Reviews

The Australian Ballet’s sumptuously opulent 2015 production of The Sleeping Beauty finally arrives in Brisbane and if audience reaction is anything to go by it is a thumping success. David McAllister’s version, the first full-length ballet created by him since he became artistic director of the company in 2001, is reverential to Petipa’s 1890 Russian original with some judicious edits for time. Act lll’s divertissements have been reduced to the Bluebird pas de deux and solo sequences.

At the mention of Comfort Food Cabaret, this reviewer grabbed the opportunity to see this show. Promising to combine everyone’s favourite food with music, this show dishes up the goods in spades.

Michelle Pearson serves a tantalising feast for all five senses - singing and cooking her way through a three-course meal, plated up and fed to the audience. Heaven.

A show for the dark-humoured who appreciate quality writing and acting, with a generous splash of violence and a dash of the supernatural.

We join two lonely women and a homicidal maniac on a drama-filled night, venturing from light to darkness, ordinary to fantasy, as they push their limits and make deals with the devil.

We get to know each character intimately, although their names are never revealed. Through a series of monologues, we discover their rationalisation of their actions and eventually how their paths are intertwined.

Shakti is a dancer of Indian and Japanese heritage and the cultural influences are evident in her choice of choreography. Pandora takes us on a journey of self-imposed suppression and the artist uses the myth of Pandora’s Box as a catalyst for her performance.

This venue allows for a vast performing space. Dark lighting with a splash of red illuminates venetian blinds upstage. When open, they reveal Shakti, blindfolded with a red satin sash, her feet shackled and hands bound with handcuffs. She is wearing a black latex corset.