Briefs Factory’s Late-Night Cabaret Is The Hottest Ticket At Spiegel Haus Melbourne Right Now
When: 18 March to 19 April 2026, Thursday to Sunday at 10 pm
Where: Spiegel Haus Melbourne, 217 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Website: spiegelhausmelb.com
Briefs Factory is currently mid-rampage at Spiegel Haus Melbourne, and if you haven’t grabbed a ticket to The Works yet, you’re running out of time. The queer cabaret company’s late-night show runs Thursday to Sunday at 10 pm until 19 April, and it’s exactly as filthy, athletic, and gloriously unhinged as you’d hope.
A Brisbane bookshop backroom, a bearded drag queen, and 18 years of chaos
For anyone unfamiliar, Briefs Factory started in 2008 in the back of a Brisbane bookshop in West End. What began as a warehouse party and speakeasy-style club night has since grown into an internationally touring cabaret powerhouse. The company has been described as Cirque du Soleil meets RuPaul’s Drag Race, and honestly, that comparison tracks. Co-founders Fez Fa’anana and Mark Winmill built something that fuses circus, drag, burlesque, and a distinctly Australian brand of irreverence, and The Works pulls from the best of their 18-year archive.
Shivannah, Captain Kidd, and a rotating cast of troublemakers
The show is led by Shivannah, the six-foot bearded drag queen alter ego of artistic director Fez Fa’anana. Mark “Captain Kidd” Winmill, a Las Vegas award-winning circus artist, brings the kind of acrobatic skill that makes you hold your breath and then immediately question what you’re feeling. Dylan Rodrigeuz performs as Serenity and Luke Hubbard as Nastia, both blurring the lines between gender and spectacle in routines that are technically precise and wildly entertaining. Benjamin Butterfly handles the aerial work, and Hollywould Star channels old-school showgirl energy with a sharp modern edge. Each week also brings a guest performer from the circus and drag worlds, so no two nights are quite the same.
Why this one’s worth your Thursday night (or Friday, or Saturday, or Sunday)
The Works isn’t a family-friendly 7:30pm curtain call. This is the after-hours version of Briefs Factory: louder, sweatier, and with considerably less fabric involved. Fan dances, filthy comedy, soaring acrobatics, and the kind of audience energy that only happens when a room full of people collectively decide to leave their inhibitions at the door. Time Out Sydney gave the show five stars, calling it “a night of wild and insanely raucous entertainment.” It’s 18+ for very good reasons. When was the last time a cabaret show made you gasp and laugh in the same breath?
If you’re in Melbourne before 19 April, this is one of those shows you’ll be talking about long after the glitter washes off. Tickets start from $49 and are available through spiegelhausmelb.com. Spiegel Haus Melbourne is at 217 Lonsdale Street, in the heart of Chinatown.
