Pride may be over in Western Australia, but the festivities continue just a short flight away in Adelaide, where ‘love’ is the theme for Feast 2007.
With his first Feast Festival, Artistic Director Daniel Clarke has burst onto the festival scene like a human cannonball, propelling Adelaide’s home-grown lesbian and gay arts festival onto the national festival stage with a serious line up that looks the real deal.
Clarke announced the Festival’s exotic and exciting theme, ‘love’, early on in the process of forming the festival, and what an inspired idea it was, with many of the festival performers rising to the challenge to look at love in any one of a hundred – well, nearly 500, when you take all the artists involved – different ways.
A small but significant international dimension comes to Feast 07 with two shows from the famed Wau Wau Sisters, a New-York based, entirely unconventional vaudeville act that’s been storming the international festivals and fringes for years. Fusing circus skills, acrobatics, burlesque, comedy and music, the first of their two shows begins with Ã?â??Ëœthe act that got them expelled from Catholic SchoolÃ?â??â??. Enough said! The UK-based Topping and Butch make a much awaited return to Australia with their latest vinyl-clad show, Ã?â??ËœTake it up the octaveÃ?â??â??. The number of Adelaide artists with international connections remind us of the quality of our local product, with Matthew Carey and La BohÃÂ?me presenting Ã?â??ËœCabaret ConfessionalÃ?â??â??, Catherine Campbell reprising her New York success Ã?â??ËœMy Blue Angel Ã?â??â?œ Dreaming of DietrichÃ?â??â?? and Libby OÃ?â??â??DonovanÃ?â??â??s five-star success Ã?â??ËœThe Meredith Crocksley ProjectÃ?â??â??.
The Theatre and Cabaret programs (along with the Visual Arts) are very strong in this yearÃ?â??â??s Feast. Ã?â??ËœTwo Old QueensÃ?â??â?? concerns the friendship between NoÃÂ?l Coward and the Queen Mother, while Ã?â??ËœBorn to be WildeÃ?â??â?? presents a laden table of Wildean delights, ranging from new theatre based on some of WildeÃ?â??â??s love poems, an ensemble performance of Ã?â??ËœThe Ballad of Reading JailÃ?â??â?? and a reading of Moises KaufmanÃ?â??â??s celebrated Ã?â??ËœGross Indecency Ã?â??â?œ The Three trials of Oscar WildeÃ?â??â??. The GALA Award-winning Ã?â??ËœCracked PotÃ?â??â?? will be presented in its final form, and speaking of award-winning, Vitalstatistix and Wishingwell Productions will present Bryony LaverÃ?â??â??s Ã?â??ËœHer Aching HeartÃ?â??â??, inspired by the writings of Daphne du Maurier. Perennial Feast favourites Out Cast Theatre are back, this year at the Bakehouse, with Ã?â??ËœJane AustenÃ?â??â??s Guide to PornographyÃ?â??â??, another of Stephen DawsonÃ?â??â??s wonderfully funny and absolutely arch creations Ã?â??â?œ oh, and invariably containing a decent butt or two!
Exotica abounds in the Cabaret program. Rochelle, Fifi and Vonni sold out their Ã?â??ËœGirly Side of ButchÃ?â??â?? show in 2006 and return with the new Ã?â??ËœConfessions of a DivaÃ?â??â??, while the Ã?â??ËœDrag DramaÃ?â??â?? talent night at the Mars Bar on November 11 will make for a Remembrance Day like no other! Brenda Baklava is also on the autobiographical trail with Ã?â??ËœItÃ?â??â??s Still All About MeÃ?â??â??, Miz Ima Starr reprises her all-request show Ã?â??ËœYou Asked For It!Ã?â??â??, and the gender lines blur a little more with a series of shows from the legendary Berlin Cabaret and Little Black BoxÃ?â??â??s Ã?â??ËœMÃÂ?tzenballÃ?â??â??. The girls of the excellent Three Hot Chillies will be singing up a storm in Ã?â??ËœHollywood Ã?â??Â? All Bust!Ã?â??â?? and one chilli, Kelly OÃ?â??â??Brien, presents her solo show Ã?â??ËœConfessions of a Queer SopranoÃ?â??â??.
With acts like the Japanese transgender cult band Ikochi leading the line-up, ThereÃ?â??â??s a real assortment in the Music and Dance programs, ranging from cool classics to newest wave electronica. Sam Lohs and Susie Keynes (of FRUIT fame) present their own songs in Ã?â??ËœAnecdoteÃ?â??â?? and from the sublime to the probably ridiculous, Ã?â??ËœBad FatherÃ?â??â?? features electro-opo from the small European country of Klamidia! The short but sweet dance program includes the Sydney Dance CompanyÃ?â??â??s performance of Ã?â??ËœGrandÃ?â??â?? in the Festival CentreÃ?â??â??s Ã?â??ËœPivotalÃ?â??â?? series, and premiere performances from talented young Adelaide dancer Jay Robinson in Ã?â??ËœFour FacesÃ?â??â??.
The Ã?â??ËœI can see queerly nowÃ?â??â?? film project returns to Feast with four new films in 2007, and for something completely different, get out the panel van and head for the Gepps Cross Drive In, November 12 and 19 for two great double bills (including the sensational Ã?â??ËœThe Hunger UKÃ?â??â?? with Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie and Susan Sarandon).
Apart from film, the Visual Arts program is once again very impressive, with Ã?â??ËœloveÃ?â??â?? the theme for many of the exhibitions. Watch out especially for Ã?â??ËœYou and IÃ?â??â?? by Vanessa Papandrea and Kate Waaldyk, Ã?â??ËœLove Ã?€“ Let me count the ways’, Troy-Anthony Baylis’ ‘Sunkiss/Landlove’, Russell Leonard’s retro tea-towel designs in ‘Dry Those Dishes – Bitch’, and Harvey Collins’ ‘Love 4 Life’. Photographic exhibitions from the members of international touring band FRUIT and playwright Stephen House add a new dimension to our experience of both these Adelaide ‘institutions’.
As we’ve come to expect, a raft of parties, dances, balls, and special events of every kind are once again on offer. The November 10 Pride March and the November 25 Picnic in the Park top and tail the fun, with all sorts of LOVE-ly treats in between, especially the unique ‘Loved Up’ celebration on Montefiore Hill with a public commitment ceremony followed by a reception in the grounds of Carclew, where there will also be a Wedding Cake Competition!
For further information, see the Feast website, www.feast.org.au. Tickets to all events now on sale.
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Peter Burdon. Blaze – www.blazemedia.com.au.
