Review: The Dream MENAGERIE at the Courier Mail SPIEGELTENT

I wasn’t sure how to write this review. Quite perplexed actually. Just not sure what I just saw. Was it a circus act? A vaudeville performance? A comical mystery?

Or was it just a dream?

I was attending the Dream Menagerie, a new act for the annual Brisbane festival, under the guise of the Courier Mail’s SPIEGELTENT (mirror tent) at the King George Square.

The Dream merchants in this act would like you to believe that what you are seeing is not real. You are in a dream or a trance like state. There are “acts” and these are shared between a ring master, a midget, a big wannabe soprano, a French illusionist and a couple of other characters. They all work together to create an atmosphere that is anything but normal. There is magic, there is singing, there are contortionist performances and there is a donkey.

The crowd favourite moment involved the midget, a bucket on a rope and lots of bubbles. You have to be there to experience it. It was magical.

Not sure if it is suitable for small children – not because of the acts themselves, but because of loud music and strobe lighting in a secluded space; considering that this show doesn’t start till 9 PM, the Brisbane Festival people don’t want to encourage children either. Which is a shame as the show is sure to delight kids of all ages (notwithstanding the loud music and strobe lightning).

The setting itself is quite spectacular. The Spiegeltent (mirror tent) is a work of art and if you happen to be in Brisbane city, stroll down to King George square to admire it and have a drink or two in the attached beer and wine garden (better still at night).