THE title of the coming cabaret at The B, “Triceratop” is just that, singular. 

For Adam Deusien’s new adult cabaret is not a kiddies’ dinosaur show, but an adult queer cabaret, presented as part of The Q’s 2023 “Q the Locals” program. 

Artistic director of the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre Jordan Best says they have received funding from a philanthropic foundation to pay the artists involved in the 2024, season of “Q the Locals”

The identity of the foundation will be revealed later in the year, but Best believes that it’s a confirmation of The Q’s track record of supporting local producers and performers, begun by Stephen Pike and reinvented as “Q the Locals” by Best.

“We are working towards more programming that comes from the region so that we don’t have to rely so much on touring productions,” she says.

“And also it’s partly in response to covid – there is less chance that locals are going to get locked out.”

It also fits in with the “supported risk” approach, she says, where productions in development can enjoy the solidity of having a venue behind them.

It’s been a bumper year for “Q the Locals”, with Christopher Carroll’s “Smokescreen”, Ruth Pieloor’s “Demented”, David Cole’s “The Waltz” (which has been picked up in a revised version by the Bondi Pavilion Theatre) and Rachel Pengilly’s personal tale of the 1868 Arran stowaways, “Legacies”.

“Triceratop” is the brainchild of Adam Deusien, until recently the manager of new work at Canberra Theatre and now pursuing an independent artistic career. 

A multi-talented director and physical theatre maker, he is also artistic director of Lingua Franca and works with Local Stages, Bathurst’s performing arts development program as a director, producer and dramaturg to present work in regional Australia.

In “Triceratop”, Deusien takes on the persona of a unique, lonely individual – the last dinosaur ever — who, queer, has never fallen in love.

Billed as a re-imagining of pre-history, Deusien’s character depicts a once-thriving dinosaur society doomed by its own arrogance to ignore the impending climate disaster that would eventually wipe them out of existence. This show has a keen contemporary edge. 

Following his solitary life from his lovelorn teenage years to life as a modern “lizard king”, the playwright-actor mixes cabaret, storytelling, performance lecture, sci-fi and a camp showbiz style to narrate the story of the last days of civilisation.

“Triceratop”, The B Bar, The Q, November 24-25. Recommended for ages 16+.