic true self and what exactly he is seeking. With his phone battery charge indicative of the looming deadline, Simon experiences various dates and transformations to try and find the right guy.



Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen review | Arts Centre Melbourne

A 36 year old comedian walks onto a stage and tells us he's about to kill his boyfriend. A dark comedy centered on vulnerability, love and truth, Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen is a flawless piece of theatre that finds the perfect balance between generating plenty of laughs and plenty of heart. 

Marcelo Dos Santos has written an engrossing script full of razor-sharp humour and candid observations on contemporary living, particularly as a gay man. The story moves at a swift pace, but it simultaneously allows time to have us care for The Comedian and to reflect on our own similar stories and experiences, regardless of what our gender or sexuality may be.

Top 10 Shows of 2024

Another year gone, another year of extraordinary theatre created and performed in Melbourne. I only managed to get to 111 shows (the shame!), due to being out of the country for four months, but as I have been doing for over a decade, I must compile a top ten list.

I say this every year but it's something that deserves repeating every year: sometimes the show that you remember for a long time after, is not the big splashy extravagant piece with recognisable names and a huge budget, but the one that was on for four nights with ten people in the audience. Support your independent theatre makers and venues - some can cost you as little as $20 and can be the most original, inspiring and thought-provoking performances you might see.

There's already plenty to get excited about in 2025, so I urge you to take a risk, seek something new, unknown and different in the new year.

And here are my top ten shows of 2024:

Skating in the Clouds review

Summer and Autumn are two women in love, but despite appearances, all is not well in their fairy tale world. Written by Clare Mendes, Skating in the Clouds invites us into this whimsical space where fanciful skating parties are given the same level of urgency as our ever-growing environment and climate problems.
 
Rebecca Morton and Katrina Mathers play Autumn and Summer with great commitment. They distinctly show how different they are - with Autumn constantly trying to solve a leaking pipe whereas Summer remains fixated on the guest list for her decades away 70th birthday - yet also ensure we understand how they can be so drawn to each other.

Edging review

In Edging, Australian border control practices are explored through a queer lens and a smattering of pop culture references. Initially coming across as a bit of fun talking about getting into infamous German nightclubs and horoscope guessing, Edging takes a look at the treatment of refugees as they attempt to enter, and remain, in Australia.

Co-creators (along with APHIDS) and performers, Sammaneh Pourshafighi - who came to Australia as a refugee from Iran - and Eden Falk - who did voiceover work for the reality TV show Border Security - are a fascinating duo. It's captivating watching the power dynamics shift between them as they discuss the choices they have made in life that brought them to this moment and the moral and ethical implications of these decisions. The pair role play various airport scenarios, with a focus on the challenges faced by queer refugees during their visa applications.

Seen & Heard review (Melbourne Fringe Festival)

It's been almost ten years since Rebecca Church debuted Seen & Heard - a variety show which gives voices to performers who do not have the opportunity to often speak due to their chosen careers. Think circus and burlesque performers, drag queens and sex workers. In this format, these people share personal stories that surprise, entertain and inform us as to who the person behind the persona is. After a six-year gap, the show returns to Melbourne Fringe for a new season, new storytellers and new stories under the direction of Church.

Wes Snelling is our host for the evening and he does a wonderful job of making sure this mixed bag of misfits stay on track. Of course, Snelling's alter ego Tina del Twist is a different story, causing a ruckus in the audience with her fishbowl of wine. Snelling's recount of his Rock Eisteddfod dreams is quite affecting and a reminder that no one puts Wes in the corner and there is no such thing as a small role.



Lazy Susan, recently announced as a cast member in the upcoming season of Drag Race Down Under, is a sheer delight as she discusses the reality of getting old and whether Botox is the way to go. This has Lazy Susan recalling how much she has pushed herself to achieve drag success and how her mother's cancer diagnosis impacted one of the biggest successes of her career. These performers are always so fierce and in control on stage and you can be caught off guard seeing them be genuinely vulnerable and emotional.

Assigned Magician at Birth review (Melbourne Fringe Festival)

We all have a part of ourselves we don’t present to the outside world, the secret self that we don't want anyone to know about. Tricksy Collins has been doing that for many years. She has been an award-winning comedian but … also a professional magician. Quelle Horreur!!! But she’s ready now to publicly embrace the title of magician and in Assigned Magician at Birth, she talks about the magic community and the challenges of trying to fit in when something is not quite right.

