BRISBANE FESTIVAL LAUNCHES AN ALTOGETHER FABULOUS PROGRAM Brisbane Festival has unveiled a program brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever, and a spectacular new light-and-laser show on the river that will see Brisbane illuminated for 22 days of celebration this September. There will be almost 600 performances – 100 of them free – of almost 70 shows across 17 venues. More than 1,000 artists are involved. In a coup for Queensland, Brisbane Festival will premiere eight brand new works, involving major commissions from some of Australia’s leading companies including Circa, Dancenorth and Legs on the Wall. Program highlights include two major Riverstage music events bookending the Festival on the opening and closing nights and headlined by homegrown heroes Ball Park Music and Violent Soho; two semi-staged concerts of Benjamin Britten’s masterpiece Peter Grimes, starring world-leading Australian heldentenor Stuart Skelton; and #CelebrateBrisbane River of Light – a nightly, all-ages, free river show that will ignite the city with a visual feast of luminescence and life. In a first for Brisbane Festival, the massive program is presented in three distinct acts – one for each of the three weeks of activity from 8 – 29 September. “Each act has its own explosion of story, and each opens a window to the world that will entertain and enlighten,” Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said. The first week alone offers almost 30 different productions in 15 venues across the city, including favourite Festival hubs Treasury Brisbane Arcadia, home to The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent; the fringe-fueled Theatre Republic at Kelvin Grove’s QUT Creative Industries Precinct; and live music mecca The Tivoli. Act One revolves around ideas of home, memory and gender. Amongst the signature events is Memorial, an epic theatrical experience that gives exquisite life to each of the 215 dead soldiers named in Homer’s Iliad. It stars the legendary Helen Morse and a community chorus of 215 choreographed by Circa’s Yaron Lifschitz, with music by Golden Globe nominee Jocelyn Pook. “This spectacular new Australian work, featuring a massive chorus drawn from the Brisbane community, will be a snapshot of the city in 2018,” Berthold said.

From the United States comes Home, in which a house is built magically onstage, seemingly from nothing, before becoming a celebration of all the things that make a house a home. By the end, the audience becomes part of a joyous house party. Equally monumental is Qweens on King, an inner-city garden party that will see eight real-life same-sex couples tie the knot in a public ceremony officiated by Gai Lemon. “The King Street area in Fortitude Valley registered the highest YES vote in the marriage equality postal survey in all of Queensland, so it’s an appropriate place for a public celebration like this,” Berthold said. Another guaranteed crowd-pleaser is Festival favourite Strut & Fret, who returns to The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent with LIFE the show. It’s a world premiere for Brisbane Festival, showcasing the extraordinary capabilities of the human body, from contortion and aerials to fire-breathing and feats of incredible strength. Additional Act One headliners include Australian TV favourite Hugh Sheridan and friends in the return of 2016 smash-hit California Crooners Club; Yothu Yindi and The Treaty Project; the return of Brisbane Festival’s hugely successful free concert Symphony For Me, which sold out within minutes in 2015 and 2016; and Katie Noonan’s Elixir, Michael Leunig and The Camerata in Gratitude & Grief, a unique combination of spoken-word poetry, sublime music and live drawing. Act Two of the Festival casts the individual against the giant forces of nature, fate and society, in thrilling expressions of circus, dance and music. Highlights include two world premieres, En Masse by Brisbane’s internationally renowned Circa in one of their biggest shows yet, and Dust by Australia’s leading company for dance innovation, Dancenorth; while national treasure Rhonda Burchmore joins guest star Rob Mills in a sexy and sassy new show, BANG! BANG! Act Three – the Festival’s final week – delivers a fierce and fun climax, including mind-bending scary movie homage HORROR; the colourful children’s opera The Owl & The Pussycat; and the world premiere of Man With The Iron Neck from Australia’s leading physical theatre company, Legs on the Wall. Eskimo Joe teams up with Brisbane chamber Camerata in QPAC’s Concert Hall. The 22-day celebration crescendos Saturday 29 September with Brisbane’s much-loved fireworks celebration Sunsuper Riverfire igniting the city skyline for its 21st anniversary year. This year’s super fun soundtrack is themed on Sci-Fi and Superheroes.

“We hope this festival is altogether alluring and will bring us all together, breathing as one, as we witness artists from here and around the world working at the very limits of their imaginations to blow our minds,” Berthold said. “This year’s Brisbane Festival is truly Brisbane’s Festival. Visit each of the three acts and you’ll be rewarded six-fold - we invite you to join us and celebrate Brisbane this September.” For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au ENDS MEDIA CONTACT Natalie Ogbourne E: nat@aruga.com.au P: 0437 836 649 ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is one of Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, attracting an audience of around one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program of the fresh and the familiar. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new light-and-laser river show. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au Major Brisbane Festivals has received financial assistance from the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland’s Backing Indigenous Arts initiative.

