Aerialicious UP LATE

Aerialicious Up Late

Aerialicious UP LATE Rating

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Aerialicious UP LATE is a delicious adults-only sexy circus with a madcap minx as the mistress of ceremonies who won’t mince words, combining comic catchphrases with caustic wit as she introduces each of the artists to bump and grind in a glorious collection of exhibitionism.

Burlesque brought back as bold as brass, with all its tatas, posteriors, and an awesome array of acrobatic acts.

The all-female and non-binary troop was a wonder to behold. Their agility, strength, and flexibility combined to create an endearing effect on their enthusiastic audience—wild whoops and cheers, to be precise.

The aerial ring (lyra), hula hoops, aerial straps, pole dancing, hand balancing, contortionism, and even an old-fashioned fan dance were all staged inside a pole dancing gym at 2/42 Burnett Lane in Brisbane’s CBD. The audience was inches away from having a sequined bra land in their lap.

Aerialicious bills itself as innovative, and from what I saw, that’s about as accurate an assessment as you can get.

The show is part of Brisbane’s Anywhere Festival, running from 19th July to 4th August.

Find out more by going to this link: https://anywhere.is/artist/aerialicious/.

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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Anywhere Festival: Set Me On Fire

Set Me On Fire

Set Me On Fire Rating

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10

Samara Louise’s play, SET ME ON FIRE, is a deeply moving play about the ugly side of family ties, the angst of artistic temperament, and the longing for a better life.

Through the erudition and articulation of her lead female character, Samara paints a poignant portrait of a girl growing into an excellent example of an independent, free-thinking femme fatale.

The list of Samara’s achievements so far seems enormous, considering her youth. Cale Dennis, the director, is also no slouch when it comes to winning awards. I foresee they both have bright futures in theatre and probably whatever else they decide to address with their talents. All members of The Silent Sky Collective, who produced the play, are emerging artists in their own right.

Rachel McMurray, playing Eden, the lead, did a wonderful job of wrapping her lips around the lines of dialogue she had to deliver, and her transitions between a coy seventeen-year-old and a savvy twenty-something, demonstrate she’s a force to be reckoned with.

Her counterpart, Mannon Davies, as Noah, the lost love interest, gives us a delightful deep dive into the psyche of a boy burdened by a mother clinging to her child. His chemistry with Rachel was obvious, and yet deftly understated, muted by the malignance of his meddling mother.

The play begins near where it ends and then backtracks to fill in the gaps. The reminiscences replicate the back story that brought the two tumultuous teens to where they meet again at the beginning of the play, through complexities that remind us that underneath each of us are layers of human experience that can and often do scar us for life.

Cullyn Beckton and Tim James, the tech team, never missed a beat. The set, sound, and lighting all enhanced the moments that made the story work so well.

It’s a thoroughly watchable work. I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars. Go see these people play now before they get so well-known that you have to pay through the nose to see them.

The production contains very occasional strong language and young adult themes. It’s part of The Anywhere Festival and is staged inside Backdock Arts, a small hall at 103 Brunswick Street, in Fortitude Valley.

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Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor

Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor

Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor Rating

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Un Amor is a delirious dive into the torment experienced by a young woman who walked away from the stress of her work interpreting the tragic stories of refugees and moved to La Escapa, a small village deep in the Spanish countryside, only to be thrust into a story almost as horrible as the ones she was running away from.

Multi-award-winning and multi-lingual Spanish director Isabel Coixet co-wrote and directed this searing drama, told with interspersed flashbacks to the horrors of her previous work, paralleling her descent into indecency.

The cinematography is often breathtaking, showing the scope and beauty of the region and vividly bringing life to Nat’s mixed emotions. The villagers’ characterisations, foibles, intrigues, and veiled love triangles are all treated with gusto. There’s a delightful smorgasbord of humanity on display.

In a dilapidated house with an abused dog thrust into her care, thirty-year-old Natalia, or Nat (Laia Costa), faces overt hostility and sexist micro-aggressions from her landlord and covert hostility from nearly all her neighbours. Initially wooed by a slightly older man who demonstrates an artistic sensitivity with stained glass, she demurely dismisses his overtures.

Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor

Then after an extraordinary encounter, Natalia reluctantly gives in to an awkward illicit proposal from her brutish neighbour Andreas (Hovik Keuchkerian) so as to have her dwelling refurbished somewhat and made into a more liveable space. In so doing, she succumbs to a passion that punishes her and causes her to see who she really is.

The film is based on Sara Mesa’s bestselling novel of the same name. The Spanish newspaper El País named it Spain’s 2020 book of the year. Un Amor has been described as a bittersweet and striking exploration of gender roles, love, obsession, and desire.

It deftly deals with some eternally fundamental and gripping questions that have plagued humanity. What is love? Are we sexual in nature? It’s a disturbingly frank look at the dynamics of gender politics and sex as a commodity.

John Holland of Screen Daily, a website providing a real-time view of the film industry, said the film was sometimes “redolent of Coixet’s very best work.” Guy Lodge of Variety, a website featuring entertainment news and reviews, considered the film to be a return to form for Coixet.

In two top ten lists of Spanish films, it ranked 2nd (El Español) and 10th (Mondosonoro).

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Spanish Film Festival: Upon Open Sky

Spanish Film Festival: Upon Open Sky

Spanish Film Festival: Upon Open Sky Rating

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Upon Open Sky is a Mexican crime drama set in the 90s, mainly in the Coahuila desert, an arid expanse covering much of the border between Mexico and the US. It is based on a screenplay by Guillermo Arriaga, the Mexican novelist and screenwriter who received an award at Cannes for his The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada in 2005. The film is the directorial debut of his two children, Mariana and Santiago Arriaga.

In a prelude, we see a father and son embarking on a hunting trip. They are full of anticipation, and the boy relishes the time with his father. An emphatically final accident happens. The screen goes black. The sound tells us the other vehicle drove off.

Fast forward to two years later, we see two upper-middle-class teenage boys, Salvador (Theo Goldin) and his older brother Fernando (Maximo Hollander), still grieving the loss of their father. They live with their mother, stepfather, and stepsister, Paula (Federica Garcia).

Short-fused Fernando haunts the local wrecker’s yard, doing amateur forensic reconstructions of car accidents, an obsession he is unable to shake, along with the anger that fuels his search for the driver of the truck that collided with his father’s car. He locates the man and persuades his younger brother to go on a revenge road trip. Salvador, who was with his father in the accident, says he does not remember what happened.

The trauma of the accident becomes so heavy they decide to go to the place where it occurred to find an explanation for what happened. The parents leave on a holiday, and the siblings take off to the Mexican border.

Joined by the pretty, telenovela-obsessed Paula, who they barely know, and her boyfriend, Eduardo, initially oblivious to the brothers’ intentions, the siblings embark on a tense journey into adulthood, which has them come to terms with losing their father. Paula has deep pockets and expensive tastes, so the boys find themselves travelling in style.

Spanish Film Festival: Upon Open Sky

She seems unfazed by the discovery that her stepbrothers have stolen her father’s gun. The siblings are withdrawn, and Paula’s motivations are opaque. For each, the trip means something different: for Fernando, revenge, and for Salvador, closure. Eduardo sees it as an opportunity to sleep with Paula. She may just be bored or want to fit in with her newly found family.

Paula’s mother died when she was a baby, so there are no memories or ghosts. Paula appears spoiled and only looks alive when teasing her brothers. Halfway through the film, we find Paula is not just a sexual ornament; she is an important part of the story, with enough weight to provoke reactions.

Theo Goldin deserves a special note as Salvador. He is convincing, quiet, and thoughtful for most of the film. Despite being the youngest, he shows better judgment and acts with poise.

Upon Open Sky is a road movie and a coming-of-age. Sometimes, it is a Western, shown by the concealed revolver, the van they drive and the clothes they wear. The landscape is shown in panorama and small details. The score from Ludovico Einaudi aids in giving a mood to the unforgiving backdrop. This is a powerful thriller imbued with youthful rage that questions forgiveness and love within the family as each character learns about themselves and the world.

The action and relationships are also on the move while on the road. The outcome is not overdone, which is uncommon in Mexican cinema. It’s as if the directors discover, along with the siblings, that maturity comes not with revenge but self-restraint.

This review also appears on It’s On The House. Check out more reviews at Whats The Show to see what else is on in your town.

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