SPOKEN WORD REVIEW: Unrequired Reading

Unrequired Reading

ZENOBIA FROST reviews Brisbane Fringe Festival event UNREQUIRED READING.

An evening of spoken word and video art, Unrequired Reading is the only Brisbane Fringe Festival show I’ve made it to thus far — but I’m glad I did. It’s a cool, clear night, and the walk from the city to the Highgate Hill venue is considerably less hilly and heinous than I expect.

Turnstyle Community Hub is the shared underhouse space of two neighbouring homes on Laura Street. This not-for-profit collective, I learn, runs workshops, shows and activism-related events. The space itself is homely and inviting — we find comfy couches, beanbags, shelves crammed with books, and a bar serving free, homemade soup (and reasonably-priced booze). There’s also a resident cat who, very generously, lets me cart him around in my arms for a while.

Poets Eleanor Jackson and Doubting Thomas are incarnated here as MCLady Lazarus…