BRISBANE FESTIVAL’S THEATRE REPUBLIC REVEALS AWARD-WINNNG FRINGE-FUELED LINE UP

A guaranteed feast of fringe-fueled performance, Brisbane Festival’s Theatre Republic is delighted to unveil its 2018 program, featuring a host of world and Queensland premieres. Each year, QUT Kelvin Grove’s Creative Industries precinct plays host to Brisbane Festival’s beloved Theatre Republic hub; a warm and welcoming precinct of independent theatre, live music, artwork and installations, and great food and wine. The jam-packed 2018 program features internationally acclaimed acts and interstate guests alongside homegrown heroes and festival favourites, canvassing comedy to burlesque, contemporary circus, cabaret, music, theatre and more. The program also proudly champions a strong female presence, with eight shows created by pioneering women. “For this year’s Theatre Republic, we’ve compiled an eclectic program of altogether mind-expanding shows. Audiences can be assured world-class productions united by a palpable sense of revelry and wonder,” Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said. 2018 highlights include the legendary Green Room Award-winning Melbourne underground cabaret YUMMY, a gender-busting powerhouse cabaret of drag, dance, circus, and live music with a generous sprinkle of subversive and salacious humour; the UK’s brilliant Rachel Mars in Our Carnal Hearts, a gleefully dark show about the hidden workings of envy and the times we screw each other over; Steen Raskopoulos’ surreal work of solo comedy Stay, a character-led stand-up comedy meets solo theatre work; the return of sex clown provocateur Betty Grumble; and the smash-hit lesbian rom-com musical, Romeo is Not the Only Fruit. Of the 13 programmed productions, three are flying the flag for Brisbane, including performance luminaries The Good Room with I’ve Been Meaning to Ask You, renowned local artists Roxanne McDonald and Barbara Lowing in Rovers by Katherine Lyall-Watson, and physical comedians Andrew Cory and Tom Oliver in A Coupla Dogs. Theatre Republic will immerse attendees in a breathtaking world of discovery, from vertical gardens and stained-glass windows to hidden activations and beautiful artworks. Also offering free music performances from Brisbane’s best up-and-coming bands, the bright and lively hub will invite the public to explore and be inspired.

QUT Executive Dean, Professor Mandy Thomas, said the university was proud to host the Theatre Republic program.

“Brisbane Festival offers wonderful opportunities for both emerging and established creatives. We are proud to host Theatre Republic at our Creative Industries Precinct; a unique and visionary venue designed by QUT alumnus and staff member, Dr Sarah Winter,” Professor Thomas said.

“QUT is particularly proud that our alumni continue to feature in Theatre Republic productions such as I’ve Been Meaning to Ask You from The Good Room.

“Brisbane Festival enriches and celebrates our creative culture and economy in a very real sense and QUT is delighted to be a part of it.”

Brisbane Festival’s Theatre Republic opens 11 September at QUT Kelvin Grove’s Creative Industries Precinct.

For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT Natalie Ogbourne E: nat@aruga.com.au P: 0437 836 649

ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year.

Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program.

Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September.

The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

A SPINE-TINGLING THEATRE EXPERIENCE IN COMPLETE DARKNESS IS COMING TO BRISBANE IN THE FORM OF A SÉANCE

Step inside, take a seat, but don't get comfortable… Housed in a pitch-black 40ft shipping container, a spine-tingling, supernatural, fully immersive theatre experience is coming to Brisbane Festival’s Treasury Brisbane Arcadia this September. The brainchild of UK-based theatre masterminds, Glen Neath and David Rosenberg of DARKFIELD (UK), Séance merges the concept of a traditional séance with cutting edge 3D technology and sensory deprivation. For 20 terrifying minutes, Séance is an intense sonic performance, plunging audiences into complete darkness so they can focus solely on the suggestions of sound, guaranteeing a truly unique experience. Following a sell-out season at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and rave reviews from across the world, Brisbane Festival is thrilled to welcome Séance for its Queensland premiere. Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said Séance would leave audiences questioning everything they thought they believed. “Séance blurs the lines between perception and reality and completely challenges the senses,” Berthold said. “It is an exhilarating experience that will make your hairs stand on end and your blood run cold.” Presented in partnership with Australian theatre company Realscape Productions, Séance is a Brisbane Festival experience not to be missed. Séance plays 8-29 September at Treasury Brisbane Arcadia throughout this year’s Brisbane Festival. For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au “A creepy and manipulative miniature, which unsettles and makes you question not just your senses but what you actually believe.” – The Guardian, UK ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT Natalie Ogbourne E: nat@aruga.com.au P: 0437 836 649 ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

BRAND NEW LIGHT AND LASER SPECTACULAR SET TO ILLUMINATE BRISBANE RIVER THIS SEPTEMBER

Brisbane audiences are invited to a free, on-the-river illumination spectacular this September as a traditional story of Brisbane’s creation is told through water, light and lasers; #CelebrateBrisbane River of Light at Brisbane Festival.

The free 10-minute show, running three times a night for the duration of the Festival, features dynamic jets and giant spirals of water, full-colour lighting and rainbow-coloured lasers to tell a story of the dreaming serpent that wove the Brisbane River into existence.

Created by illusion and entertainment experts Oracle Liquid, alongside the Nunukul Yuggera Aboriginal Dance Company, #CelebrateBrisbane River of Light promises to be a spellbinding celebration of art-meets-technology.

