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).

All the details

What is it? The Dream Menagerie – a combined comedy, circus and performance show.

How much? $42 for adults and $32 for kids.

Where? At the Courier Mail Spiegeltent in King George Square.

When? On now till Sep 24th at 9 PM. There is no show on Mondays.

CraftGossip attended the show courtesy of Brisbane Festival.

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At first glance at My Big Toe Designs’ website, you might think you’ve stumbled upon a pretty classic cross stitch designer who makes samplers using bible verses and traditional designs.

And there is that, but if you look a little closer, you’ll see another side, with designs that call cat hair a “specialty fiber,” refer to the voices in their head saying to eat the chocolate, and that as far as everyone else knows, this is a “normal” family.

These designs are billed as whimsical on the My Big Toe Designs website, and they are that, especially compared to the other designs on the site. Who couldn’t relate to “If it’s not one thing, it’s three others” or “I barely survived yesterday and it’s already today”?

As mentioned above, in addition to the snarkier side, this designer makes a lot of samplers and inspirational designs with bible quotes and heartfelt phrases. There are also holiday designs, mostly for Christmas with a religious bent. The pinkie series offers sets of small Christmas designs that can be framed in tiny frames, used as ornaments or given as gifts.

In addition to all the patterns on offer, the website includes tutorials that show how to use stitched fabric in different ways, including making a biscornu, covering a wooden block, making a needle book, a flat ornament and an ort box (if that last one doesn’t mean anything to you, check out this post all about orts).

There also are a few free patterns on the website, including designs about winter, stitching friends, being a grandparent and more.

While you can browse all of My Big Toe Designs’ patterns on the website, you can’t actually order directly from them. But there is a list of websites on the site that you can use if you don’t have a local needlework shop that happens to carry the designs you want.

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