Heartbreaking loss of global artistry at Aust festivals
When Brett Sheehy ran his first Adelaide Festival in 2006, the world was a different place – and arts festivals were different too.
“What I’ve seen happen, which breaks my heart in many ways, is the slow diminution of major international content in each of the capital city festivals,” Sheehy told AAP.
He would know, having run Melbourne and Sydney’s annual arts festivals too, over a 30 year career.
While local work is vital, capital city festivals were really established to bring groundbreaking international art down under, he said.
All this leaves the Adelaide Festival holding the torch – it’s now billed as Australia’s International Festival – and it’s the only event that imports a large scale contemporary opera as its centrepiece every year.
The centrepiece of the 2025 program is the Finnish opera Innocence, which comes to Australia before its New York debut at the Metropolitan Opera.
Also on the slate of 65 events and 11 world premieres announced Monday, is German choreographer Pina Bausch and Tanztheater Wuppertal.
She combines with the company’s artistic director, Boris Charmatz, for a triptych of performances titled Club Armour, dedicated to love and desire.
First, there’s Bausch’s influential dance piece Cafe Muller followed by Charmatz’s Aatt enen tionon, in which performers are isolated on high platforms, then two naked dancers entwined together in herses, duo.
The there’s flamenco meets punk with Rocio Molina’s Caida del Cielo (Fallen from Heaven) pushing the boundaries of the flamenco genre, and ideas about femininity.
On the music program, Polish musician Hani Rani brings elements of electronica and jazz to piano performance, while US star Cat Power pays homage to Bob Dylan’s 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert – the night Dylan famously switched to electric.
A theatre highlight is UK experimental theatre group Forced Entertainment performing Shakespeare’s 36 plays across eight days, using everyday household items.
The drama plays out on a tabletop, and Hamlet might just be played by a bottle of vinegar.
Of course, there is much homegrown content on the slate too, with the stage production of Trent Dalton’s Love Stories project making its way from the streets of Brisbane to the Dunstan Playhouse.
The story of Australia’s Warumpi Band also comes to Adelaide with the rock musical Big Name, No Blankets.
Former Artistic Director Ruth Mackenzie, who departed the festival early to take up role with the South Australian government, had already locked in a mass outdoor dance event with Australian choreographer Stephanie Lake, to be held in Elder Park.
It all adds up to a festival that is growing in significance in its 40th year, Sheehy said.
“This festival is incredibly important now in a national sense, because in terms of international work we’re leading the way,” he said.
The Adelaide Festival runs from February 28 to March 16.
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