Cheering on queer theatre

THE best of Australia’s LGBTQIA+ poets, writers, playwrights, and performers, will descend upon Ballarat later this month as part of the first in what is hoped to become an annual tradition.

The inaugural Festival of Australian Queer Theatre will present four days of theatrical offerings held between three local venues.

Artistic director Dr Robert Reid said the festival is about presenting what the nation’s queer theatre creatives have to offer.

“This is to celebrate the Australian queer theatre community and to bring nationally and internationally renowned theatre makers to Ballarat,” they said.

“They can meet and talk and share their work, and talk about what the community might need out of a festival like this.”

Following the first of two performances of nudist Frankie van Kan’s A Body of Work show, held on Thursday, the program will kick off the next day with a conference hosted by ArtsHub national performing arts editor Richard Watts.

Saturday’s offerings will see two Ballarat creatives presenting Short Showings including Queer Faerie Tales by Em Chandler, and Ariel Songs, a choral work inspired by William Shakespeare’s The Tempest helmed by Federation University Arts Academy director Professor Richard Chew.

A writing and practice workshop on pattern, flow, and disruption from Maude Davey will also be on offer on the Saturday, as well as a three-hour session by Moira Finucane on creating with urgency.

For those looking purely for entertainment, the evening will see a neo-vaudevillian variety show Polite Mammals presented by The Wholesome Hour, as well as Numa and Karl: Extraordinary Man That He Was, written by Chandler, and Perpetual Horror.

The festival will be closed out on the Sunday with a full script reading of Dax Carney-Hanrahan’s Chasing Dick: A Love Story, followed by an exploration of Australian queer theatre canon hosted by director and historian John Kachoyan.

Dr Reid said it’s important to introduce an event that highlights queer theatre specifically.

“Australian theatre is terrible at telling its own story and the queer side is a big part of that story so being able to talk about that and celebrate that is really important,” they said.

“Especially for regional communities, theatre and performance saves queer lives. It gives you community, a place to express yourself, and to say this is who I am.”

The program will be held across LaNCE TV studios at Camp Street, Federation University’s Arts Academy, and the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute.

The Festival of Australian Queer Theatre will run from Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 August.

To browse the program schedule or book tickets for one of the festival’s events, visit faqt.au.