What Did She Think?

What: Cock When: 30 January - 10 February 2019 Where: fortyfivedownstairs Written by: Mike Bartlett Directed by: Beng Oh Performed by: Matthew Connell, Scott Gooding, Shaun Goss and Marissa O'Reilly Designed by: Emily Collett Lighting by: Andy Turner Sound by: Tom Backhaus Stage Management by: Teri Steer Matthew Connell and Marissa O'Reilly For those of you who missed Cock last year (presented by Bakers Dozen), director Beng Oh has remounted it as part of Midsumma through his own company 15 Minutes From Anywhere . Cock is playing until 10 February at fortyfivedownstairs . Cock was written by British playwright, Mike Bartlett in 2009 and won the the Olivier Award for outstanding achievement on it's first production. It is an interesting play and most of the ideas in the play are very contemporary (exempt for the in-your-face misogyny) and for the most part it talks about how we like to categorise people. Are you gay or are you straight? To be anywhere in

What: Petty Bitches When: 25 - 26 Januaray 2019 Where: The Butterfly Club Created and performed by: Boo Dwyer and Tash York Boo Dwyer and Tash York So often in life we are told to not sweat the small stuff but Dwyer and York are here to celebrate our ability and need - yes need - to pick at every small detail in their riotous new show, Petty Bitches . These days there are conferences for everything and the Petty Bitch conference has booked The Butterfly Club for 2 days of delicious ranting about all the little things people do to annoy the shit out of us all. Dwyer and York are 2 of our hottest comedic talents and they have paired up to create the most enjoyable conference you have ever attended. Under the watchful eye of cult...er, conference...leader, Katy Petty, Dwyer and York take us through the 5 steps to embrace our inner petty bitch. As with all good self improvement programs, B.I.T.C.H. is the mnemonic to help keep the process in mind. If only York could rememb

What: Flawed____like a b_y When: 23 - 27 January 2019 Where: La Mama Courthouse Written by: Bj McNeill Performed by: Bj McNeill, Rebecca Montalti and Mitchell Wilson Choreographed by: Claudia Subiela Ferre Sound by: Seb Attebury Stage managed by: Laura Barnes Bj McNeill - photo by Darren Black La Mama opens it's doors this year straight into the arms of the Midsumma Festival . Kicking off the 2019 program is a remount of Flawed____like a b_y written by Bj McNiell , an ex-patriot Sydney-sider who finds alphabet life more inclusive in his heritage country, the UK. Flawed is a really clever idea. It looks at how a young male can find himself growing up in a world with a set of rules which don't fit. He rebels against all the stereotypes he is taught make him a man. His mother tells him a man doesn't call another man handsome. He plays rugby to fit in - but doesn't. He goes on a family fishing trip and hates it even though his sister loves it...? This is

What: I'll Have What He's Having When: 22 January - 5 February 2019 Where: Hare and Hyenas Created and Performed by: Adrian Barila Accompanies by: Rainer Pollard Adrian Barila Midsumma is a festival which explores a spectrum of human pleasures and Barila expands this notion in I'll Have What He's Having at Hares and Hyenas. This one man (plus accompanist - Pollard ) cabaret has Barila showing us why he hides his Donna Hay magazines inside gay porn mags. I'll Have What He's Having was created by Barila in 2015 whilst at Federation Uni and was remounted in 2016. Throughout the show Barila sings his way through his obsessions with desserts and sausage meats, expertly accompanied by Pollard who expands his role to straight man/side kick occassionally for food tastings. Barila takes us on a crazy ride of 'Afternoon Delights' including an Asian snack lucky dip, creating an Eton Mess along the way. He has even written a book on the art of masti

What: Newk! (The John Newcombe Story) When: 14 - 19 January 2019 Where: Upstairs, The Butterfly Club Written and directed by: Kieran Carroll Performed by: Damian Callinan Damian Callinan Melbourne is all about tennis this fortnight, but not all the action is happening at Melbourne Park. If you pop in to The Butterfly Club for a cocktail (the Newcano is very dry and extremely awesome) you can hear a great Aussie tennis story performed by a great Aussie storyteller as  Callinan embodies John Newcombe in Newk! (The John Newcombe Story). Newcombe now resides in Texas at his tennis ranch for the most part these days so we don't hear much about him in the tennis broadcasts anymore. At one point though he was a powerhouse of Australian tennis. Across his career he won 7 singles championships and 17 doubles championships and has played the likes of Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and the list goes on. His playing career spanned 1963 - 1978, after which he