Everything but the Kitchen Sink Festival explodes into its third year with its biggest season yet: a Qtopia Sydney takeover - two venues, four shows, five days of new, genre-defying work from some of Sydney’s most exciting theatre makers.

The Loading Dock and The Substation will each host their own double bill. Two very different

shows performed back-to-back for the one ticket price. A two-for-one dose of theatrical daring.

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THE LOADING DOCK

Dean, Don’t Dance!

Written/Composed/Performed by Dean Nash

Directed by Pearl Juror

Let's talk about systemic ableism, societal misconceptions, microaggressions, and attitudinal barriers....but, like.... In a fun way!!!!!

Disability is inevitable. It’s like Death and taxes. It comes for everyone. Much like hunger, love, and existential dread, Disability is something we all experience in some way. So why not talk about it? Laugh about it? Sing silly little songs about it?

Dean, Don’t Dance is a musical comedy cabaret about;

- shattering oneself against the unforgiving brick wall of societal norms.

- the toxicity of drama school.

- accepting yourself even when you’re gaslit not to.

- showtunes!

- racking lines in hotel rooms with hillsong youth leaders.

Soo, See ya there?!

NOTES ON A SCANDAL

Adapted/Performed by Andrew Fraser & Emma Kew

Based on the mildly lucrative IP of the same name, Notes on a Scandal is a journey into the limits of how far one will go to make your unmet desires a reality. Whether the heartache of unrequited love, or a two-line guest spot on Home and Away, these feelings of inadequacy will push actors Andrew and Emma to inhabit roles made famous by Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench in a scathing study of diva worship, whilst also reaching new heights of desperation. Inspired by the cine- theatre techniques of [redcated], this loose adaptation explores lesbionic intimacy, problematic obsessions and the burning question on everyone’s mind – is Judi Dench BRAT? Notes on a Scandal seeks to find the cure for our pop-culturally poisoned minds whilst serving hair, body AND face.

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THE SUBSTATION

Inspired

Created/Performed by Albert Lin

Dramaturgy by Tasnim Hossain

Having written a poem every day for the past 7 years, Albert has overcome writer's block 2,821 times (and counting). Join him in a seminar, but like, more theatrical, where you will learn how to defeat writer's block once and for all and write the damn thing. Learn how write good! Hear wisdom from a 20-something with a questionable amount of life experience! Gasp at how he writes a poem in 20 minutes or less using prompts given by you, the audience! Maybe he'll sing for you (probably not). Come be inspired.

oops I don’t want no scrubs to hit me baby again
Created by Linda Chen
+ special guests

She’s so lucky, she’s a star... isn’t she?

Alexis, queen of teenage pop, is eager to grow up a little bit. She just confirmed, on her website, that she’s pregnant. Is she a big girl now? Or just posing? Now the subject of a string of embarrassing articles, she’s on the offensive against celebrity magazines. But if her actions contradict her words, she’s not the only one confused. Pop culture is as divided on girls’ roles as any other indicator. Chafing against the constraints of being a nice girl, Alexis is going to have to realize how to use that tight little voice to seize her identity the way pop entrepreneurs want her to. The freedom she wants is the freedom to package herself as both a pop product and an object of desire. How many other ways can a girl assert herself?

Almost every word from this copy has been pulled, near verbatim, from New York Times articles referring to Britney Spears from 1999 – 2005, as have the words for this show (mostly)! Drawing from various pieces of media referring to female celebrities from the turn of the millennium, oops is an archive tabloid remix pseudo-karaoke show that plays on the lipsync-heavy, remix-driven, Y2K-revivalist TikTok culture of today.

What happens if we’re not working it out on the remix? What happens when the lines we’re fed maybe kind of suck? Follow Alexis as she spits out words written by male music reviewers from 1999, sprinkled with lyrics from your favourite pop hits and maybe a TikTok comment or two.

Maybe she’ll find all the answers. If not, well, at least she’s pretty when she cries.
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Produced by Toby Blome, Sarah Caroll, Emma O’Sullivan, Lungol Wekina
Stage Managed by Radhika Lal