July 11. Day 192. Dive in with with both hands

Consider this. A hijacked aircraft with 164 passengers on board is heading towards a football stadium packed with 70,000 people.  A fighter pilot decides the needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few and breaks the law shooting the plane and killing all the passengers. Is the pilot a hero or a villain? This courtroom drama, which puts the audience in the jury box, is coming direct from London is one of the headline shows of this year's Brisbane Festival. Terror is just one of 11 Australian premieres in the 22 days of awesomeness that is the Brisbane Festival. The 490 free and ticketed events include music, theatre, circus, cabaret, dance comedy and five world premieres. Whether your "thing" is a drag queen singing the works of Shirley Bassey or seeing Tim Sharp's comic book hero Laser Beak man come to life on stage, the festival has it covered. The difficult thing is working out what to see. Perhaps I will start with Riverfire that finishes the festival and work backwards. Festival artistic director David Berthold says " trust your gut, dive in and take chances. A festival is a feast, not a snack.  There is no single show that will appeal to all tastes and give you a finished festival experience. That's not how festivals work. You'll need both hands." I think I might need not just both hands but both feet as well.
Listen to our discussion with David Berthold at the launch

Trust your gut, dive in and take chances.

A festival is a feast, not a snack. There is no single

show that will appeal to all tastes and give you a finished

festival experience. That’s not how festivals work.

You’ll need both hands.

Australian premieres, more than 490 ticketed

performances and free events in the city’s theatres

and venues.