This month brings the 10th anniversary of his death. There are very few personalities quite so alive in the memory of his friends – and even his detractors – as the voluble, charming, roguish and talented Branson, more than once described as described as the “Mayor of Canberra’s underbelly”.
Now his old collaborators, Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, with whom he used to perform as “Senor Handsome”, are joining with The Street Theatre to hold a 10-year tribute afternoon of performances, stories, music and a barbecue in the forecourt.
Branson was into everything and everyone – Bertolt Brecht, Harold Pinter, Tennessee Williams, Charles Bukowski and Christos Tsiolkas.

He co-founded Splinters Theatre of Spectacle, unleashing more than 20 outrageous productions on an unsuspecting public. He set a benchmark for theatrical enthusiasm rarely to be equalled.

He was wildly avant-garde, yet he performed with Canberra Rep and tutored kids at Canberra Youth Theatre. He mixed it with local bands such as The Black Dogs, The Plunderers, and The Gadflys, yet he played the violin in Canberra Youth Orchestra and directed a Handel opera for Stopera.
When he founded his own theatre company, he called it CIA (Culturally Innovative Arts). He thumbed his nose at the establishment, but won a Canberra Critics’ Circle award in 1998. He set a cracking pace with his rehearsal schedules, yet he was never missing from arts forums. He hosted the “Terrace Sessions” at the Terrace Bar, the Gypsy Bar and the “Salons at the Street” at the Street Theatre.
With such a rage for life and theatre, it seemed desperately unfair that having moved so fast, he should have died so young.

David Branson tribute afternoon, at The Street Theatre, 12.30pm – 4.30pm, Sunday, December 11. Free event, followed by a performance by Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen in the Main Theatre at 6pm. Bookings to 6247 1223.