Across the Aisle

Welcome to the LAST EPISODE of Across the Aisle. That's right, after 4 years and 48 episodes we are ending. This episode is our Yirramboi special, covering Joel Bray's Daddy and Ngioka Bunda-Heath and Tracey Bunda's Blood Quantum. Join us for a greatest hits look at our back catalogue during intermission - where we both award our top 3 of the past 4 years and a wooden spoon!

The gang saw Aspergers musical cabaret The Aspie Hour and Michelle Law's debut play Single Asian Female at Melbourne International Comedy Festival. During "Intermission" we talked the rest of the fest, primarily Maria Bamford, DeAnne Smith and Sweaty Pitts Pity Party. And in "Coming Soon" we chat our attendance at the Green Room Awards and the upcoming Australian Podcast Awards.

Hello! It's been too long since our last chat. In this episode the gang envision story telling beyond the apocalypse with Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Lightning Jar Theatre; and we return to the lofty heights of the Sofitel to experience Joel Bray's immersive and intimate dance piece, Biladurang.

In this episode the gang discuss two vital, new Australian, works - Become the One by Lab Kelpie and Barbara and the Camp Dogs at Malthouse Theatre. During intermission things get heated when Carla and Philip discuss whether non-queer people should play queer roles and Coming Soon features all the women at Melbourne International Comedy Festival we would like to see.

This month Team Aisle go gayer and queerer than usual with our annual Midsumma show. We cover Sara Ward's incredible space rock opera The Legend of Queen Kong Episode II and our second show is Adam Ibrahim and Samuel Russo's queering of Jean Genet's The Maids.

Join us for a special episode covering The Infirmary - a Triage Live Art Collective immersive experience. This episode is told in the first person of our experience in surrendering to the process of death and care. We hope you enjoy it.

It's summer! The gang bring you all summer related goods including how to be a Badass by Tash York at The Butterfly Club and Suddenly Last Summer by Little Ones Theatre at Red Stitch. During intermission we discuss the mini-series Waco and King Lear via National Theatre Live. Coming soon heralds Midsumma - top picks include Merciless Gods, The Legend of Queen Kong Ep II + The Homosapiens. Also there is Christian Marclay's 24 hour video piece The Clock at ACMI and MON FOMA, Sydney Festival.

Melbourne International Arts Festival episode! The gang talk all things festival - featuring Song For a Weary Throat by Rawcus Ensemble (and featuring the Invenio Singers) and Re-Member Me by Dickie Beau. Intermission chats include the Elysian Ensemble and Hubei Symphony Orchestra.

This month the gang have two very disparate experiences - Do You Know Me? a site specific work on homelessness for Melbourne Fringe Festival and Spartacus, the brand new production of a very old tale by the Australian Ballet. During intermission MOMA at NGV a given D- and both hosts discuss their favourite works from the recent Fringe Festival. Coming soon recommends include classical music and visual art.

The gang are joined by a very special guest Richard Watts, Australia's pre-eminent arts journalist, arts advocate and homosexualist, together they cover Samarah Hersch's Dybbuks at Theatreworks and Nakkiah Lui's Blackie Blackie Brown at the Malthouse Theatre.

The gang go and see William Tell by Victorian Opera and The Death of Walt Disney by MKA. We talk feudal hipster DILFS, gender non-binary opera representations, exploding apple fails, soprano sexism, our current favourite podcasts, the myths about lemmings and Korean garbage disposal.

The gang see The Australian Ballet's latest contemporary dance piece "Verve" and Justin Shoulder's "Carrion" at Arts House, where the future human is a shapeshifting turtle. During intermission we revisit The Crown and Queer Eye and discuss snacking methods for festival season, our late MIFF picks and suggestions for stoner film experience

The gang get dilated pupils of lust at Little Ones Theatre adaptation of Oscar Wilde's poem The Nightingale and the Rose - staged at Theatre Works. They then spend quality time with an Indigenous family rocked by suicide in Brothers Wreck at The Malthouse. Both performances affected our hosts quite deeply.

Jasmine Moseley of the The Australian Ballet joins us for Intermission and Coming Soon - featuring the Head On Photo Festival and virtual reality in Canberra. This month's shows discussed are De Stroyed by Jillian Murray and Suzanne Chaundy Director at fortyfivedownstairs and The House of Bernarda Alba - an Australian reimagining of the Federico Garcia Lorca play, by Patricia Cornelius and Leticia Ines Caceres at Melbourne Theatre Company.

An intriguing pair of one-woman shows are discussed: Jodee Mundy's "Personal" at Arts House plus "Fleabag" by Phoebe Waller-Bridge at the Malthouse. Are family tragedies always comic? At intermission, contemporary art in Kyneton and "Unsane" on Soderbergh's phone.

Our shows this month take us to 70's England, dripping with middle class malaise in Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party (via the MTC). We then move into industrialised robot lady future and beyond with Angela Goh's Uncanny Valley, Girl, as part of the Festival of Live Art. Carla and Phil also chat in depth about Phantom Thread, classical music in Collingwood carparks (Penny Quartet/Play On), Dark Mofo, MSO Metropolis new music festival and Fleabag.

This month the gang talk cycling in Melbourne, Queer Eye, Philip finds out what MAFS means and all our MQFF and Comedy Festival tips. But more importantly our shows for this month are Taylor Mac's Hir at Red Stitch and Good Muslim Boy at the Malthouse.

Happy Midsumma! This months episode celebrates all things queer and DRAG. Carla and Philip go and see two very different drags shows - the development separated by 20+ years but still very similar in sentiment. The reboot of the musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and the brand new play Dragged by Tasmanian playwright Andy Aisbett.

In this summer edition of the podcast, Carla and Philip remember their top cultural and theatrical experiences of 2017, awarding informal (but very prestigious) gongs to their Best Ofs. Stage shows are muddled in the second half of the episode with film, television, political movements and the visual arts.

In the true spirit of globalisation the gang go and see Henry the V by Shakespeare, presented by London's The Globe Theatre in a POP UP staffed by Kiwi actors, down at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Our second show this month is the new(ish) Australian play by Sandra Fiona Long - Birdcage Thursdays. A tender exploration about ageing parents, mental illness and social stigma.

Across the Aisle's October episode every year is devoted to Melbourne Festival. This year the gang attended a 6 hour performance by Taylor Mac and a panel of elderly people talking about their sex lives.

A new play about adoption and a water ballet about menstruation are discussed. At intermission, Carla and Philip talk Melbourne Fringe [gamelan + improvised Shakespeare] and brand new Star Trek.

Covering Nightdance by Melanie Lane at Arts House and David Williamson's new work Credentials at La Mama, two very different works that we felt beautifully book ended the spectrum of work we can see in Melbourne.

One company, two productions and a special guest! In this queer episode of Across the Aisle, Carla and Philip attend "The Moors" at Red Stitch and "Merciless Gods" at Northcote Town Hall, considering the work of Little Ones Theatre across two sites. Podcast supporter Wesa Chau joins them at intermission to share her insights, and the guide to Melbourne Fringe is riffled.

In this episode, Carla and Philip review Fraught Outfit's "The Book of Exodus, Part I" at Theatre Works; and Malthouse Theatre's "Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again." Both of these productions spark talk about identity, representation and dressing up. There is also a scandalous Secret Intermission in which one of us gets reviewed!

Special Guest Lisa Dempster joins Carla and Philip to discuss two productions: Lara Kramer's "Native Girl Syndrome" at Yirramboi - First Nations Arts Festival; and Katy Warner's "Spencer" produced by Lab Kelpie at Chapel off Chapel.

This month the gang visit with Joan of Arc through The Rabble's theatrical invocation of the saint. Then they are back at 45 Downstairs to have a tour of the Cascades Female Factory in This is Eden. The team discuss the feminist art moment of Handmaid's Tale, Joan, This is Eden and Hannah Gadsby's Nannette converging on the same fortnight.

Carla and Philip head onto a bus and explore Docklands in the compelling and site specific piece Passenger, presented by Women of the World Festival and Footscray Arts Centre. They then head over to sit in line at The Arts Centre for Tix and Six and get to see The Australian Ballet's contemporary program Faster.

In this episode, Carla and Philip see something very familiar at the Malthouse [The Homosexuals, or Faggots] and something much less familiar at La Mama Courthouse [The Age of Bones, part of AsiaTOPA]. Profundity ensues.

A special episode at Melbourne's 30th Midsumma Festival. Carla and Philip take in two shows from this celebration of queer culture: I Am My Own Wife and The Happy Prince. At intermission, they banter about Hobart's MONA FOMA and the Golden Gaytime Crumb Shed. Happy Midsumma!

