Experience the story of Warumpi Band, the original First Peoples rock band to sing in language at the rock 'n' roll theatre show Big Name, Name No Blankets. In 1968 a group of Torres Strait Islander workers laid an incredible 7km of railway, hear their story in Straight From The Strait, a musical homage fusing traditional music and contemporary melodies. Find your freak at Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show as music, costume, and couture work together at one of the festival’s premier shows. Tune into these exciting music-packed shows featuring at Brisbane Festival.
Find your groove as music and theatre work in perfect harmony at these shows! Brisbane Festival is set to present an engaging lineup of stage productions, inspired-by and featuring music. Audiences can look forward to a diverse array of performances, from compelling dramas to delightful musicals.
28 – 31 Aug
Straight From The Strait
This production reverberates with the power of song, a harmonious fusion of traditional Torres Strait music and contemporary melodies. Through the vibrant ancestral languages of Meriam Mir, Kala Lagaw Ya and Torres Strait Creole combined with English and the backbeat of a contemporary band, it tells a tale that pulses with passion and inspiration.
Developed through collaboration and consultation with the Yumpla Nerkep Foundation and Torres Strait Islander artists, Elders, and communities, this project is led by a team of First Nations creatives, performers, musicians, and cultural advisors.
30 Aug – 15 Sep
Jean Paul Gaultier’s Fashion Freak Show
An explosive combination of both a musical revue and fashion show, the production depicts the sensational life of Jean Paul Gaultier against a backdrop of his generation’s most defining political and cultural changes. As author, director and costume designer, Jean Paul Gaultier takes a look at our times in both an extravagant and tender way and invites us behind the scenes into his world filled with excess, poetry and magic.
20 – 21 Sep
Big Name, No Blankets
Big Name, No Blankets celebrates the phenomenal journey and impact of Sammy Tjapanangka Butcher, one of the founding members of Australian music icons Warumpi Band in an epic rock 'n' roll theatre show. Warumpi Band is the original First Peoples rock band to sing in language, known for their anthems 'Blackfella/Whitefella', 'My Island Home' and 'Jailanguru Pakurnu'. Big Name, No Blankets is inspired by their rise to the top through their politics, presence, and potent rock 'n' roll riffs.
31 Aug – 7 Sep
Meet Your Maker
A high-octane, pop-fuelled debut premiere from Blak Social’s Alethea Beetson (Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi and Wiradjuri). Meet Your Maker is not based on a true story… but it is based on a true feeling. A split second before the biggest show of her career, an Indigenous pop artist goes missing. Wrestling with every choice she’s ever made, our icon traverses deep time to meet her makers in an attempt to discover the truth.
