Circus & Cabaret

Adelaide Fringe Review: Someday – A Mindful Cabaret lifts the spirits high

Jennifer Trijo, OzAsia and Fringe Festival performer, has created Someday – A Mindful Cabaret performance at artist collective space The Mill. Together with performers Amber Fibrosi and Jakub Gaudasinski, the trio perform soulful and uplifting songs as well as challenging ourselves to be the best that we can be. Early in the performance there is…

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GODZ

A taste of Adelaide Fringe’s 20th Garden of Unearthly Delights

We were invited to a special media preview in The Garden of Unearthly Delights, celebrating 20 years as being part of the Adelaide Fringe. Director Scott Maidment introduced a few selected acts in the gorgeous Spiegeltent. First up was Mirko, direct from Berlin and part of the Blanc de Blanc Encore, with his newly developed…

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Fringe World Review: Sinsuality offers cabaret, circus, drag debauchery and much more

A drag-filled cabaret circus themed around the theological Roman Catholic seven deadly sins? Sounds like a recipe for something raucous but distinctly left of centre, filled with innuendo and debauchery! ‘Sinsuality: Make It Reign’ brings all that and more, led by larger-than-life drag MC BarbieQ, driving the show forward all while offering insights into her…

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Titane is an auto-erotic body horror oddity focused on the specifics of sexual identity: Sydney Film Festival Review

Similar to how Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers, Jennifer Kent, and Ari Aster all secured their place in the annals of genre cinema with their debut offerings, Julia Docournau‘s bold cannibalistic horror effort Raw cemented the French filmmaker as a name to pay consistent attention to.  And just as those aforementioned auteurs all swung big with…

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Adelaide Cabaret Fringe Review: Sex, Lies and Betrayal is an intimate memoir of a Hollywood Star

In the comfortably chic apartment “La Vie En Rose” cackles on the gramophone. “A life in pink”, as it translates. “Miss Nightingale” swishes through the sheer curtains to fix the crack in the record. Karla Hillam is Miss Nightingale and her voice and looks are perfect for the role. A shock of red hair falls…

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Circus Review: The Dumtectives in Cirque Noir is a dazzling blend of acrobatics, slapstick and adult comedy

A perfectly stupendous amount of ‘Dum’! The critically acclaimed and globally touring Australian circus company, Dummies Corp, lights up the stage at The Famous Spiegeltent in Melbourne with their first adult-themed circus comedy – The Dumtectives in Cirque Noir. As part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, this show blasts you into a world of…

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Interview: Brisbane burlesque star Trigger Happy talks all things Shreklesque

You might know him from America’s Got Talent, but burlesque performer Trigger Happy has added another string to his already well-strung bow in the form of Shreklesque. Yep, you read that correctly. Shreklesque. Blending burlesque, drag, and everyone’s favourite orgre, Shreklesque has been entertaining sold out audiences since its first outing at Perth Fringe last…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Barbaroi is a fast paced action show

A lone wanderer stumbles amongst a crew of meta-human misfits in a dystopian world, industrial, cyberpunk in the not-too-distant future. This is the Barbaroi and this is her initiation. The stage is stripped, stark, future industrial and feels like a movie set. A driving contemporary musical backdrop includes artists such as NIN, Radiohead and early…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Hugh Sheridan’s HUGHMAN hits the right notes

The open-air MOA mini stadium at the rear of Gluttony was literally packed to the rafters. A dedicated crowd of followers of Hugh Sheridan were there to watch him strut his stuff in HUGHMAN. Bursting onstage, Sheridan soon spotted a Crows-guernsey-wearing man and pulled him on stage. Surprise. He’s one of the plethora of dancers…

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Yas Queen

Adelaide Fringe Review: Yas Queen belts out the show tunes in Leather Lungs

My closing memory of Yas Queen is a rousing rendition of Queen’s “Somebody to Love” with the audience standing and cheering a stunning performance. The journey along the way was a roller coaster ride of emotion. The opening number was also strong, but a number of factors threatened to derail the show. There was the…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Reuben Kaye leads us down his Kaye Hole

Reuben Kaye is no stranger to Adelaide audiences. He is entertained and delighted us over several festivals and fringes. As emcee tonight, Kaye invites us down his late-night Kaye Hole with a group of fellow performers. The Kaye Hole is a safe place, except if you’re a straight heterosexual man who, for once, find themselves…

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Reuben Kaye

Fringe World Review: Reuben Kaye’s cabaret is entrancing, salacious and intelligent

Charismatic, bedazzling, intelligent, salacious and unbelievably natural on stage. Reuben Kaye’s self-titled cabaret drag solo show has it all. Humour, theatre and brute/obscene honesty as well as an entrancing level of crowd interaction. Described as “the evil love child of Liza Minnelli and Jim Carrey”, Kaye is one of the headline acts at this month’s Fringe…

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Sydney Festival Review: Circa’s Humans 2.0 is a slick, edgy and contemporary production

Globally acclaimed Queensland contemporary circus group Circa have delivered a sequel to their ground breaking 2017 show Humans. Humans 2.0 is a ‘love letter to humanity’, exploring trust, vulnerability and the extremes of human ability. Those extremes are of evident immediately, as the cast of 10 begin with outrageous feats of acrobatics. At times it…

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Sydney Festival Review: Autocannibal is a gruesomely funny exploration into our apocalypse

Autocannibal presents a dystopian circus exploring the nature of sustenance. Isolated as the only remaining human in a world bereft of food and water, our protagonist battles a sea of junk and plastic, avoiding the obvious reality that there’s only one thing remaining for him to truly eat. Mick Jones is a versatile performer, delivering…