Collins is completely in her element and while there are some nerves apparent in the opening moments, her rapport with the audience quickly has them onside and she begins to enjoy herself with her acts and her audience even more so.

Kinder review (Melbourne Fringe Festival)

Drag Queen extraordinaire Goody Prostrate is getting ready for a scandalous night out, but a misunderstanding has them realising they are performing drag storytime for children and not an adult-themed drag show. With the clock ticking, Goody needs to come up with something appropriate, and fast. Written by Ryan Stewart who also delivers a sensational performance as Goody, Kinder opens the conversation on the politics surrounding children and queerness.

Stewart is incredibly passionate and committed as Goody, showing exceptional control over the character and comfortably navigating the highs and lows of Goody's temperament and personality. Their choreography and lip-syncing acts keep in line with who Goody is, and you can easily see that Stewart has become Goody Prostate.

I'm Fine review (Melbourne Fringe Festival)

Saxon Evans is a 29-year-old dental assistant who is hurtling towards gay death... he is turning 30. But does his depression run deeper than just getting older? Written and performed by Evans, I'm Fine is a one-man play that explores millennial mental health and navigating self-acceptance and belonging.

Performing as a character based on himself, Evans has a pleasing presence on stage that is evident from the moment he appears. His pace, tone and delivery of lines highlight his personality and perspective of how he sees and understands the world around him, and in turn, establishes a strong connection with the audience.

Even as he deals with mental health, suicide and self-harm, Evans finds good doses of humour to scatter throughout I’m Fine, ensuring that we are never left overwhelmed with what we are learning and comprehending the gravity of the circumstances he is in.

While Evans is an engaging performer and the narrative is entertaining, the structure remains a little rough, particularly with its ending. Evans provides great insight into the mind of this angry dental assistant, but the final act feels hurried and concludes quite abruptly. Some re-working of this would ensure this part of the play is afforded the same care and consideration as the rest of the show.

Am I The Drama? review (Melbourne Fringe Festival)

Andy Balloch is one of those performers who relishes being on stage. He's genuinely delighted to be up there and bringing people happiness and escapism. In Am I The Drama?, Balloch takes his audience on a (theme park) ride inside the thoughts that occur in his head, and after watching this show, it's definitely one where you need to strap yourself in tight.

Balloch is a gifted storyteller who moves at a frenetic pace that could easily derail the performance but he knows when to step on the breaks and when to start speeding up. There are a couple of speed bumps along the way but the audience is in good hands with the comedian. (This is also where I stop with the ride analogies).

YUMMY: Joy Machine review (Melbourne Fringe Festival)

Nine is my favourite number. It's also now the number of full-length productions that the brains (and beauties) behind YUMMY have presented, so it was pretty much a given that I would love this instalment by the team, Joy Machine.
As usual, the founder of YUMMY, Valerie Hex is here to oversee the proceedings and get the crowd pumping for some euphoric drag, burlesque, circus and performance art.

Founding members are still part of the ensemble but YUMMY has also become a playground for emerging and up-and-coming artists to show the audience what they've got. The talent that Val has assembled is the performance artist equivalent of The Avengers.

Each week of Joy Machine has a rotating cast and this one did not disappoint. Under the watchful eye of Val, Hannie Helsden, Jandruze, Karlee Misi and Jarred Dewey deliver awe-inspiring acts with unbridled self-expression and freedom. Each of them displays tremendous panache with their stage personas that further heightens the excitement for the audience and the breadth of variety on offer. Helsden is the super cheerful one that never loses her smile, Jandruze is the ice queen who will easily cut you down to size, Misi is the energetic ball of fun and Dewey is the sensual yet sexual vintage strongman.

Variations or Exit Music review

Variations or Exit Music takes a deep look at one person's three great loves and their struggle to see through the heartbreak and believe in the possibility of finding love again. Written and directed by Justin Nott, it is a personal response to his past relationships and the depression that these breaks ups brought on.

