Ten top shows to see at Midsumma

Spilling out across 70 different venues around the city, Melbourne’s queer cultural festival Midsumma presents the avid arts lover with a traditional challenge: just what the hell to see? After trawling through over 100 events listed in the festival guide, here are some of our recommended highlights. But don’t just take our word for it – check out the festival for yourself!

ALL LUBRA’D UP
Sit back in the decadent surrounds of Southside cabaret venue Red Bennies and let the deadly Indigenous trio of Constantina Bush and the Bushettes entertain you. Constantina (the audacious alter ego of Gurindji man and visual artist Kamahi Djordon King) will take you from a Northern Territory cattle station to the bright lights of the big city as she tells you the story of her quest to become Aboriginal Australia’s darling (and daring) diva. A smash hit at the Dreaming Festival.
January 27 – 30

BANQUET 2011 ANTHOLOGY LAUNCH
It’s hardly surprising that Melbourne was named a UNESCO City of Literature in August 2008, given the city’s vibrant independent publishing sector. One such publisher – a new arrival on the scene – is banQuet Press (owned and operated by Laura Dettori and Deanne Carson) which aims to create publishing opportunities for emerging and recently established queer Australian writers and artists; and to provide Australian queer readers stories with a local flavour. Following the success of their first collection of writings by queer Australian women, banQuet Press launch a new edition of banQuet 2010: an anthology of art and writing from queer Australian women at the iconic bookshop Hares & Hyenas. Later the same night they’ll also launch their latest endeavour, banQuet 2011, an edgy anthology by and for queer men.
February 4

THE BLUE SHOW
Fierce, funny and astoundingly physical, this new production from Melbourne’s world famous Circus Oz is performed in the intimate confines of the 100 year old Melba Spiegeltent at Docklands. Physical feats and musical treats are combined with the ratbag, larrikin humour for which Circus Oz are renowned, a heady and happy combination from which you’re sure to come away smiling.. Hailed as ‘daring, charismatic, distinctive and stunningly physical’ by Arts Hub reviewer Patricia Maunder, this adults-only production is simply not to be missed. Circus arts don’t get more in your face than this – especially when you’re sitting in the front row!
January 13 – February 6.

DE PROFUNDIS
X-Road Collective’s theatrical response to Oscar Wilde’s remarkable essay on spirituality and faith, written during his imprisonment at Reading Gaol in the form of a letter addressed to his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. Written and performed by Warren Herbu (Best Male Actor, Act Provocateur Solo Festival, London, 2007), De Profundis re-imagines the imprisoned Wilde as legendary entertainer, Oh So Wilde. Trapped in a dark and lonely cell, Oh So Wilde strives to rise from the depths of his despair by spellbinding his inmates with a deliciously searing saga of love and tragedy. A creative celebration of the Wildean values of imagination, invention and inconsistency.
January 29 – 30

HONEY BUNNY’S SAGITTARIAN FULL MOON FINALE
A whimsical and parodic riff on war and peace, friendship and love, set in a suburban backyard in Melbourne, as a friendship group implodes under the pressure of the outside world. Written and directed by Julian Hobba, whose earlier works, Delicacy and I Do, In Caroline Springs, were critical and box office successes of previous Midsumma festivals, performed by a talented cast of recent VCA graduates, and created by an artistic team featuring some of Melbourne’s brightest emerging theatre artists.
January 26 – February 5

IDENTITY
The keystone exhibition of Queer City, the festival’s CBD-based visual arts program, Identity brings together the work of nine artists, including Catherine Johnston, Kelly Manning, Jules Renton and Matte Lucas. Working across a diverse range of media, from sculpture and pastel drawings to discarded clothing and digital photography, these artists explore various themes: love, transgender identity, the darker aspects of sexuality, and the importance of tea drinking as a ritual act between friends and strangers.
January 18 – February 5

THE LOL BIG GAY COMEDY NIGHT
Some of the best comedians in the country call Melbourne home, and the homos among them will be strutting their stuff over six nights at Collingwood’s Glasshouse Hotel. Get five gays for the price of one each week, with performers including Anthony Menchetti (“chirpy, bubbly and intensely likeable’ – The Age), the droll, dry and delightful Hannah Gadsby (winner of the Director’s Choice Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival) and Wes Snelling (‘Not bitter but quite twisted.’ – Citysearch). Seriously funny stuff.
January 20 & 21, 28 & 27, February 3 & 4, 10 & 11.

MOVIES UNDER THE STARS
A great opportunity to catch up on some of the films you may have missed at the 2010 Melbourne Queer Film Festival while simultaneously raising funds for the festival this year, Movies Under the Stars is a Midsumma institution, and lots of fun. Pack a picnic basket – remembering that there are prizes for the most impressive hamper; the inside word is that candelabra and white linen go down a treat with the judges – and join the friendly and festive crowd at the Fairfield Amphitheatre (not forgetting a cushion and a rug, as those stone seats can get a trifle uncomfortable after a few hours) for four nights of movie magic. This year’s films range from Latin loving in Little Ashes to a quirky road movie-cum-comedy about love and murder, Drool. Loads more fun than watching a DVD in your lounge room – especially when the crowd gets a little vocal!
January 21 & 22, 28 & 29.

PRODIGAL
Rather than work in his family’s fishing business, Luke runs away to Sydney. Forced to return home after coming out, his family struggles to reconcile the golden boy who left with the son who has returned. An award-winning home-grown musical from the creative team of Dean Bryant and Mathew Frank, Prodigal returns to Midsumma 11 years after its original, award-winning season. Brimming with great songs and starring a young performer to watch, recent WAAPA graduate Edward Grey, this is one of the hot ticket items at this year’s festival.
January 19 – 28

THE WEDDING
A celebration of equal rites in the Western suburbs and a public act of mass civil disobedience, The Wedding will see one lesbian couple and one gay couple publicly declare their dedication to each other in front of a marriage celebrant – and everyone’s invited to the reception! A moving example of theatre as agit-prop in a country where same-sex couples are legally discriminated against in the Federal marriage act. The Wedding is presented by The Dog Theatre in association with Footscray Community Arts Centre.
January 22

Midsumma
Celebrating queer culture
January 16 – February 6

For more details including ticketing information please see the festival’s Arts Hub event listing.