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Rouge

Adelaide Fringe Review: Rouge is a fun and sexy celebration

There was a good crowd in the Magic Mirror Spiegeltent for the final weekend performance of Rouge. Despite the increasing talk of COVID-19 in the press, audiences remained undaunted and expectant. The tent has a circular stage in the centre, with good views all round. The high fabric and glass covered walls gave the space…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Dystopia is the original Heavy Metal Circus-Opera (07.03.20)

Dystopia is a dark fantastical production set in a post-apocalyptic future Earth. The opening screen shows a static montage of bomber planes, skulls, wartime destruction. This sets the scene for the performance to come. The audience catches glimpses of the characters, an elfin ballerina, a doll, lone guitarist, a zombie troupe and more. The lone…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Barbaroi is fast paced energetic physical circus – Gluttony (16.02.20)

Walking into Barbaroi is like walking into a familiar street scene from an early 80s movie. The Ukiyo circus tent is set up in an industrial way, with lighting that makes it feel dark and mysterious. There are six characters in this show who are introduced video game style: a bearded juggler, a bare-chested circus…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Club Briefs closes out the Fringe with bang – Bonython Hall (17.03.19)

The Adelaide Fringe is over for another successful year and Club Briefs was the perfect way to celebrate the final evening. The Briefs Factory is an Australian creative collective who “manufacture, cultivate and present evocative, irreverent, physical performance”. Our MC for the night is Shivannah, who is sassy, loud and irreverent. Her costume changes between…

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The Greatest Show in Las Vegas: What to Expect from “Absinthe”

It’s always worth paying close attention when a Las Vegas production signs on for a substantial extension, even years after it has already been playing in the same spot. It means the show has become its own sizable piece in the endless jigsaw of culture, class and crass that is a typical night on the…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Redhead Cabaret: Carrot Tops (+ bottoms) – Gluttony

The Redhead Cabaret is a company of red-haired performers with a mission to share all the energy and pizzaz that this genetic disposition boasts. So reads the manifesto to this late night cabaret. As the sold out crowd fills the tent, a schoolteacher with a whip and a boy in a g-string stand on stage…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Djuki Mala – Umbrella Revolution, Adelaide (24.02.19)

North East Arnhem Land dancers Djuki Mala return to Adelaide Fringe this year to once again deliver their high-energy, and highly original dance performance, and it should be on the top of everyone’s must-see list!   Beginning their performance with traditional dance, Djuki Mala demonstrated their skill at telling a story through movement, whilst behind them projected images set the scene and…

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Circus Review: Matador is a thrilling mix of burlesque, dance, and circus acts (The Melba Spiegeltent until 2nd March)

A thrilling, beautiful, and jaw-dropping production. Matador is a fusion of burlesque, high energy dance pieces, and jaw-dropping aerial acts, all set to a story inspired the tale of the love torn bull and the seductive matador. The two-hour production is a thrilling series of electric solo and group dance numbers with awe inspiring circus…

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Five shows not to miss at the 2019 Adelaide Fringe Festival

This year, like any other, sees the Adelaide Fringe Festival produce some of the most worthwhile shows to go see all year,. So many in fact, it’s hard to know where to begin! But we have found you the five shows you’ll not want to miss, when the festival takes over the South Australian city…

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Melbourne International Arts Festival Review: NoFit State’s Lexicon circus is a crowd pleaser

Looking for a dosage of engaging, crowd-pleasing and talent filled entertainment? NoFit State‘s Lexicon has everything you need. Dripping in nostalgic, early European costumes and a magnificent live band playing immersive and often gothic folk music, the circus embraced originality whilst still holding dear to it’s roots. 250 years ago a man by the name…

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Melbourne Fringe Review: Jake Matricardi showcases stellar storytelling ability with The Gargoyle

Jake Matricardi plays a centuries old stone gargoyle who was struck by lightning whilst perched atop a church, plummeting into the river and rising with blood in his veins and a heartbeat in his chest. Living his days beneath a bridge, this wondrous and creative one man production explores the gargoyle’s existence and the stories…

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Melbourne Fringe Review: Darwent & Gray’s The Rest is Drag is a divine, feel good production to make you think

I called my boyfriend just after four o’clock. He was leaving his boring office to get on the boring train with the potential of taking a squiz at the boring financial review before eating a boring dinner and you get the gist. His flamboyancy was lacking, but lets not tell him that just yet. “How…

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Edinburgh Fringe Review: Ivy Paige is engaging and fearless in Seduction

Ivy Paige’s cabaret show Seduction sees the former Voice contestant don a tight golden dress, with her… talents… on full display, as she taught the crowd how to be a successful seductress like her. Accompanied by her trusty keyboardist, the show delivered some fantastic numbers, that were loosely tied together by dialogue and audience participation….

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Review: Cirque du Soleil’s Avatar inspired Toruk: The First Flight will defy your expectations (in Sydney to October 29th)

There’s something to be said for expectations. When you go to a Cirque du Soleil show, you have plenty of them. In their new production Toruk: The First Flight, set in the world of the 2009 film Avatar, the iconic Montreal circus company have taken the expectations of a Cirque audience and thrown them out…

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Review: Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza may be the best, most awe-inspiring Cirque ever in Australia

From Varekai to Dralion and Ovo to Totem, Australia has been lucky enough to have its fair share of Cirque du Soleil productions make their way to our country under the famed Grand Chapiteau across the last decade. But their latest – Kooza – which premiered in Sydney on Thursday ahead of a lengthy national…

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Circus Review: Cirque Adrenaline – Arts Centre Melbourne (part II)

It seems to be a growing trend for high intensity circus shows to be making their way down under, and we are not mad about it. Cirque Adrenaline is the latest blood pumping, heart racing, thrilling new show to settle into the State Theatre, and what unraveled over the course of two hours was nothing…

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