Despite its personal nature, Nott's script easily connects with his audience. The conversations, the thoughts and the dreams that are portrayed on stage, are the exact same ones we've all had - regardless of sexuality. It is intense and reflective with moments of light humour. At times, he runs the risk of mashing together a number of complex ideas with long scenes but this is balanced out with shorter, simpler exchanges, like when Justin and his partner Sam share everything they have done for each other.

ICONIC review

After an enforced break from the stage and a live audience, the glamorous superstars of YUMMY return for a new drag and burlesque show, ICONIC. It’s an evening with lots of colour, sparkle, and skin on display as we are presented with a range of fun and sexy acts that celebrate queerness in all its forms.

The show begins with a bang with the performers lip syncing to Madison Rose’s aptly titled song “Iconic!” They all know how to command the audience’s attention in their unique way and allow their individual personalities to shine through while ensuring that they are still working as an ensemble. Special shout out to drag artist Hollywould Star who despite being a last-minute addition to the cast, more than held their own and I wish the stars had aligned better so that we could see them have a solo.

Queer and trans fairytales come to life in "The Story Keepers" - Midsumma Festival

While there's plenty to see and do during Midsumma Festival for the adults, there's also just as much fun to be had by families and children, including the magical, fun, queer fairy tale show, The Story Keepers. Written and directed by Em Chandler, the show has a group of fairy tale collectors who record the fairy tales of the world with queer and trans representations in its key characters. In this upcoming production, they share three overlooked fairy tales from Germany, Spain, and Iceland.

The Story Keepers has been a long time coming for Chandler, who has spent years selecting, preparing and devising these works. "The basic premise of fairy or fairy like beings telling fairy tales has been with me since 2017. So, in various ways it’s been floating around my brain for five years. But I’ve been writing, refining, and working on it over the last three years. I had been sitting on the idea of a troupe of fairy or fairy-like beings coming together to share, perform and act out fairy tales for a long time, but had struggled to find a way to start," they tell me.

Ben Stuart is on the Run with first love - Midsumma Festival interview

What does it mean to love? Ultimately, we all have our own meanings, but in Stephen Laughton's one-man play, Run, this question is explored by Yonni, a 17 year old gay Jewish boy. Over the course of a summer, Yonni's infatuation for schoolmate Adam reaches breaking point where the real and the imaginary blur together as he begins to understand love, desire, grief and loss. The play has received critical acclaim since its debut in England and next year it makes its Australia debut as part of Midsumma Festival.

In the Melbourne production, Ben Stuart takes on the role of Yonni, and it was love at first read for Stuart when he got his hands and eyes on the script. "I fell in love with it as soon as I read it! When Gavin Roach (producer/director) gave the script to me, I remember getting completely lost in it. I've always been drawn to powerful stories and strong emotions, and Run has both (and much more!)," he tells me. "I related to many parts of Yonni's story, and I think many people will for a variety of reasons. Yonni re-lives numerous universal moments in this coming-of-age story, such as his first kiss, and those late-night text conversations, and it's easy to relate to in all those moments because I've been there and many others will have too!"

Big Glittery Sh!tshow - Midsumma Festival review

When you call your show Big Glittery Sh!tshow, you’re giving the impression that things will get very loose and very messy, and oh how they do with this one. After winning the 2019 Gasworks Circus Showdown, Jack Wilde, Shona Cona and Laney Mejias return with their full-length spectacle of wackiness, absurdity and the cheekiest of humour. Audiences should leave their expectations at the door and simply enjoy this bumpy but hugely entertaining ride. 

There is a lot of excitability and liveliness from this emerging group of circus artists. Of note is Cona, who not only performs her routines with a brazen attitude but actively draws us into them from the (relative) safety of our own seats. Wilde has an incredible charm to him and the way he interacts with the audience lets our inhibitions down, willing to go along with whatever he has planned. Mejias sings several songs that provide moments to gather ourselves with enough pizzazz to simultaneously keep us hyped up. 

The acts themselves might not be mind blowing but the way they are executed makes them feel more evolved. We’ve seen juggling before but Wilde’s choice of juggling items, the lead up to their reveal and what he does with them creates something quite unique. Similarly, Cona’s hula hopping brings with it amazing visual effects that are completely mesmerising and you're almost disappointed when it's over.