What Did She Think?

What: Homophonic! When: 30 January - 1 February 2020 Where: La Mama Courthouse Directed by: Miranda Hill Compositions by: Stephen de Filippo, Naima Fine Fine, Christina Green, Wally Gunn, Laura Kaminsky, Pauline Oliveros, Cole Porter, and Sean Shepherd Texts by: Candy Royalle and Maria Zajkowski Performed by: Spencer Chapman, Natasha Conrau, Laila Engle, Jenny George, Pheobe Green, Karen Heath, Robin Henry, Miranda Hill, Stephen Hodgson, Eleanor Jackson, Zachary Johnston, Lachlan McDonald, Katherine Norman, Ben Opie, Robin Parkin, Katherine Philp, Dan Richardson, Alex Ritter, Thea Rossen, and Leonie Thomson Lighting by: Joy Lee Sound by: Alice Bennett and Joy Lee Stage managed by: Alice Bennett Laila Engle and Katherine Philp On a hot summer night in Melbourne one of the best things you can do is head down to the air conditioned La Mama Courthouse and experience the amazing music which comprises Homophonic! 2020. A fun and fiesty collection of original music performed by

What: Dahlin'! It's The Jeanne Little Show When: 27 January - 8 February 2020 Where: Downstairs, The Butterfly Club Written and directed by: Kieran Carroll Performed by: Caroline Ferguson Design by: Tracy Hogan Caroline Ferguson Long before Lady Gaga shot to fashion fame with the help of her Haus of Gaga , Australia had Jeanne Little doing it all on her own, and long before Gaga wore the meat dress, Little was wearing the Toast Dress and showing off her Bangers and Mash millinery. The true monarch of cut-price couture and the high queen of outrageous fashion, the life and times of this all Australian icon has been brought to the stage at The Butterfly Club by writer Kieran Carroll and actor Caroline Ferguson in Dahlin'! It's The Jeanne Little Show. Jeanne Little is the kind of celebrity once encountered is never to be forgotten. There are a lot of try hards, but what made Little so amazing is she was the real deal. If you ever heard her talk you could

What: The Boy I Paid For When: 20 - 31 January 2020 Where: Upstairs, The Butterfly Club Written and directed by: Wayne Stellini Performed by: Johnny Kinnear and Jake Matricardi Johnny Kinnear and Jake Matricardi Midsumma Festival is the home of loud and proud queer theatre and this is why we love it so much. Amidst the celebrations and glamour, though, occassionally a quiet little number will pop it's head up over the crowd and beguile us with it's vulnerability and understatement. This is the magic created in The Boy I Paid For which is playing at The Butterfly Club until the end of January. Wayne Stellini is a writer/director who already has a string of these lovely, intimate relationships dramas and the confidence with which he has written The Boy I Paid For is testament to that. The premise is simple. Keith ( Matricardi ) has broken up with his boyfriend and doesn't want to spend Christmas Eve alone and he is definitely not the partying kind. Preferring

What: .Church When: 24 - 27 January 2020 Where: The Toff In Town Created and performed by: Adam, Archie Arsenic, Bettie Bombshell, Charlotte, Jill Crisp, Cassie Daly, Matt Hirst, Lola La Roux & Her Dolls, Alex Morris, Kellyn Patterson, Shamita, Ruby Slippers, Karen Taranto, and Six Inches Uncut Musical direction by: Alex Morris Stage Management by: Moose and Onyx Charlotte "Queerly beloved, we are gathered here today...", these are the words uttered by the high priestess of the evening, Six Inches Uncut, as she begins the religious ceremony worshipping imperfection and love in .Church . Melbourne's best of the best burlesque, boylesque, and queer performers are gathering across four nights at The Toff In Town to raise a new religion of hope and joy and love. Hell-ja-ja-loolah! .Church is the sane person's alternative to Hillsong and our gold spangled pastor leads us in a prayer of love and tolerance and encourages us all to confess our most

