Adelaide Festival

This year’s Festival program has been well received by reviewers and audiences, and there are plenty of shows to see in its final days. They include plays The Young King and Deluge (both presented by SA theatre companies), immersive family show Erth’s Prehistoric Aquarium, Music Viva and Opera Australia’s Voyage to the Moon, dance/performance-art piece Body of Work, and cult music double bill Sunn O))) and Magma.

Here are a few InDaily reviewers’ recommendations:

Nelken (Carnations) – dance
“Two hours fly by in an instant as the company presents a mesmerising concoction of human experiences that are beautiful, funny, disturbing and always fascinating.” Presented by Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, at the Festival Theatre until March 12. Review

Dance highlight – Nelken, by Pina Bausch. Photo: Oliver Look

Golem – theatre
“A technical marvel: a vibrant dystopian tale where live-action performers and musicians interact seamlessly with hand-made animation and claymation to create a 3D graphic novel effect.” Presented by UK  company 1924, at the Dunstan Playhouse until March 13. Review

The Country – theatre
“Beautifully written, boldly directed, superbly staged and performed, it’s everything you want from theatre.” Presented by Stone/Castro at the State Opera Studio until March 13. Review

WOMADelaide

Running over four days and nights from March 11 to 14 at Botanic Park, WOMADelaide features a line-up of more than 60 acts traversing the full spectrum of world music.

There are also Planet Talks sessions exploring sustainability issues, with guests including Canadian academic David Suzuki and Harvard professor Naomi Oreskes, Taste the World cooking demonstrations, the ever-popular Kidzone, and a new WoMade design market.

WOMADelaide operations and program manager Annette Tripodi’s hot tips include Middle Eastern dance music group 47SOUL, UK singer Eska, Israeli-born Ethiopian “soul diva” Ester Rada, French duo Ibeyi and the electronica-Arabic musical blend of quartet Orange Blossom.

We’re also looking forward to seeing Angelique Kidjo (below) perform an orchestral repertoire with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra (Friday night only), Australian musical maestros The Cat Empire, Grammy-winning hip-hop trio De La Soul, energetic London act Asian Dub Foundation, the smooth grooves of French musician St Germain, and swaggering blues muso Mojo Juju.

Adelaide’s Australian Dance Theatre will be presenting the premiere of its new work The Beginning of Nature, with a score performed live by the Zephyr Quartet and two Indigenous classical singers. It is accompanied by a virtual-reality experience: festival-goers can buy special Google Cardboard Viewers through which they can view in 360 degrees several dance sequences performed in natural locations around Adelaide.

For performance times, visit the WOMADelaide website.

Adelaide Fringe

The Fringe continues until Monday, with recommended acts still playing including comedians Judith Lucy, Sam Simmons and Ross Noble, Holden Street Theatres shows Echoes and The Orchid and the Crow, circus show Barbu, Stuart Bowden’s fantastical She Was Probably Not a Robot and the Le Gateau Chocolat and Jonny Woo cabaret A Night at the Musicals.

In light of the brouhaha that has blown up this week over the increasing size of the Adelaide Fringe, and the difficulty smaller shows and events have in attracting an audience, we also highly recommend Fringe-goers boldy go somewhere they haven’t gone before. Here are a few suggestions:

The Walking Dreads
Adelaide comedian Fabien Clark’s show in the small Producers Hotel Cranny delivers 50 minutes of value-for-money hilarity, according to InDaily’s reviewer.

The Eulogy
Last week’s Fringe Weekly Award winner for comedy, The Eulogy is presented by relative newcomer Michael Burgos at Tuxedo Cat. It tells of a man who, after a lifetime of gluttony, died from eating too many eggs – with the promise that the only tears at this funeral will be from laughing.

Berri Juicy & Stacy Queen
The “sexy, sassy new sensations” of the Adelaide drag queen scene, whom Adelaide Fringe Ambassador Julian Clary included in his top festival picks. They’re performing at Venue 23 in Light Square, promising a mixture of skits, guests and music.

Berri Juicy and Stacy Queen.

#nofilter
This multi-media show combines theatre, dance, film and live music, examining elements of mental illness in a setting similar to that of a backstage travelling circus, says Adelaide writer and director Dannielle Candida. #nofilter seeks to raise awareness of mental health issues, and is playing at My Friend Louis in Magill Road, Stepney.

Fringe Street Theatre Festival
A showcase of free street-theatre acts will take place over the next four days on the Unfold Fringe in the Mall stage, near Charles Street in Rundle Mall, and in Rundle Street (times here). Artists will include manoAmano (Argentina), Bendy Em (UK), Byron Bertram (Canada) and Alakazam “The Human Knot” (Australia).

Hammocktime
Run by Adelaide artist and activist Fee Plumley, Hammocktime at Gluttony is like an antidote to all the March madness – a chance to “pause, disconnect from technology and reconnect to yourself and your environment while contemplating three questions promoting social change”. You can book 30-minute Hammocktime sessions throughout the weekend.

2016 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art

With the theme Magic Object, the 2016 Adelaide Biennial draws inspiration from the “Wunderkammer” – rooms or cabinets displaying eclectic collections of exotic artworks and natural objects.

Twenty-five artists have created works inspired by the theme. The biennial, which continues until May 15, encompasses exhibitions at the Art Gallery of SA, Samstag Museum of Art, Jam Factory, Santos Museum of Economic Botany and Carrick Hill.

Read InDaily’s interview with curator Lisa Slade here.