Philip and Carla and joined by special guest Julien to discuss Nicola Gunn's latest production "The Interpreters" at the Alliance Française. Then they see "Hot Brown Honey" at Arts Centre Melbourne. At intermission they discuss Susie Dee's "Animal" at Theatre Works as well as their latest TV obsessions.

In this episode, a pair of local explorations of Australian culture and identity: Nakkiah Lui's "Blaque Showgirls" at Malthouse Theatre and David Joseph's "Deceptive Threads" at 45 Downstairs. Also ACMI, Arrival, Messiah, hay fever and robbing banks!

In this Melbourne Festival episode, Carla and Philip take in Back to Back Theatre's "Lady Eats Apple" at Hamer Hall and Gob Squad's "War and Peace" at the Malthouse. Plus intermission banter about other Festival experiences. What does the Festival feel like under its new Artistic Director?

Carla returns and the gang goes to MTC's Lilith: The Jungle Girl and Two Dogs - presented by Melbourne International Arts Festival. Intermission banter is a long time coming catch up, coming soon discusses the NGV and Melbourne International Arts Festival.

In this special episode we discuss Neon Sarcophagus with the works creator Katie Sfetkidis. Neon Sarcophagus was one of the works experienced by Carla and Philip at the recent FOLA event Hotel Obscura. Across the Aisle gets the perspective from a performer in Hotel Obscura, what it was like on the other side of that hotel door - was it as nerve wracking for them?

In this episode, Philip and special guest Dion Kagan discuss two adaptations of classic texts: The Mill On The Floss at Theatre Works and Edward II at Malthouse Theatre; plus, at intermission, theatre at the cinema and the "bath of humanity" that is MIFF.

In this special edition of the podcast, Philip and Carla go their separate ways to experience boutique one-on-one immersive theatre in Hotel Obscura by Triage Live Art Collective. Will they make it through Incursion, Elegy and Neon Sarcophagus to The Vinyl Lounge?

Carla and Philip are joined by a special guest to celebrate their twelfth episode. Reviews of 'The Glass Menagerie' [Belvoir] and 'In The Bleak Midwinter' [The Rabble] are interspersed with hot tips about MIFF, the Australian Ballet and mini-golf.

Carla and Philip discuss Young Jean Lee's Straight White Men at the MTC; then they travel Southside to encounter the joyous Bright World at Theatreworks.

Philip and Carla are joined in the studio by Dion Kagan, Across the Aisle's first ever special guest! The trio discusses Boutique Theatre's double bill of new Australian works: Matthew Sini's "Madame Bast" and Samantha Cunningham's "Don't Tell the Women"; then they debrief the latest production of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" by Bell Shakespeare.

Carla and Philip go to North Melbourne Town Hall for the Festival of Live Art's "Town Hall Ticket," and also Her Majesty's Theatre for the Australian musical "Georgy Girl."

Philip and Carla talk about Art Centre Melbourne's reboot of Melbourne Theatre Company's "North by Northwest," then Malthouse Theatre's production of "Picnic at Hanging Rock." Plus, at intermission, the Netflix series "Love" and this year's (terrible) White Night.

Philip and Carla discuss "Elegy" at Gasworks Arts Park for Midsumma, then dive deep with Meow Meow's "The Little Mermaid". At intermission there is much discussion about Our Cate, both the ACMI exhibition and Carol.

Philip and Carla discuss "The Medea Project" at Brunswick Art Space, then give a preview of the 2016 seasons of several Melbourne theatre companies.

We discuss Nicola Gunn's latest production "Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster" plus Little Ones Theatre's silent film style retelling of Bram Stoker's "Dracula."

In this Melbourne Festival episode, Carla and Philip overview the festival with a special focus on two productions: Desdemona at Southbank Theatre and The Bacchae at Theatre Works.

We discuss Detroit written by Lisa D'Amour and produced by Red Stitch Actors Theatre. We also cover Sophocles' Antigone adapted by Jane Montgomery Griffiths and produced by Malthouse Theatre.

In our second episode we discuss I Am a Miracle written by Declan Greene and produced by The Malthouse Theatre. We also cover Picnic written by Marieke Hardy and produced by KAGE Theatre.

In our first episode we discuss Melbourne Theatre Company's Neon Season - the "Festival of Independent Theatre". We cover Gary Abrahams/Dirty Pretty Things "The Lonely Wolf", Patricia Cornelius' "SHIT" and Elbow Rooms "We Get It".