Canberra Reviews

For one night only, Canberra Theatre Centre brought the beloved queer history podcast Queers Past onto the stage as part of this year’s SpringOUT Festival. Hosted by activist, artist, and all-round community engine room Zev Aviv, the live edition promised the same blend of humour, humanity, and political memory that has made the podcast a local favourite. And in many ways, that promise was met.

From the outset, Zev created the atmosphere of a room full of friends – warm, welcoming, and quick to draw the audience into shared ground. Their generosity as a host was unmistakable. Zev has become an important contemporary spokesperson for queer Canberra: passionate, articulate, and tender in the way they bridge generations, communities, and struggles. Onstage, this presence held the evening together.

The live format centred on stories of love, protest, resilience, and the often-overlooked queer histories embedded across Ngunnawal Country. Zev wove direct references to sites of violence and activism in Canberra with reflections on global liberation movements, drawing a line between queer resistance, First Nations sovereignty, and the broader fight against erasure. Their acknowledgement of Lynn O’Brien – a powerhouse of community care – was particularly moving, connecting today’s audiences with the people who shaped our cultural ground.

One unexpected delight was Zev’s shout-outs to Canberra’s current wave of underground and alternative performance events: The Noosh (Miriam Slater), Queer Variety Show (Megan Munro), and Alias Cabaret (Lea Docks). These nods recognised the artists and producers who continue to build queer spaces where storytelling, skill, and community pulse vibrantly. It was a reminder that queer history is not only archival – it is living and growing right now.

The evening featured guest speakers and archival recollections touching on the AIDS era, early drag and lesbian venues like our beloved Tilley’s, the Meridian Club, and the long legacy of protest as both resistance and mourning. For audiences already familiar with the podcast, these threads landed with depth. For newcomers, however, the evening occasionally assumed more background knowledge than some possessed.

This leads to the production’s one lingering question: is a live podcast inherently theatrical? At times, the format felt visually static – one person speaking beside a projection screen – which limited the energy that a stage environment can hold. Zev’s charisma carried much of the momentum, but there was a noticeable opportunity for richer sensory or theatrical layering. Even small shifts in staging, sound, or embodiment could strengthen future live iterations.

Still, Queers Past LIVE delivered an intimate, informative, and heartfelt night out. It honoured queer elders, celebrated today’s creators, and held space for joy alongside grief and reflection. Most importantly, it reinforced how vital it is to hear our histories spoken aloud – with warmth, courage, and the unmistakable humour of a community that continues to rise.

Chenoeh Miller is a theatre director, artist producer and sometimes reviewer, based on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra.