In an achingly beautiful story that spans four generations and two continents, this powerful drama is an investigation of mortality and family, of shared experience and inherited legacies, of the strength of nature and the compassion of humanity.

Join Ipswich’s THAT Production Company on a breath-taking mystery in collaboration with a passionate creative team of performers and artists, and a story from one of Australia’s most acclaimed and successful playwrights, Andrew Bovell (Lantana, Strictly Ballroom, The Secret River).

Featuring a blend of music, movement and digital artistry, all set on a revolving stage, When the Rain Stops Falling will transport you through time and space, reality and dreaming, life and death.

When the Rain Stops Falling
27-28 May 2016
JWCOCA, Brisbane
www.judithwrightcentre.com

This colourful new creation by Circa’s youth ensemble showcases the circus skills of 15 talented artists ranging from ages eight to 19. Featuring trapeze, table sliding, tumbling sequences and breathtaking acrobatics ‘a little wonder’ brilliantly mixes the worlds of circus, theatre and dance to tell a beautiful story of growing up in today’s world.

Circa Zoo is Circa’s extension performance program for talented young people who dare to create and deliver spectacular contemporary circus art through performance. Based in the Circa studio at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Fortitude Valley, the Circa Zoo program is just one of many circus training programs run by internationally renowned contemporary circus company, Circa.

a little wonder: Circa Zoo
Performance Space – JWCOCA, Brisbane
Wednesday 9 to Friday 11 December 2015, 7pm
www.judithwrightcentre.com

International sensation Scotch & Soda returns to the Judy in November for a cocktail of physical feats and jazz beats performed by daredevil acrobats and mesmerising musicians. Scotch & Soda was the stand-out hit of the 2014 Brisbane Festival, so don’t miss this spectacular return season. Tickets are available now from www.judithwrightcentre.com

Scotch & Soda is a heady mixer of risk-taking circus skill and rip-roaring humour, with a chaser of flair and originality. The heartbeat is the Uncanny Carnival Band, a rumpled troupe who underscore the action with their toe-tapping fusion of jazz and music hall. Featuring fresh top-shelf tricks, it’s time you tried Scotch & Soda!

Some of Australia’s most thrilling acrobats (including Company 2’s Chelsea McGuffin and David Carberry) are joined by Ben Walsh and the Uncanny Carnival Band a whiskey-infused evening of raucous dance and dexterous feats, in a show that has astounded audiences at the the Dublin Fringe Festival, The London Wonderground, the Edinburgh Christmas Festival, Woodford Folk Festival and Sydney Festival.

Channeling the vibe of a rowdy speakeasy from a bygone era, Scotch & Soda makes the perfect aperitif for an extraordinary evening.

Scotch & Soda
Wednesday 18 to Saturday 28 November
Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts
www.judithwrightcentre.com

The brainchild of internationally-acclaimed singer-songwriter Emma Dean, Emma & the Hungry Truth are a sight to behold when performing live. Their musicianship and camaraderie is only matched by their fierce stagecraft and otherworldly aesthetic.

Sonically, the band consists of piano, synth, drum kit, cello, electric guitar, violin and vocals. Group tribal drumming compounds their cutting-edge sound, which is coloured with obscure instruments including theremin, glockenspiel and clap sticks.

With nods to Queen and Kate Bush, but with an explosive sound that’s all their own, Emma & the Hungry Truth has performed around Australia, including an invitation to appear at Hobart’s acclaimed MONA FOMA festival. They head back to the Judith Wright Centre after a mid-2015 US tour.

Their debut EP Feast (produced by multi-ARIA winner Paul McKercher) has been released to rave reviews and exemplifies the band’s undeniable pop appeal, while delivering a genre-bending eargasm that satisfies the soul.

