BRIEFS: THE WORKS
“Big Tricks, Bold Wigs and Queer Joy for Everyone”
BRIEFS: THE WORKS explodes onto the Melbourne Fringe stage in a blaze of sculpted wigs, audacious makeup, flamboyant costumes and drag magnificence, marking the company’s 18th anniversary in suitably spectacular style. Hosted by Fez Faanana as the commanding Shivannah, this riotous raid on the Briefs Factory archives hurtles through circus, drag, burlesque and gloriously filthy comedy with the force of a confetti cannon.
The performers are extraordinarily talented and skilful. Bodies soar overhead, balance at impossible angles and snap through jaw dropping acrobatics with breathtaking precision. Fan dances unfurl in flashes of feather and flesh, teasing routines simmer, and every entrance lands with towering hair, razor sharp makeup and the swagger of a company that knows its craft.
Yet the night’s true triumph is the infectious fun that sweeps through the entire room. Shivannah does not merely host the show; Faanana turns the audience into part of its pulsing, playful world. A wonderfully cheeky “meat tray” raffle, confessions coaxed from audience members, spontaneous dancing and constant interaction transform the show into a shared celebration. Longtime devotees and curious newcomers alike are drawn into the laughter and communal exhilaration until the boundary between stage and seats seems to dissolve. Everyone is in on the joke, everyone is invited to revel, and the joy becomes as spectacular as the aerials.
There is nothing restrained about Briefs: The Works, nor should there be. It is loud, raunchy and outrageous, with bold, revealing costumes, cheeky energy and provocative theatricality, but beneath the glitter beats a generous celebration of freedom, self expression and unapologetic queer joy.
Skilful, exhilarating and, above all, tremendous fun, Briefs delivers circus with attitude, drag with muscle and burlesque with bite, then sends the whole audience back into the night feeling they have joined the party, not merely watched it.
Briefs: The Works continues at Spiegel Haus Melbourne until 18 October 2026
https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/briefs-the-works