“#CelebrateBrisbane River of Light will captivate the public through cutting-edge technology and giant spectacle to share a dramatic origin story of the river, which later became the life-blood of our river city,” Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said.

“Many people are familiar with the word Maiwar. It’s the name of a new electorate bounded by the river but stretching as far as Mt Coot-tha and Bardon; Maiwar Green is a lovely grass area between GoMA and the State Library; it’s the name of Brisbane City Council’s annual city-wide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contemporary art program; and there’s Maiwar Performance, in which the CityCat ferries execute manoeuvres near sites of Aboriginal significance. Maiwar is a Dungidau word that is now widely recognised as a traditional name for the Brisbane River.

“But few of us know any traditional stories of the creation of the River. So we teamed up the Nunukul Yuggera Aboriginal Dance Company with Oracle Liquid to find a way to share a story with us. Designed to surprise and delight children, adults and families alike, it’s a spectacular addition to this year’s Treasury Brisbane Arcadia program and a must-see free event.”

#CelebrateBrisbane River of Light plays 6:30pm, 8pm and 9:30pm daily 8 – 29 September at Treasury Brisbane Arcadia throughout this year’s Brisbane Festival.

For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au

#CelebrateBrisbane River of Light is proudly presented by Brisbane Festival, Treasury Brisbane and Philip Bacon AM, in association with Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council. Major Brisbane Festivals has received financial assistance from the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland’s Backing Indigenous Arts Initiative. “Mairwar is a Dungidau word for the breeding ground of the platypus which were protected areas across the river systems. Due to its unique characteristics the platypus is often depicted in our stories as a peacemaker who works with feuding animals to solve problems together and live in reconciliation.” – Gaja Kerry ENDS MEDIA CONTACT Natalie Ogbourne E: nat@aruga.com.au P: 0437 836 649 ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

BRISBANE FESTIVAL PRESENTS ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR STUART SKELTON SING PETER GRIMES IN BRISBANE

In a coup for Queensland, Brisbane Festival has commissioned the opera event of the year, with internationally acclaimed Grammy-nominated Australian heldentenor Stuart Skelton returning to Australia this September to headline Benjamin Britten’s supreme opera, Peter Grimes. Skelton will fly to Brisbane from London during a break in rehearsals of Wagner’s Die Walküre at The Royal Opera Covent Garden. Here, he will sing the iconic title role for two exclusive, semi-staged concerts; co-produced by Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Opera Queensland, Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Philip Bacon AM. Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said it was a coup to bring Skelton home to Australia for this must-see event at Concert Hall, QPAC. “Stuart is indisputably the finest Peter Grimes on the planet. Unrivalled. I heard him sing it earlier this year, and it was the greatest musical experience of my life,” Berthold said. “We’ve lined up a world-class international team, and with Stuart at its heart, Brisbane Festival’s Peter Grimes promises to be a truly monumental, life-defining event. “These exclusive concerts will feature 18 top-shelf soloists, along with the mighty Opera Queensland Chorus, and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of star Scottish conductor Rory Macdonald, with staging by leading UK director Daniel Slater.” Widely celebrated for his outstanding musicianship, tonal beauty and intensely dramatic portrayals, Skelton is one of the great heldentenors of our time. The International Opera Awards Male Singer of the Year 2014 has appeared in many of the world’s iconic opera houses and concert halls, including the English National Opera in London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and in Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg, and San Francisco. Joining Skelton are top British singers, soprano Sally Matthews as Ellen and baritone Mark Stone as Balstrode, with Michael Honeyman, Jacqueline Dark, Brad Daley, Katie Stenzel, Jud Arthur and many others. Opera Queensland Artistic Director Patrick Nolan described the Brisbane Festival exclusive as “one of the music events of the year”.

“Peter Grimes is the defining British Opera of the 20th century and with the full Queensland Symphony Orchestra and an on-stage company of 60-plus singers, including our very fine Opera Queensland Chorus, this epic, semi-staged performance is a rare opportunity to see one of the great operas in Brisbane – FOMO is quite justified in this case,” Nolan said. Brisbane Festival Donors, Sponsors and Presenting Partners have pulled together to bring this significant work to the stage, with long-term Brisbane Festival supporter Philip Bacon generously matching the Donors’ collective contributions towards the production. Principal Donors for this season include Tim Fairfax AC, Andy Greig and Ingrid Asbury. Peter Grimes plays two performances only, 20 & 22 September at Concert Hall, QPAC as part of Act Two of this year’s Brisbane Festival. For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au ENDS MEDIA CONTACT Adam Brunes E: adam@aruga.com.au P: 0421 233 609

ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

MEGASTARS UNITE FOR EPIC RETELLING OF HOMER’S ILIAD FEATURING COMMUNITY CHORUS OF 215

In this richly layered theatrical experience, T. S. Eliot Prize winner Alice Oswald’s powerful poem Memorial is performed on a grand scale. Brink Productions’ Memorial is embodied by one of Australia’s most celebrated actors, Helen Morse (Caddie; A Town Like Alice) with a transporting, otherworldly score by BAFTA winner and Golden Globe nominated composer Jocelyn Pook performed by an international ensemble of singers and musicians. All the while, a 215-strong community chorus moves as a haunting and uplifting presence across the stage, which evolves from battlefield to meadow to starlit sky. Presented by Brisbane Festival, Philip Bacon Galleries and Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Memorial is a reflective, meditative and dynamic requiem to all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice during conflict and war. “In the Iliad, Homer names 215 soldiers who died in the Trojan War,” Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said. “Alice Oswald’s breathtaking poem is an intense and urgent elegy for every one of these soldiers, giving each of them a new moment in the sunlight of our attention.” Centring around a tour-de-force performance by the legendary Morse, Memorial sees Oswald’s poem spoken in its entirety, directed by Brink Productions’ Chris Drummond, choreographed by Circa’s Yaron Lifschitz with lighting by Tony Award winner Nigel Levings. Morse has recently been nominated for a Helpmann Award as Best Actress for her performance in Memorial. The awards will be announced on Monday 16 July 2018. “We always knew Memorial demanded a virtuosic central performance,” Brink Productions Artistic Director Chris Drummond said. “It’s an elemental role, all at once the voice and heart of a god, the wind, the rain, the earth itself; but it’s also a thousand lives arrested in unspeakable moments of visceral human experience: men in the instant of their dying, wives and mothers in the heat and ice of their grieving, children in their brutal awakening. “Helen Morse’s performance is a towering achievement.”

“The chorus comprises 215 people drawn from the Brisbane community; it will be a snapshot of the city in 2018,” Berthold said.

“It also speaks to the centenary of the Armistice that ended World War I – after all, Troy is only 75km from Gallipoli.

“Anchored by Helen’s astonishing performance, Memorial delivers one of those truly life-altering ‘I was there when…’ experiences in the theatre.”

MEMORIAL plays four performances only at the Playhouse, QPAC Friday 7, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September as part of Act 1 of this year’s Brisbane Festival.

For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT Adam Brunes E: adam@aruga.com.au P: 0421 233 609

ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year.

Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program.

Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September.

The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire.

For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

ACCLAIMED ACTOR URSULA YOVICH MAKES HER DEBUT AS SOLO PLAYWRIGHT WITH BRISBANE FESTIVAL COMMISSION

“When all feels hopeless, how do we find that one reason to hang on, literally for dear life?” – Josh Bond, co-creator, Man With The Iron Neck Leading Australian actor Ursula Yovich makes her debut as a standalone playwright in a searing new Brisbane Festival commission, Man With The Iron Neck. Created by Australia’s leading physical theatre company, Legs On The Wall, Man With The Iron Neck tells the story of an Australian family – three Aboriginal kids from a small town – and how two choose to survive when one is lost. When Ash loses his best friend to suicide, he becomes obsessed with early 20th century circus star The Great Peters – AKA ‘Man With The Iron Neck’, whose most famous trick saw him jump off bridges with a rope tied around his neck, and survive unscathed. The Great Peters embodied both life and death, but in the end what he promises is impossible. Based on elements of co-director Josh Bond’s own story, this daring and delicate show brings together co-director Gavin Robins, Yovich and some of Australia’s best artists to weave together a bold new script with aerial choreography, heightened physicality and hyperreal stage design. Writer/actor Yovich – one of Australia’s most revered actors (Mother Courage and Her Children; The Sapphires) – was initially involved in the work as a performer only, but jumped at the invitation to spread her wings as writer and tell a story that hits close to home. “Legs On The Wall made a massive and bold decision to engage me as writer and I saw it as a great opportunity to grow artistically,” Yovich said. “This is an essential story for all Australians. Sadly, across this country, the issue of youth suicide has become normalised. “I wanted to focus on our history, the 230-odd years of colonisation, but also the social and personal issues, and how all of that can impact a young person’s psyche.” Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said the world premiere – one of eight at this year’s Brisbane Festival – was a story about “embracing life, told with humour, poignancy and love.”

“This powerful new work, centred around an Aboriginal family dealing with the sadly common spectre of rural suicide, draws spectacular aerial work and video into a story of rare tenderness,” Berthold said. “It’s not so much a story about suicide as it is about embracing life. “Deep down it asks: how should we deal with a traumatic past? Finally, there is solace and hope.” MAN WITH THE IRON NECK receives its world premiere 26 – 29 September at the Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse, as part of Act Three of this year’s Brisbane Festival. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Major Festivals Initiative, managed by the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, in association with the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals Inc., Brisbane Festival, Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival and Darwin Festival. For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au “Legs On The Wall blasts physical theatre into a new and triumphant dimension.” – The Sun-Herald ENDS MEDIA CONTACT Natalie Ogbourne E: nat@aruga.com.au P: 0437 836 649 ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program.

Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

INTERNATIONAL STAGE DEVIANTS STRUT & FRET RETURN TO BRISBANE FESTIVAL WITH A MIND-AND-BODY-BENDING NEW SHOW

Serving up an unparalleled combination of circus, cabaret and acrobatics, international stage sensation Strut & Fret Production House returns to Brisbane Festival to present the world premiere of their breathtaking new extravaganza of physical ability, LIFE the show. From the creators of sizzling Brisbane Festival favourites BLANC de BLANC and LIMBO UNHINGED, LIFE the show is a bold and immersive celebration of what it means to be human, and the extraordinary capabilities of the human body. The star-studded cast features international clowning royalty Goos Meeuwsen (Cirque du Soleil), Mick Stuart and Hilton Denis (LIMBO), Blaise Garza (Violent Femmes), and multi-lingual jazz vocalist sensation Fantine. A potent cocktail of entertainment and reveal, let LIFE the show’s cast of international prodigies and deviants lead you on an adventure of trickery, spectacle and theatrical anarchy. Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said LIFE the show was guaranteed to leave audiences spellbound and speechless. “Strut & Fret has been scintillating Brisbane Festival audiences since 2014 with their trademark mix of sizzle, sex, scandal, and edge-of-your-seat spectacle,” Berthold said. “This year, Strut & Fret triumphantly returns to The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent to deliver a joyous and unadulterated party that you will never want to leave.” LIFE the show plays 6 – 29 September at The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent throughout this year’s Brisbane Festival. For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT Natalie Ogbourne E: nat@aruga.com.au P: 0437 836 649

ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

BRISBANE, GET READY TO SCREAM Brisbane Festival audiences will not believe their eyes when theatrical masterpiece Horror takes to the QPAC stage this September. An ingenious tribute to horror cinema from acclaimed Swedish physical theatre maker Jakop Ahlbom, Horror uses the kind of cinematic horror effects rarely seen in theatre. A masterclass in time-and-motion stagecraft, the 80-minute spectacle combines cinematic editing techniques, magic tricks and jaw-dropping physical movement to conjure genuine black magic live on stage, with nods to countless masterpieces of the genre including The Exorcist, Carrie, The Blair Witch Project and The Ring. Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said the international hit production would make audiences squirm at the seemingly impossible events unfolding before them. “Horror trades dialogue for incredible illusion, hardcore horror, mime and music to create a truly terrifying but altogether entertaining experience in the theatre,” Berthold said. “Think heads spinning Exorcist-style, levitating bodies, decapitated limbs and blood squirting up to the ceiling. “This is the first time Ahlbom’s extraordinary work has been presented in Australia and it’s guaranteed to entertain and petrify in equal measure.” Framed around a classic cabin-in-the-woods style narrative, Horror takes place in a home haunted by a tragic family event, where a woman’s vengeful spirit stalks her sister and friends in the property. In a series of flashbacks, the past gradually re-emerges, brutally confronting the surviving sister with their hidden past: the cruel parents, the crushed youth, the suppressed memories. Berthold described Horror as “a technical tour de force”, but not for the faint-hearted. “Horror is imaginatively gory, genuinely terrifying and hilarious; a suitably outlandish way to see out this year’s Brisbane Festival,” Berthold said. “My advice? Leave nan at home for this one!”

Horror plays four performances only at Playhouse, QPAC Wednesday 26 – Saturday 29 September at as part of Act Three of this year’s Brisbane Festival. “… a razor sharp delight, ★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2”– The Guardian UK “A genuinely, persistently terrifying theatre show, ★ ★ ★ ★ ★” – thestage.co.uk For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au ENDS MEDIA CONTACT Adam Brunes E: adam@aruga.com.au P: 0421 233 609

ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE FOR BRISBANE FESTIVAL EXPLORES WHAT IT MEANS TO MAKE A HOUSE A HOME

On an empty stage, a house is conjured from nothing, filling room by room as generations of inhabitants move in, grow up, get old, argue, do laundry, fall in love, work and party. Presented by Brisbane Festival and Aurecon, acclaimed visual physical spectacle HOME combines illusion, live music, home-spun engineering and an inventive use of audience interaction to create a house party of the grandest proportions. “From solitude to riotous parties, these walls contain the stuff of life, telling the story of a house and showing what it means to create a home,” Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said. Creator Geoff Sobelle, an acclaimed theatre artist and illusionist, said the work “allowed space for the audience to dream.” “In this new work, I aim to work in two disciplines,” Sobelle said. “The first is technical: working with illusion and inventive set design to build and age a house onstage before your eyes. “The second is intimate: working with unprepared audience members as performers and asking them to respond to instruction in a variety of ways: through writing, headphones, and the guidance of other performers.” The result is an entirely unique, thrillingly immediate and altogether lively experience that explores and explodes the relationship between ‘house’ and ‘home’. Sobelle said HOME also aspired to reach audiences on a deeper level by awakening us to current housing dilemmas. “The universal and timely themes of gentrification and migration are rendered in the choreography of ordinary people inhabiting a structure, leaving that structure through a variety of social, political, personal and aesthetic forces, replacing one another, and repeating,” Sobelle said. “It uses the house of the theatre as a lens through which we might see the impact of these forces at work: the illusion of home; the transitory nature of dwelling; the constraints of time and money; the absurdity and, at times, the impossibility of trying to make a house a home.”

Although almost completely wordless, Berthold said the production spoke volumes about the sentimentality we feel towards our own family homes. “A house can have many inhabitants over the decades, and the magic of this particular show is that all of them are on stage at the same time,” Berthold said. “It’s an all-in celebration with all the big rituals – births, birthdays, weddings, wakes – and in the end, members of the audience are invited on stage to a big house party.” HOME plays five performances only at the Playhouse, QPAC 12 – 15 September as part of Act One of this year’s Brisbane Festival. For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT Adam Brunes E: adam@aruga.com.au P: 0421 233 609

ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

11-YEAR-OLD SCHOOLBOY SET TO STEAL THE SHOW AT THIS YEAR’S BRISBANE FESTIVAL From the makers of the multi award-winning productions LIPPY and Chekhov’s First Play (both seen at Brisbane Festival in 2016) comes Hamnet; a 60-minute theatrical tour de force performed solely by an 11-year-old boy. Presented by Brisbane Festival and Queensland Performing Arts Centre, the exclusive Australian premiere of Irish outfit Dead Centre’s hit new play centres Shakespeare’s little-known son Hamnet. When Shakespeare left home to pursue his career in the theatre, effectively abandoning his family, his only son Hamnet, then 11-years-old, fell seriously ill. By the time Shakespeare returned home, Hamnet had died. Three years later, Shakespeare wrote a play called Hamlet. Hamnet is Shakespeare’s son’s response to being left behind: youth reaching forward to a life it will never know, and an audience reaching back to a life it has forgotten. Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said Hamnet was a hugely affecting meditation on grief and loss, made all the more impressive by its sole performer, 11-year-old Irish schoolboy Aran Murphy. “Hamnet chews off pretty much everything, much like Hamlet does, all with Dead Centre’s trademark wit,” Berthold said. “It’s about loss, fathers and sons, love, families, the whole damn thing, taking us into a child’s view of the world without any sentimentality. “It’s an extraordinary feat for a kid, and the indomitable Aran Murphy completely holds the stage alone for the full 60-minutes.” After programming three Dead Centre works for Brisbane Festival in 2016, Berthold said he jumped at the chance to bring the acclaimed company back to Australia for this exclusive Brisbane Festival season. “I adore Dead Centre; they’re just getting better and better,” Berthold said of the Dublin-based company, which was founded in 2012 by co-directors Bush Moukarzel and Ben Kidd.

“For my money, they’re the best young theatre company in the world right now, and Hamnet, and its 11-year-old star, are absolutely triumphant.” HAMNET receives its exclusive Australian premiere 8 – 12 September at the Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, as part of Act One of this year’s Brisbane Festival. For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au “ Hamnet is theatrical gold.” – Arts Review “An extraordinarily fascinating and moving disposition on the meaning of life.” – The Independent ENDS MEDIA CONTACT Adam Brunes E: adam@aruga.com.au P: 0421 233 609 ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

AUSTRALIAN ICONS OF MUSIC AND ILLUSTRATION COME TOGETHER FOR A TRULY SPECIAL EVENING OF STIRRING ENTERTAINMENT

One of Australia’s most revered musical talents, Katie Noonan, returns to Brisbane Festival this September in Gratitude & Grief, a mesmerising new collaboration between her ARIA award-winning jazz trio Elixir with Saxophonist Zac Hurren and guitarist Stephen Magnusson, Australia’s ‘poet laureate’ Michael Leunig and Queensland’s acclaimed chamber orchestra, Camerata. Presented by Brisbane Festival and Griffith University, Gratitude & Grief showcases a unique melding of creative minds; seamlessly combining songs written by Elixir inspired by Leunig’s poems, while Leunig will create drawings on stage to accompany their musical musings. Audiences can expect a truly special evening in QPAC’s iconic Concert Hall. Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said the “perfect pairing” of jazz and live-drawing would provide audiences with a captivating, meditative experience. “It is no secret that Katie Noonan is an ethereal vocalist, and with the full orchestral force of Camerata and the supreme musicianship of her Elixir bandmates, her voice will be elevated to the next level,” Berthold said. “World-renowned illustrator Michael Leunig will bring his lyrics to life in front of audiences’ eyes, accompanied by the voice of Katie Noonan. “His wistful, humorous and poetic cartoons have captivated Australians for more than 40-years and on stage they will continue to capture the true essence of humanity.” Noonan said working with Leunig was a true delight. “He has become like our fourth band member! His ability to capture the intricacies of life and say so much with so few words is truly special,” Noonan said. “Combined with his gorgeous artwork, it a potent combination and a joy to be a part of.” Gratitude & Grief will see Elixir perform their upcoming album as well as highlights from their previous catalogue, plus some of their favourite songs by other artists. GRATITUDE & GRIEF plays one-night-only 9 September at the Concert Hall, QPAC as part of Act One of this year’s Brisbane Festival.

