A heartwarming, community-affirming highlight of the 150 plus queer performances on offer during this year’s Pride Fest is the huge diversity of show structures and artists involved.
Mark Isaac’s intimate and descriptive romp in the Substation took us from his youth in Scotland through to his work in palliative care and as a health worker in Melbourne.
Along the way is gentle and at time deft, dry humour collected aspects of his diagnosis with auDHD, the obligatory queer storyteller’s references to surviving coming out together with family and friends and community experiences.
In the space filled with Scottish mix music, his leather kilt and outfit options various there was nice audience participation and a Melbourne-Sydney sharing or collaboration, of which this festival is all the richer because of.
This gentle performer’s anecdotal and charming chat was yet one more part of a scintillatingly varied festival line up-where pace, personality and place shifts from show to show across the month as performers and audiences interact comfortably to be seen, be proud, be heard.
