For 15 years now, Brisbane’s Anywhere Festival has proven that the power of theatre can be enjoyed from, well. . . Anywhere – from driveways and bus stops, to rooftops and warehouses.
This year, the 2025 iteration of the festival will continue to push the envelope and shock and delight audiences with nearly 300 performances in more than 100 unique and surprising locations across Brisbane.
When Anywhere Festival’s Founder and Director, Paul Osuch, first developed the concept in 2011, it was because he felt the Brisbane theatre scene was at a bit of a crossroads.
“There was just not enough space for people to perform in. You go to other places like Melbourne and Sydney and there’s a real mix of spaces from the big and huge spaces but also lots of little spaces that are just 30, 60 or maybe even 100 seats, but Brisbane really didn’t have any of them besides two – so we came up with the idea of not using those spaces and being restricted by them, but by making it possible to just perform everywhere."

Muses Trio
“We broke it down as, what do we need to make that happen? We need some chairs, some lights, signage, we need to make sure things will be insured and that councils will be happy with it and people will know where it is. And once we figured out all of those problems, it then came together really quickly and we thought. . . Let’s do it.”
While Osuch never envisioned the festival to still be running 15 years on, he points out that its success and longevity proves that there is still a need for artists and creatives to be able to perform in smaller spaces and to experiment without being at risk of the financial burden that can come with performing at a larger-scale venue. “We are giving artists the space to experiment and do really interesting stuff and not have to carry this huge financial burden of independently producing in a venue. I think that need is still there and that’s what continues to drive me – it's when you throw something out into the universe and let people fill in the blanks and it’s always amazing to see what people have come up with and what you may never have even thought of. From an artistic point of view, I just love that. It feels amazing to be able to provide that outlet.”

'She Works Hard For No Money'
Overseeing the festival means Osuch has many highlights, but one year that left him incredibly inspired was during the pandemic. Anywhere Festival is already about presenting performances in unimaginable spaces and during COVID this was amped up due to restrictions.
“COVID wasn’t as bad in Brisbane as what it was for people in Melbourne, Sydney and elsewhere in the world. . . We were preparing for the festival in May, but one of the most amazing things was, we were able to talk to a whole number of acts and still put on a number of productions, mostly driveway theatre as people couldn't congregate inside so people would be standing around the driveway with the act on a back of a ute and then take off. To be able to do that kind of thing when no one else was able to present performances, was a highlight.”

'Buttercup And Venus: Cowkeepers Extraordinaire'
This year, Osuch says there are many highlights which include random bus stop performances and much more. “There’s a dance piece called 'Lamps Are Hot' and there’s 10-12 people capacity and you get taken into this building and around multiple spaces – it’s a really wonderful example of things people can do with the Anywhere Festival – that you can’t just do anywhere else. We’ve also got the return of a couple of performances at the Planetarium in Mount Coot-tha, there’s a beautiful performance at St. Patrick’s, where the whole thing will be lit up and that can fit several hundred people – so that's really exciting – and I’m really excited to see 'She Works Hard For (No) Money' which has a great team attached to it, and another one called 'Buttercup And Venus: Cowkeepers Extraordinaire'."
While Anywhere Festival was created with artists at the forefront and to give them a platform to take risks, Osuch hopes the festival will also encourage audiences to take risks. “I hope that audiences take away from the festival that performance and storytelling can happen everywhere and anywhere. It feels like the arts keep getting pushed further into these little ghettos and I want people to come out of it and go, 'oh cool, I can see something in someone’s backyard, I don’t have to always go to a big venue to see something new’. They can also see that they feel comfortable to take a risk with what they’re seeing, as most people will see shows they’ve never heard of before, and to just go, ‘well this will be interesting and fun’.”
Anywhere Festival runs from 17 July to 3 August in Brisbane.