For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au “…Elixir’s music is so spellbinding and intoxicating, a delightful privilege to witness in live performance.” – Australian Stage ENDS MEDIA CONTACT Adam Brunes E: adam@aruga.com.au P: 0421 233 609

ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

STRAVINSKY’S RITE OF SPRING MEETS CIRCUS IN A WORLD-FIRST AT BRISBANE FESTIVAL 2018

Brisbane’s beloved Circa Contemporary Circus, one of the world’s leading performance companies, returns to Brisbane Festival in 2018 to premiere an altogether breathtaking new work, En Masse, presented by Brisbane Festival and Queensland Performing Arts Centre. A wild, tender and savage ride, En Masse presents two visions of humanity at its extremes, through circus settings of Franz Schubert’s Winter’s Journey and selections from Swan Song, and Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring performed live on stage. In part one, the world as we know it has broken down. People drift in clumps; connecting and breaking apart. Glitches and grooves by Swedish Composer Klara Lewis are interspersed with Schubert's exquisite songs of loss and love as leading English tenor Robert Murray and acrobats from Circa’s legendary ensemble veer between anarchic energy and exquisite loss. In part two, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring is played live in its two-piano version by legendary Australian pianists Tamara-Anna Cislowska and Michael Kieran Harvey while 10 acrobats are pitted in a life-and-death struggle between group and victim. Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said the two-hour spectacle paired the world-leading Circa ensemble with classical musicians at the top of their game. “The ‘Endings’ part of this extraordinary experience sees leading English tenor Rob Murray and an electronic score composed by Swedish wunderkind Klara Lewis jostle with each other and acrobats from Circa's ensemble in a creation of disturbing power and strange beauty,” Berthold said. “Then, on two grand pianos, virtuosic Australian pianists Tamara-Anna Cislowska and Michael Kieran Harvey breathe life into Stravinsky’s epic dance music – for the first-ever circus setting of Rite of Spring. “With some seriously good music, world-class musicians and the cream of the Circa ensemble, En Masse is guaranteed to raise the roof of the Playhouse, QPAC.” Circa Artistic Director, Yaron Lifschitz said it was a true coup to be able to work around the world, but the chance to perform in Circa’s home town in Brisbane at QPAC was especially wonderful.

“En Masse is a major new work of scale for Circa – a meeting between extraordinary musicians and Circa’s ensemble around necessary and relevant themes - what does it feel like to be living at the end of an era and what rough beast comes after us?” Lifschitz said. “I hear these themes in masterworks by Stravinsky and Schubert and see it in the acrobatics and physical languages of our artists, so to bring them together at Brisbane Festival is an incredible opportunity.” QPAC Chief Executive John Kotzas said En Masse would be poignant and stunning, and the Centre was proud to support groundbreaking, homegrown new work. “This is an exciting presentation for QPAC as we reunite with our long-time collaborators at Brisbane Festival and Circa to push the boundaries of contemporary circus and grow the art form in Queensland,” Kotzas said. Circa’s work has been seen by more than one million people in 39 countries. En Masse sees the Circa ensemble put their bodies on the line in electrifying explosions of physicality and power. EN MASSE plays 19 – 22 September at the Playhouse, QPAC as part of Act Two of this year’s Brisbane Festival. For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au ENDS MEDIA CONTACT Adam Brunes E: adam@aruga.com.au P: 0421 233 609 ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program.

Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

Circa respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands, waters and seas on which we work and live, paying respects to Elders, past, present and future. Circa acknowledges the assistance of the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body and the assistance of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.

AUSTRALIA’S NEW POWERHOUSE OF DANCE TO PREMIERE

BOLD NEW WORK AT BRISBANE FESTIVAL 2018 Are we really fated? Are we truly at the mercy of what we inherit? Nature, nurture and the individual do battle in Dust, an audacious new work from Townsville’s nationally acclaimed Dancenorth and one of eight world premieres at this year’s Brisbane Festival in September. Created by Dancenorth Artistic Director Kyle Page and Associate Artistic Director Amber Haines, Dust takes a deep and daring dive into how – through the lottery of birth – we inherit the architecture of restriction and opportunity. It explores whether we question, challenge, resist, build upon or transcend the social, cultural, political and personal inheritance systems and structures created by those that came before us. 31-year-old Page said Dust was conceived at the same time he and his wife were expecting their first child in early 2017. “The concept was actually initiated during my wife’s pregnancy, which was a really fascinating time,” Page said. “We were thinking deeply about the world our baby was about to enter into, and who designed the conventions that Jasper would have to adhere to. “The seed of an idea was planted – upon birth, we arrive into a world in which those who precede us determine everything.” Page, who began his professional career as a dancer with Dancenorth in 2004, returned to take on the top position in December 2014. Under his artistic leadership, the small but mighty company, headquartered in north Queensland, has emerged as the new powerhouse of Australian contemporary dance. Page said Brisbane Festival had played a vital role in the company’s meteoric rise. “Thus far, David [Berthold] has programmed Dancenorth in every one of his festivals, which is such a valuable opportunity for us to showcase our work alongside some of the biggest names in the world,” Page said.

“It takes enormous vision to galvanise such a large team and pull off a Festival of this scale. David’s investment in big, bold international work, as well as the work of companies like Dancenorth here in Australia should be truly commended.” Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said Brisbane Festival was proud to commission the work and to continue its history of collaboration with Dancenorth. “You would be on pretty safe ground if you said that Dancenorth was the most exciting contemporary dance company in the country right now,” Berthold said. “Following multi-award-winning Attractor at last year’s Brisbane Festival, which has enjoyed international success as well as acclaimed home seasons in Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth, we’re confident that we’ve got something really special on our hands with Dust.” DUST receives its world premiere 19 – 22 September at the Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse, as part of Act Two of this year’s Brisbane Festival. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Major Festivals Initiative, managed by the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, in association with the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals Inc., Brisbane Festival, Sydney Festival, Ten Days on the Island. For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au “Dancenorth have unleashed something new and profound for contemporary dance.” – The Barefoot Review ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT Natalie Ogbourne E: nat@aruga.com.au P: 0437 836 649

ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year.

Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

HUGH SHERIDAN RETURNS WITH MODERN DAY

‘RAT PACK’, CALIFORNIA CROONERS CLUB Swellegant, elegant and returning to Brisbane – it’s California Crooners Club! Brisbane Festival’s 2016 best-selling hit California Crooners Club returns this September, starring Australian TV favourite Hugh Sheridan, South African-born powerhouse vocalist Emile Welman, Citizen Four pop singer Connor Boatman and America’s Got Talent star Johnny Manuel. Conceptualised by four-time Logie winner Sheridan, California Crooners Club was born of late night banter backstage around the juke joints, music rooms and jazz clubs of Hollywood, Los Angeles. After teasing Brisbane Festival audiences with a short season in 2016, the singing, swinging quartet reunites in the smoldering surrounds of The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent, serving swing-interpretations of contemporary chart hits. Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said California Crooners Club had all the swagger and style of a modern-day rat pack. “California Crooners Club was one of Brisbane Festival’s biggest crowd-pleasers of recent years, playing to packed houses and standing ovations nightly in 2016,” Berthold said. “When the opportunity presented to bring Hugh, Emile, Connor and Johnny back for an altogether sizzling encore season, we jumped at it.” With new songs, different mash-ups and extra swag, Sheridan and his fellow lovers of jazz, sharp suits, good times and great tunes are set to raise The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent roof once again. CALIFORNIA CROONERS CLUB plays 8 – 12 September at The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent as part of Act One of this year’s Brisbane Festival. For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au “As the show neared its high-energy crescendo, the entire Spiegeltent crowd was up and dancing, seats discarded, pushed to the side or serving as personal dance podiums.” – The Courier-Mail.

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT Natalie Ogbourne E: nat@aruga.com.au P: 0437 836 649

ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au

AUSTRALIA’S LEADING LADY OF CABARET, RHONDA BURCHMORE, BRINGS SEX, SASS AND SIZZLE TO BRISBANE IN POP-PACKED NEW SHOW

National treasure and theatrical darling Rhonda Burchmore is set to dazzle Brisbane audiences this September, with her raw and raunchy new cabaret show BANG! BANG! as part of Brisbane Festival 2018. A sexy and irredeemably sassy foray into Burchmore’s wild side, BANG! BANG! packs a punch with a titillating procession of production numbers featuring men in heels, girls in jocks, and Burchmore’s world-famous legs tap-dancing all over pop mash-ups. Set on a series of connecting catwalks and working bar tops, audiences will be immersed in the action of the queen provocateur while she delivers undeniably powerful vocal performances in a whirlwind of feathers, fetish, sequins, latex and lycra. Guest starring music theatre fan-favourite, TV host and actor Rob Mills, a live band mixes with progressive recorded tracks of avant-pop, ballads and upbeat dance hooks by Lionel Ritchie, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Amy Winehouse, Tina Turner, Pete Burns, Miley Cyrus, Cher, and Nancy Sinatra. Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold said BANG! BANG! was an on-stage explosion from one of the nation’s most endearing entertainers. “For 30 years, Rhonda Burchmore has charmed and captivated Australian audiences with her larger-than-life personality, dynamic vocals and sizzling stage presence,” Berthold said. “This intoxicating new show cranks up the heat at the beloved Courier-Mail Spiegeltent and is guaranteed to have audiences singing along and dancing in their seats from the moment Rhonda’s famous pins take the spotlight.” Get ready for an enticing evening of music, cabaret and dance with eruptions of confetti, bubbles, bull-whips and tap dancing. BANG! BANG! plays 18-23 September in The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent at Treasury Brisbane Arcadia as part of Act 2 of this year’s Brisbane Festival. For the full program of theatre, dance, music, circus, comedy, cabaret and family entertainment, visit www.brisbanefestival.com.au

“Rhonda like you’ve never seen her before.” - Star Observer ENDS MEDIA CONTACT Natalie Ogbourne E: nat@aruga.com.au P: 0437 836 649 ABOUT BRISBANE FESTIVAL Brisbane Festival is Australia’s major international arts festival and Queensland’s largest cultural event, which attracts an audience of over one million people every year. Running from the 8th to 29th of September 2018, Brisbane Festival is renowned and celebrated for connecting local and international artists and audiences through a captivating program. Under the Artistic Direction of David Berthold, Brisbane Festival 2018 boasts an altogether fabulous 2018 program, brimming with big-name acts, more world premieres than ever before, and a spectacular new river lights show that will see Brisbane become the arts capital of the world this September. The 22-day celebration crescendos 29 September with the highly anticipated and much-loved Festival favourite, Sunsuper Riverfire. For more information, visit: www.brisbanefestival.com.au