What: Eyes Wide Woke When: 21 January - 1 February 2020 Where: The Court House Hotel Written by: Katherine Chloe Atkins Directed by: Kashmir Sinnamon Performed by: Ashleigh Clarke, Emma Drysdale, Luke Jacka, Ashley Tardy, and Joshua White Stage managed by: Mazz Ryan Noah Jacka, Joshua White, Ashley Tardy and Ashleigh Clarke It has been a bit of a slow start this year, in terms of high quality theatre so it is with a huge sigh of relief I get to tell you about Eyes Wide Woke which is playing at the Court House Hotel in North Melbourne. Part of the Midsumma Festival , Eyes Wide Woke investigates what it is to be an "inner city, woke" Australian - the good and the bad. Being woke is the new derogatory word (taking the place of 'politically correct') being bandied about by the LNP so that they can self-justify socially discriminating and economically devastating policies and pat themselves on the back for being the sensible quiet Australians. Just like it

What: The Circle When: 21 - 26 January 2020 Where: La Mama Courthouse Written and directed by: Jack O'Brien Performed by: Bridget Charis, Stephanie Kelly, Jack O'Brien, and Luke Peverelle Set by: Isabella Hunt Lighting by: Marty Shlansky Sound by: Ben Roy Keene Stage managed by: Teri Steer Stephanie Kelly, Jack O'Brien, and Luke Peverell Melbourne loves a good stage horror, as evidenced in 2018's Night Terrrors and last year's The Yellow Wallpaper.   2020 brings us a new adventure into darkness and fear with The Circle , playing at La Mama Theatre this week as part of Midsumma . O'Brien 's tale of Eldritch horror and the rise of the arcane evil of Shaguaraka promised much, and I can attest that the opening moments of this play deliver with powerful promise and punch! Two young men feel the world needs a reboot and in a show which resembles something a demon who swallowed Charmed and The Rocky Horror Show  then vomited all over the courthouse

What: The Top Secret Violin Case When: 21 - 26 January 2020 Where: La Mama Courthouse Written by: Sofia Chapman Performed by: Kirri Buchler, Sofia Chapman, Sasha Cuha, ad Alana Hunt Musical direction/projections/sound design by: Sofia Chapman Set and props by: Alana Hunt and Sofia Chapman Sasha Cuha Sofia Chapman brings her wonderfully off beat story telling back to the stage with The Top Secret Violin Case at La Mama Courthouse. It is only on for a few days (until the 26th) so it is going to be one of those shows which, if you blink, you'll miss it. Chapman has form with the truly funny The Seat of Narcissa and The Top Secret Violin Case has a similar sense of energy and hilarity, although it probably doesn't quite sustain itself as well as the earlier show. They are calling it absurdist (in the tradition of Romanian Eugene Ionesco ) but it isn't really. It is more a kind of Surreal Vaudeville . It doesn't quite have the cyclical hopelessness needed fo

What: Party Snake When: 8 - 12 January 2020 Where: The Burrow Written and directed by: Kotryna Gesait Performed by: Lachlan Martin Party Snake is a monologue for a drag performer written by Kotryna Gesait  who, in 2018, brought us This-That . Party Snake is enjoying it's 4th season, having done the fringe festival circuit (to rave reviews), and is now playing at The Burrow . In this, it's premier set of runs, the character - no name is provided in the show or the program - is played by Martin . A drag queen transitions from her night persona to his day persona as a primary school teacher. Martin transposes himself from electrifying to vulnerable with mastery and authenticity. As a cis-woman I have never really thought about this, but when he says in his male persona he is the most vulnerable it really made me stop and think hard about what drag can mean in modern times. In fact, it is this quality of forcing me to think which is what I like about Gesait's writin

What: She's Layered When: 3 - 4 January 2020 Where: Upstairs, The Butterfly Club Created and performed by: Mia Romero Mia Romero Melbourne is hot and smokey all over, but The Butterfly Club is even hotter and smokier this weekend. Mia Romero heats up these summer nights with her one woman Vaudeville show, She's Layered . I suspect Romero is what they call a triple threat. She can most certainly act, and hella yeah she can sing! It looks like she can dance too, with excellent extension and poise although it is hard to tell on the tiny Butterfly Club stage. Romero gives us a gift to kick of the new year with a show which celebrates what it is to be a woman. This is not a ball busting feminist show (although her kitten heel stilettos do hover very close to the crotch...). It is also not a vampish submission to the patriarchy (although, if it feels good, do it!). Instead, She's Layered is the perfect theatrical representation of what it is to be a woman in the 21