What’s on in Brisbane this month

The year’s not done yet. As spring rolls into summer, the cultural forecast in Brisbane is looking just as lively. See free live music in the park, experience world-class ballet rarely seen in Brisbane and let loose at Wonderland Festival – the city is your playground during November. Here is what’s on in Brisbane this month.

Writers + Ideas
Conversation Series

See some of your favourite personalities at live chats about everything from politics to dinner parties. Annabel Crabb, journalist Mike Carlton and chef Stephanie Alexander will all appear in candid conversations at Writers + Ideas to celebrate the release of their new books.

See our interview with Stephanie Alexander.

Until 8 November at Brisbane Powerhouse

International Series
Ballet

Italy’s Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company (La Scala for short) is one of the world’s oldest and most respected ballet companies, and is appearing exclusively in Brisbane this month. This is the first time the company has performed in Australia, and the season features two shows: the lively Don Quixote and the haunting Giselle.

7–18 November at QPAC

The Finders Keepers
Markets

From ceramics to fashion and beautiful knick-knacks crafted by hand, The Finders Keepers is a trove of discovery. This market is conveniently happening just before Christmas, giving you a chance to support local designers and makers as you get a head start on gift shopping.

9–11 November at Brisbane Showgrounds

Bespoke
Ballet

After launching in 2017, Queensland Ballet is bringing back Bespoke. In collaboration with Expressions Dance Company, this production challenges assumptions about dance. This redefined experience is performed together with film, photography and sculpture.

9–17 November at Brisbane Powerhouse

Avenue Q
Theatre

Brisbane Arts Theatre is ending its 2019 mainstage season with side-splitting laughs. Avenue Q is so popular, it’s back for its fifth outing. Billed as Sesame Street for adults, this politically incorrect puppet show isn’t one for the kids.

10 November to 22 December at Brisbane Arts Theatre

British Film Festival
Cinema

Kicking off on a quintessentially British note, this year’s British Film Festival opens with the Australian premiere of Colette; a period biopic starring Keira Knightly. It is just one of a string of films making their Australian premiere – see Stan & Ollie, My Generation, King of Thieves, Anna and the Apocalypse, Ophelia and Interlude in Prague (and more) before they hit cinemas.

Until 14 November at Palace Cinemas

New Worlds Tour
Music

Bill Murray, everybody! Performing at QPAC for one night only, Bill Murray will take to the stage with world-renowned cellist Jan Vogler for their New Worlds tour. The show is an exploration of music and literature that will see Murray singing on stage and performing readings from the likes of Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway.

16 November at QPAC

Neon Tiger

Theatre

For its final show of the year, La Boite presents a new Australian musical love story. Set amid the buzz of Bangkok, Neon Tiger follows Australian traveller Andy as he tries to run away from heartbreak but winds up finding love in karaoke bar. The new work features original songs set to the beat of Bangkok’s nightlife.

Until 17 November at La Boite

Simon Gledhill
Music

Simon Gledhill is reshaping orchestra music. Part of the American Theatre Organ Society’s prestigious Hall of Fame, Gledhill is appearing in Brisbane to perform a program of British light music, including selections from Wally Stott, Frederic Curzon, Jack Strachey, Sidney Torch, and stage and screen classics.

17 November at Kelvin Grove State College

Mahler 8
Orchestra

Guest conductor Maestro Johannes Fritzsch returns to the Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra for a special performance of Gustav Mahler's epic Eighth Symphony, which is known as the Symphony of a Thousand due to the number of performers required to play the composition.

23 November at QPAC

Cine Latino Film Festival
Cinema

From Argentina to Brazil and Costa Rica, Latin America is a culturally vibrant part of the world. Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma (Mexico) opens this year's Cine Latino Film Festival, with a compelling chronicle of a turbulent year in the lives of a middle-class family in 1970s Mexico City. Other highlights include Birds of Passage (Colombia), the comedy How to Break Up with Your Douchebag (Mexico) and a Cuban retrospective.

21 November to 2 December at Palace Cinemas

Wonderland Festival
Carnival

It’s fun, frivolous and the perfect place to let your hair down as the year starts to draw to a close. Wonderland Festival is Brisbane Powerhouse’s annual carnival of burlesque, circus, comedy and music that’s curated to tap into the weird and wonderful mood we all inhibit just before the festive season. The program features 25 events ranging from illusionists to a Happily Never After cabaret.

22 November to 2 December to Brisbane Powerhouse

Time To Go
Theatre

Time To Go is a celebration of diversity staged by inclusive theatre company Blue Roo in partnership with Centacare. The lively performance full of music, mayhem (and a few knock-knock jokes for good measure) tells the story of Marvin and Luna, who are overcoming prejudice so they can join the Ship of Hope together with an envoy of climate-change refugees headed for Mars.

22–24 November at QPAC

The Designers' Guide: Easton Pearson Archive
Exhibition

This fabulously stylish exhibition takes you behind the scenes of the iconic Easton Pearson fashion house. The Designers' Guide features more than more than 200 garments from the label’s colourful archive together with sketches, accessories, samples, lookbooks, photographs, interviews and anecdotes – all of which paint a rich picture of technical innovation and daring creativity.

23 November to 22 April, 2019 at Museum of Brisbane

APT9
Exhibition

One of the most anticipated exhibitions of the year opens at GOMA this month. The ambitious scale of APT brings art from right across the Asia-Pacific region to Brisbane, offering colourful and lively cross-cultural insights. Contemporary works by artists from more than 30 countries feature in APT9 – a massive (and free) exhibition happening all summer.

24 November to 28 April, 2019 at Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art

Underworld

Exhibition

The latest exhibition at The Workshops Rail Museum is a fascinating look at the seedy underbelly of the roaring twenties. Underworld features 130 candid mugshots of crime bosses and petty criminals alike, plus a monthly Speakeasy Series with talks, silent film screenings and workshops.

Until 24 February 2019 at The Workshops Rail Museum

Pictured: Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company

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