Salamander premiered on the first night of the Brisbane Festival, and is one of the festival’s most prominent events. Co-created by director and choreographer Maxine Doyle, artist and stage designer Es Devlin, and sound designer, composer and singer Rachael Dease, it was inspired by JG Ballard’s novel The Drowned World, and the idea of The Last Supper.

Salamander, Brisbane Festival, 2023. Photo © Justin Nicholas

Doyle is known for her work on immersive productions for the UK company Punchdrunk, most recently The Burnt City. Devlin is noted for her large-scale sculptural artworks and installations – including stage design for plays, operas, large-scale concerts and high-end fashion shows.

In 2019, Doyle collaborated with Dease on the site-specific Sunset for STRUT Dance and the Perth Festival. Salamander, too, relates closely to its post-industrial site in a large warehouse near the Brisbane River.

For the first half of Salamander, the focus is on an airy, white-lit structure of Perspex columns. Surrounded by water, it is many-dimensioned: a maze, a castle, a prison. It makes a big impression as the audience walks slowly into the darkened performance space and spreads around it on a...