Emma & the Hungry Truth – Feast on You
Friday 21 & Saturday 22 August, 7:30pm
Performance Space – JWCOCA
www.judithwrightcentre.com

Asked about writing her autobiography, Judy Garland stated: “When you’ve lived the life I’ve lived, when you’ve loved and suffered, and been madly happy and desperately sad – well, that’s when you realise you’ll never be able to set it all down. Maybe you’d rather die first.”

And die she did. In 1969.

But now she’s finally done it, her autobiography is hot off the heavenly presses and she wants to share it with you! This is the come back to end all come backs. Garland in her own words and on her own terms. Coming clean about those nasty rumours and Hollywood hallucinations. Reunited with her musical director Mort Lindsey, she’s ready to reminisce, sing some old favourites and try out some new numbers she’s been working on beyond the grave.

Judy Strikes Back
Thursday 13 to Saturday 15 August, 7:30pm
Performance Space, JWCOCA
www.judithwrightcentre.com

Originally inspired by mementos left by WWII Paratrooper Richard Matthaei, the grandfather of Phluxus2 co-founder Nerida Matthaei, this Brisbane-based dance collective has created an entangled world where stories of wars, historical imaginings and harsh realities become knotted, interwoven and laid bare. The Paratrooper Project sees Phluxus2 examine military, political and personal histories and their impact on our everyday. They interrogate how these histories have imprinted our present and explore the stains they will leave on our tomorrow.

The Paratrooper Project is a unique experience, told through dance theatre installation. The audience is invite into an immersive space that falls and shifts as the artists manipulate the fabric of time.

Enter the trenches of our past and present conflicts. Survey our heritage. Contest our imagined memories. Explore how the past has divided our present generations. Question what this might mean for our future.

… will this residue harden into a layer protecting us against a battle yet to come, or will it peel and crumble to dust, allowing us to step forward into a better tomorrow?

Phluxus2 Dance Collective (creator of last year’s de-generator) is an award winning and ‘boundary bashing’ dance company founded in 2006. Their work explores complex movement vocabularies that turn traditions of performance on its head. The company consists of a diverse range of established Brisbane dance professionals and contemporary performers.

The Paratrooper Project
Saturday 27 June to Saturday 4 July 2015, 7:30pm
Performance Space – JWCOCA
www.judithwrightcentre.com

Meet Jenny. She’s 15. Life’s pretty crazy right now. Jenny lives in a small Queensland mining town, she’s falling in love for the first time and every afternoon she has to work the fryer at the Chook Nook, where the only thing more tasteless than the chicken is her boss’ fake tan.

Developed in consultation with young people from communities across Central Queensland, Fly-In Fly-Out is an hilarious and touching play that shows how we all strive to adapt when our world changes around us.

From the makers of the critically-acclaimed Snagged, Ithaca Road, and Chasing the Lollyman.

Fly-In Fly-Out at JWCOCA
Wednesday 10 to Friday 12 June 2015
Performance Space, Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts –  Fortitude Valley
www.judithwrightcentre.com

Fly In Fly Out – Trailer from debase productions on Vimeo.

Featuring accomplished circus artists aged 11 to 18, the imaginative tale of memory, dreams and friendship is inspired by the artists’ own stories.

The intimate tales weave in an array of circus skills including breathtaking aerials, amazing acrobatics, gusty German wheel and extraordinary juggling to create a heart-warming performance perfect for audiences of all ages.

The fun continues after the show, with burgeoning circus stars feeling inspired invited to join staff from Flipside’s training centre for post-performance circus activities in the Judith Wright Centre’s Shopfront.

“It’s all very nostalgic” says Stories from the Sky director Alyssa Venning. “The performance leaves you feeling as though you’ve just stepped out of a whimsical dream, or been on a ride through out-of-space.”

Beginning the process with a week-long development earlier this year, Alyssa and the young performers have been training three times a week at the Flipside training centre in Alderley in preparation for the season.

Since beginning in 1998, Flipside Circus has developed a reputation for spectacular shows and superior contemporary circus training.

Following nine years working in programming at Brisbane Powerhouse, William Pike has recently joined the Flipside team as CEO to contribute to the company’s continued success.

