December 2019 – Back to the Drawing Board Productions

RASA REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on December 10, 2019December 4, 2019 by Lloyd Marken

I saw my sixth and final Wonderland show on assignment for Scenestr magazine last Friday evening. I feel incredibly lucky to continue to work for Scenestr and review some amazing talent and work for them.

Karen and I went and saw stand-up comedian Ashwin Segkar’s show Rasa which we both enjoyed and was a great way to cap off the festival for another year. You can read my review here https://scenestr.com.au/comedy/ashwin-segkar-rasa-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-2019-20191203

Afterwards Karen and I did partake some more of beloved pepperoni and basil and margherita pizzas at the Brisbane Powerhouse bar. Another special year at Wonderland had come to an end. What will 2020 bring?

Produced by Eyeball Media Enterprises Scenestr is an online national magazine with local offices around Australia. Having started in 1993 they’ve excelled at moving into the digital realm but they remain at heart from the streets. They still publish magazines in print for Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland every month.

-Lloyd Marken

The entrance to the Graffiti room. Copyright Lloyd Marken.

My city. Copyright Lloyd Marken.

Parked at New Farm Park during twilight. Copyright Lloyd Marken.

SLACK MIRROR REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on December 8, 2019December 4, 2019 by Lloyd Marken

I felt very fortunate to be on assignment with Scenestr magazine for six shows at Wonderland Festival 2019. It proved a very diverse array of shows from the highly anticipated Die Hard: The Movie, The Play to the quirky and moving Awesome Ocean Party to the amazing singing of Amity Dry in Fortified to the unbridled energy and fun of Big Glittery Shitshow.

The shows I covered in my second and final week just added to the range of what I show. First up from the wonderful Amy Currie and Drew Lochrie came a scary, humorous and thought provoking Slack Mirror, a series of drama sketches that came with laughs and big ideas from two very talented thespians and comedy improvisers whose work I was familiar with in Act/React and Impromafia productions.

You can read my review of the show here https://scenestr.com.au/arts/slack-mirror-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-2019-20191129

-Lloyd Marken

New artwork installations at Wonderland in 2019. I missed the red LED chair but these were cool. Copyright Lloyd Marken.

BIG GLITTERY SHITSHOW REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on December 6, 2019December 4, 2019 by Lloyd Marken

The first weekend of Wonderland Festival 2019 went off with a bang for me with Karen and I attending the Big Glittery Shitshow at the Stores Studio on Saturday night 22NOV2019.

It is not so much what happened but how it happened that matters so much with this show but it was some of the most fun I’ve had attending a show all year and I highly recommend the talents of all involved.

You can read my review here https://scenestr.com.au/arts/big-glittery-sh-tshow-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-2019-20191126

-Lloyd Marken

FORTIFIED REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on December 4, 2019December 4, 2019 by Lloyd Marken

Following attending Awesome Ocean Party and Die Hard: The Movie, The Play Thursday the 21st of November the following evening we attended the cabaret Fortified starring Amity Dry in the Turbine Studio.

Fortified deals with divorce and Dry is to be commended for what feels like a very raw and honest show about her thoughts, feelings, and hopes for what happened and what will come of it.

I couldn’t shake the feeling though afterwards that at times my sympathies had not gone where I thought they should. That again could be something about how real and open this show was, it could also be my own interpretation of the show but it didn’t feel like it was by design or with purpose. It felt like something had been missed in the telling. A one-sided perspective it felt odd to wonder more about the others involved then come away even more deeply moved by Dry’s own tale of survival.

Amity has many fans and I certainly enjoyed her show, all the songs are original and many played in my head days later as did her incredible voice singing them. You can read the review that was published online by Scenestr magazine here https://scenestr.com.au/arts/fortified-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-2019-20191125

-Lloyd Marken

MINI Coopers outside the Powerhouse on Friday night. Copyright Lloyd Marken.

Waiting outside the Turbine Studio to go into ‘Fortified’. Copyright Lloyd Marken.

DIE HARD: THE MOVIE, THE PLAY REVIEW AVAILABLE ON SCENESTR

Posted on December 1, 2019December 1, 2019 by Lloyd Marken

Long term readers will know I am a fan of theatre company Act/React and their work so it may not come as a surprise to find that I went to see their latest at Wonderland Festival 2019 – Die Hard: The Movie, The Play which followed on from seeing their other work Love/Hate Actually, Kiss of the Vampire Squid, Titanic: The Movie, The Play.

It may also come as no surprise given the strength of the talent involved and the premise of recreating Die Hard as live meta theatre that I enjoyed the show very much following on from taking in the wonderfully quirky and heartfelt Awesome Ocean Party earlier that evening.

You can read my review here https://scenestr.com.au/arts/die-hard-the-movie-the-play-brisbane-review-wonderland-festival-2019-20191126

I was delighted to review both shows for Scenestr magazine who I was on assignment with for the third time at Wonderland Festival and there were more shows to come.

-Lloyd Marken

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