Short Black Opera’s powerful production Pecan Summer and the Australian Ballet’s re-imagining of Cinderella are among this weekend’s picks.

Other events include the Feast Film Festival, an indoor Fork on the Road, The Addams Family Musical, and magical kids’ show The 13-Storey Treehouse.

Pecan Summer

Recalling an important and heart-wrenching aspect of Australian history, soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham’s Indigenous opera Pecan Summer tells the story of how 200 members of the Yorta Yorta nation walked off the NSW Cummeragunga Mission Station in 1939 in protest at the harsh and inhumane conditions. This is the first time it has been presented in Adelaide. It is playing at Her Majesty’s Theatre until July 5, with the cast of 35 including members of the Dhungala Children’s Choir, some of whom are great-grandchildren of the people who walked off the mission. Cheetham spoke about her own personal connection to the story behind the opera in an interview with InDaily, which you can read here.

Indoor Fork on the Road

Fork on the Road is going undercover on Saturday (July 5), with an indoor event at the Plant 4 warehouse on Third Street, Bowden. There will be more than 20 food trucks, live music, a wine bar, lounge areas and a kids’ zone. The event runs from 4pm to 10pm. The venue is near the tram and train lines, and parking is available by entering gate 1A from Park Terrace.

Feast Film Festival

Miranda Otto’s new film, Reaching for the Moon – a biopic of Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Elizabeth Bishop and her relationship with Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares – is showing at the Mercury Cinema at 7pm on Sunday as part of the Feast Film Festival. This is the final weekend of the festival, with other highlights including Free Fall (hailed as the “German Brokeback Mountain“); To Be Takei, a documentary about Star Trek star George Takei; American lesbian romance Tru Love; andAustralian drama Zoe Misplaced (read InDaily review). The full program can be downloaded here.

Cinderella – The Australian Ballet

The Australian Ballet is promising “fantasy, intrigue and a little bit of magic” in this fairytale production opening at Adelaide’s Festival Theatre tonight (July 4). Created for the company by choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, Cinderella transports its audience to an abandoned theatre in 20^th-century Russia, where the tale is set, and features Surrealism-inspired sets and costumes by French designer Jérôme Kaplan. The cast includes South Australian dancers Brett Simon, Jill Ogai and Cristiano Martino, and the score will be played by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. There will be eight Adelaide performances, with the final show on July 10. Running concurrently with Cinderella is a free “wonderland” at the Adelaide Festival Centre where children can take part in art activities and be transformed into Cinderella or Prince Charming.

The Addams Family Musical

All the kooky Addams clan converge in this new production being presented at the Arts Theatre by Matt Byrne Media. Featuring a score by Broadway composer Andrew Lippa, the musical sees Wednesday Addams as a young woman who just wants to spend a normal night entertaining her boyfriend at home – but as fans of the ’60s TV show will know, there’s no such thing as normal in this family. Byrne says the songs range “from pop to tango, power ballads, crazy production numbers and stunning show tunes that are a tribute to old Broadway”. The Addams Family Musical is playing at the Arts Theatre until July 12, then at Elizabeth’s Shedley Theatre from July 17-26.

The 13-Storey Treehouse

Flying cats, a mermaid, a sea monster, invading monkeys and a giant gorilla – these are just some of the characters to be encountered in this live show based on the children’s book by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. Central to the story is, of course, a 13-storey treehouse, complete with bowling alley, underground laboratory, self-making beds and a marshmallow machine – what more could any kid want? Suitable for ages six and up, The 13-Storey Treehouse is at the Dunstan Playhouse from July 5-7.

One of David Sievers’ winning photos.

Professional photography awards

A free exhibition of photos by winners in the 2014 South Australian AIPP EPSON Professional Photography Awards will be on display at the National Wine Centre in Hackney Road from Saturday (July 5) until July 27. The overall winner, announced yesterday, was North Adelaide photographer David Sievers, with a portfolio of striking architectural images. Other award categories include portrait, landscape and wedding photography.  You’ll find details of all winners here. Exhibition hours are 8am-9pm Monday to Friday; 9am-9pm, Saturday; and 9am-7pm Sunday.

Her Story – Vitalstatistix

Maude Davey, Vitalstatistix artistic director from 2002-2007, will host the latest event in the Her Story series, offering an insight into the story of this innovative Port Adelaide-based theatre company and the broader history of feminist performance. She will also revisit some of her own significant performance moments. The third in a series of Sunday afternoon sessions hosted by artistic leaders from Vitals’ 30-year history, the event will be from 3pm-5pm on Sunday (July 6) at Waterside, 11 Nile Street, Port Adelaide. Those attending will be able to warm up with a bowl of sop sop (a vegetarian dish from the Torres Strait Islands). More details here.

Winter Wonderland

Get your skates on and head to Glenelg for some cool-weather fun on an all-weather 150sqm ice rink at Moseley Square. Dubbed Mamma Carmela’s Winter Wonderland, the ice festival is an initiative of Jetty Road traders. It continues until July 27, with five 1.5-hour skating sessions daily (starting at 10am, noon, 2pm, 4pm and 6pm). We hear sessions are filling up fast, so make sure you book.

Rough Medicine: Life & Death in the Age of Sail

Life on early sea voyages was no laughing matter, with smallpox, yellow fever, typhoid, pneumonia, malaria, seasickness and venereal diseases all commonplace. Rough Medicine: Life and Death in the Age of Sail, at the South Australian Maritime Museum, explores how illness shaped the lives of crew and passengers from the 17^th to 19^th century. The display of eye-opening surgical instruments will make you cringe at the lengths to which sailors went to overcome the challenges of life at sea. The museum is also running school holiday sessions titled Gory Stories from the Putrid Past on week days throughout the July school holidays.

On screen

See InDaily’s reviews of the latest films screening in Adelaide:

Rising From the Ashes
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Yves St Laurent
Good Vibrations
Maleficent
Edge of Tomorrow
A Million Ways to Die in the West
Godzilla
Aim High in Creation
X-Men: Days of Future Past