“I love working in a place where we encourage safe risk taking, hard work, showing off and laughter, as well as building trust and young people’s capacity as creators,” says William.

“Being able to contribute to a young person’s development as a creative thinker is what I love most.”

Any performance from these fresh-faced, fit and fearless artists is sure to delight the whole family – so be sure to book your seats now for a school holiday experience where the imaginary becomes reality, flying is perfectly possible and dreams really do come true.

Flipside Circus – Stories from the Sky at JWCOCA
Tuesday 14 to Saturday 18 April
11am daily, plus 2pm Thursday and Saturday
Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts
www.judithwrightcentre.com

The play is a dark comedic drama exploring the life, art, psyche and sexuality of charismatic artist Francis Bacon, once famously described by Margaret Thatcher as “that man who paints those dreadful pictures.”

Bacon’s controversial reputation began during his tumultuous youth when he was beaten and banished from the family home after being caught wearing his mother’s stockings. He then travelled extensively throughout Europe and took a variety of jobs – and lovers – to survive, before his paintings gained attention in the 1930s for their bold, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Success and tragedy can go hand in when you are determined to live life to the full and despite Bacon’s work selling at record breaking values, the bon vivant was haunted by the deeply personal losses of those he loved most dearly.

Writer/performer Garry Roost, known from his work in East Enders, The Bill and Black Books, had been told repeatedly of his resemblance to Francis Bacon and it was these continued comparisons that first sparked his interest in the artist.

“After researching him I immediately became struck by what an incredible human being he was,” he says. “Playing Francis has obsessed me for the past three years.”

POPE HEAD, which draws on the words and thoughts of Bacon himself, has surprised audiences with Roost’s ability to capture Bacon’s mannerisms and personality so completely.

“Maggie Skawinski, a close confidante of Bacon, came to a performance and remarked to a friend ‘it’s Francis’.

“A lot of my performance relies on instinct and a kinship of sorts” reflects Roost. “I have a natural understanding of the complexity of the man.

“I think the most powerful aspect of his legacy is how he grasped life with both hands. Bacon truly understood life.” Brisbane will be the last stop on POPE HEAD’s Australian East Coast tour, which will include performances in a number of Melbourne art galleries and a two week season in Sydney alongside the 2015 Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

POPE HEAD – The Secret Life of Francis Bacon
Fri 13 & Sat 14 March, 7:30pm
Venue Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts
420 Brunswick St (Cnr Berwick St), Fortitude Valley
www.judithwrightcentre.com

The 1950s inspired radio talkback show features songs of yesteryear from Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Eartha Kitt, along with a dose of dodgy relationship advice from these self-appointed “experts on love”.

Barbara and Barry (real life couple Melissa Western and Tnee Dyer) will charm lovers and lonely hearts with their  knockout vocals, virtuosic piano playing, witty repartee… and something they call ‘erotic spoons’.

Just in time for the valentine season, audiences can get in on the fun of this interactive cabaret by requesting a love song dedication online, which Barbara and Barry will perform in front of their ‘live studio audience’.

The brassy banter between the pair is a laugh-out-loud delight as the vintage musical duo solve – or at least, attempt to solve – dilemmas of the heart submitted on the Barbara and Barry website.

Always adored by audiences, Melissa and Tnee have collaborated on stage for more than a decade, performing to critical acclaim at Brisbane Festival, Queensland Music Festival, plus regular appearances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

After wowing crowds at Woodford Folk Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Canterbury International Arts Festival, the Judy season of Sweet, Sour and Saucy will launch Barbara and Barry’s final Aussie performances for some time.

Recently awarded a Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, Melissa will travel throughout the UK with her family in tow during the second half of 2015.

The golden age of radio gets a whole new spin this summer, so for a night out of the Sweet, Sour and Saucy variety book in with Barbara and Barry now!

Sweet, Sour and Saucy
Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 February
Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Brisbane
www.judithwrightcentre.com