SG x Brisbane Festival

Our special partnership with Brisbane Festival facilitated the participation of more than 10 Singapore groups in performances, workshops and talks. 

SINGAPORE SERIES 2017

Charlie Lim and the Mothership
17 Sep | The Courier-Mail Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent

Charlie played an intimate solo concert for Brisbane Festival in 2015 and now returns in full force with his super-band The Mothership.

Stretched between acoustic melancholia, neo-soul, post-rock, and electronic-pop – the extremities that mark Charlie’s music – there’s a cinematic gravitas that takes you on a sonic journey set against the rich narratives of life’s tales.

Regarded as one of Singapore’s finest musical exports, Charlie’s music has opened doors to the region’s biggest festivals and stages, supporting international artists such as Kimbra and Sigur Rós. His songs have reached over 2.4 million plays on Spotify alone, and his record ‘TIME/SPACE’ clinched the No. 1 album spot on iTunes’ Singapore chart and was also awarded Album of the Year by The Straits Times, Singapore’s leading newspaper.

Brisbane Festival is thrilled to bring back one of the great voices.

BITCH: THE ORIGIN OF THE FEMALE SPECIES
Edith Podesta
20 – 23 Sep 2017 | The Loft, Theatre Republic
Australian Premiere

This is a visually rich theatrical reclamation of one of the most complex insults in the English language. A reflection of the animal in nature and the animal in our nature.

Winner of Production of the Year and Best Original Script at the 2017 Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards, BITCH tells the story of a man suffering a stroke told through the eyes of his female dog.

Created by theatre veteran Edith Podesta (Best Actress, Life! Theatre Awards 2014) and featuring Helmut Bakaitis (The Matrix Reloaded) and Brisbane’s very own Merlynn Tong with stellar multimedia, BITCH unleashes our primordial instincts from domesticity.

HAWA
Hatch Theatrics
27 – 30 Sep 2017 | The Loft, Theatre Republic
Australian Premiere

Siti, a recent convert to Islam, is suddenly tasked with overseeing the funeral arrangements of her close friend and companion. While preparations are being made for the last rites a charming stranger arrives unexpectedly.

Even as Siti grieves, she has to contend with the societal forces that threaten to deny her of her own existence.

With sell-out seasons in 2015 and at the 2016 Singapore Theatre Festival, HAWA dares to ask – in an often surprisingly comic way – all the difficult questions about faith, love and sexuality.

SINGAPORE SERIES 2016

50/50
Loo Zihan
15 – 17 Sep |Performance Space, Judith Wright Centre
Australian Premiere

50/50 is a participatory performance class on Lindy Hop. Through conversations and demonstrations, audience members learn the basic footwork before the space becomes a dance hall for everyone to show their best swing moves.

Lindy Hop is a social dance that originated in Harlem, New York City in the 1930s. It is traditionally performed to Big Band Jazz music and is known for its acrobatic airsteps, where the partner is lifted off the ground.

Singapore artist Loo Zihan and his collaborators have been Lindy Hopping for more than a decade. 50/50 started with an exploration of their sexual and cultural identities in relation to this dance and the Lindy Hop community’s definition of authenticity. 50/50 is above all fun, but also challenges our preconceived notions of what, why and how we move.

THE STEVE MCQUEENS
21 Sep | Aurora Spiegeltent, Arcadia
Australian Premiere

The Steve McQueens is a neo-vintage soul-funk band with a penchant for groove and making music that just feels good. They’ve been winning praise at festivals and venues such as Japan’s iconic Summersonic, Indonesia’s Java Jazz, Singapore’s SingJazz and London’s O2 Indigo.

Their music draws influence from Theolonius Monk, Amy Winehouse, Steely Dan and James Brown, swerving from soulful and sultry to eclectic and eccentric.

With the release of their second album Seamonster, The Steve McQueens are leaving their indomitable mark on the music world.

RECALLING MOTHER
Checkpoint Theatre
21 – 24 Sep | The Loft, Theatre Republic, QUT Creative Industries
Australian Premiere

Long-time friends Claire Wong and Noorlinah Mohamed would often talk about their mothers and the complexities of living – and not living – with them. One mother is Cantonese-speaking and impetuous; the other speaks Malay and is quietly stubborn. Both are wonderful cooks.

With each performance (in 2006, 2009, 2015, and now 2016), Claire and Noorlinah revise the show. As they and their mothers grow older, new stories are added, while stories they were not ready to tell are now told in full.

Poignant and funny, Recalling Mother celebrates the joys and challenges of motherhood and daughterhood.

SINGAPORE SERIES 2015

BEST OF
The Necessary Stage
8 – 12 Sep | La Boite Studio, Theatre Republic
Australian Premiere

Award-winning actress Siti Khalijah Zainal takes centre-stage in this one-woman show specially created for her by The Necessary Stage’s playwright Haresh Sharma and director Alvin Tan, two of Singapore’s finest theatre practitioners.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
W!ld Rice
11 – 13 Sep | Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre
Australian Premiere

In this joyous production from W!LD RICE – named Singapore’s ‘sexiest theatre company’ by Lonely Planet – celebrated theatre and film director Glen Goei casts an all-male ensemble, revealing new insights into hidden identities, institutional marriage, and the politics of choosing a partner.

Charlie Lim
8 Sep | The Spiegeltent

Charlie Lim’s music stretches across acoustic melancholia and electronic-pop; a sonic journey full of cinematic gravitas and life’s narratives. When playing live, Charlie Lim is at his finest as the captain of his ship, gently steering his audience across a sea of human experience.

CABINET OF CURIOSITIES
Performed by Margaret Leng Tan
9 Sep | Cremorne Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre
Australian Premiere

Margaret Leng Tan, hailed as “queen of the toy piano” by The New York Times, has established herself as a major force in the American avant-garde. In Brisbane, she celebrates her 70th birthday year with a one-woman, multimedia show revolving around the bizarre, bewitching world of the carnival.

BLACK ANGELS
T’ang Quartet
23 Sep | Conservatorium Theatre, Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University
Australian Premiere

Singapore’s premier string quartet cuts an unmistakable silhouette on the global stage. The T’ang Quartet have been pushing boundaries of classical music since 1992 with an artful blend of East and West. This concert reveals musical visions of darkness and light.