Adelaide gets festive
The Adelaide Fringe (22 February-16 March) and the Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts (29 February-16 March) are both in town, which means one thing: it's a chance for the University of Adelaide to shine. The University itself will shine - literally - with our historic buildings on North Terrace playing an important role in a free visual display to the public throughout the Festival. Our alumni will also shine, with many of the shows featuring current students, graduates and staff from the University's Elder Conservatorium of Music. Events such as Writers Week also feature the talented alumni of the University of Adelaide, and the School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture & Urban Design is holding an exhibition as part of the Fringe. Here are just some of the highlights from the festival season.
Follow Me Winner of a Herald Angel award at Edinburgh last year, Follow Me, set in England in 1955, is a powerful drama about the imminent execution of Ruth Ellis through her eyes and her executioner's. Follow Me is playing at the Fringe Factory Theatre - The Pastry Bakery (the old Balfours pie factory), Elizabeth Street (off Waymouth Street), Adelaide, from 4-16 March. www.adelaidefringe.com.au
Lovers & Haters: The turbulent times of Don Dunstan Receiving its world premiere at the Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts, Lovers & Haters is a controversial new play that celebrates the life of Don Dunstan - a man who brought a brilliant flash of colour to the grey world of politics. Lovers & Haters is playing at the Norwood Concert Hall, 175 The Parade, Norwood, from 5-15 March. www.adelaidefestival.com.au
American Poodle This absurd take on the 'special relationship' between the US and the UK comes in two interspersed tales: Snowball, "a crazy physical analysis" of Britain's winning and losing of the United Colonies in the New World, and Slayfoot, about a modern American businessman on his first trip to the "olde country". American Poodle is playing at the Fringe Factory Theatre - The Tea Room (the old Balfours pie factory), Elizabeth Street (off Waymouth Street), Adelaide, from 22 February-16 March. www.adelaidefringe.com.au
Staff get in on the act It's not only students and graduates of the University of Adelaide who are showing their talents at Fringe and Festival time - the staff are doing it too. Marmalade Circus is an 11-piece jazz band headed by Mark Ferguson, Lecturer in jazz piano at the University's Elder Conservatorium of Music. Marmalade Circus has received some rave reviews from the Adelaide press. The band's musical style is jazz, but the tunes are catchy and quirky, with grooves from Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East. Performances are being held at The Promethean, 116 Grote Street, Adelaide, from 1-2 March. Meanwhile, the Mike Stewart Big Band is headlining The Late Show for the Fringe from 22 February-15 March. The Late Show, also being held at The Promethean on Grote Street, is pitched as "the place to come to wind down and relax after a busy night of Fringing". Arguably Adelaide's finest jazz ensemble, the Mike Stewart Big Band was formed by Mike on his return to Adelaide and the Elder Con from New York. The band performs a wide array of music, from Count Basie to Thad Jones to Tito Puente, to contemporary music composed by local musicians. But be warned: the last time the band played at The Promethean, their gigs were sold out. www.adelaidefringe.com.au
Northern Lights Three of the University's heritage buildings have a starring role in Northern Lights, a free public celebration of the beautiful North Terrace cultural boulevard as part of the Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts. Every night throughout the Festival, the University's historic Mitchell Building, Elder Hall and Bonython Hall are "painted with light and coloured with life", along with some of the city's other historic architectural icons, the State Library of South Australia, the South Australian Museum, and the Art Gallery of South Australia. It's all thanks to artists from the internationally acclaimed The Electric Canvas, who have transformed the facades of these familiar buildings. The display starts at dusk and runs until 2.00am, and will continue each night until 16 March. Northern Lights is supported by the State Library of South Australia and the University of Adelaide.
VIOLIN!!! Internationally acclaimed violinist Jonathon Glonek is performing the entire works for unaccompanied violin by JS Bach as well as Paganini's 24 caprices across three concerts during the Adelaide Fringe. A graduate of the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Glonek is well known as a first-rate concert violinist both in Australia and abroad. Born and educated in Adelaide, he has also studied at UCLA and elsewhere in the US and in Europe. Recently he was featured as guest soloist with the Ukrainian National Festival Symphony and the National Symphony of Thailand. His concerts for the Fringe, called VIOLIN!!!, will be held in Adelaide's historic Pilgrim Uniting Church, 12 Flinders Street, Adelaide. The first concert (Bach) is at 5.30pm on Saturday 8 March, followed by the second concert (also Bach) at 8pm on the same day. The third concert (Paganini) will be on Friday 14 March. www.adelaidefringe.com.au
20 Something The hit, home-grown cabaret show 20 Something returns to Adelaide following a sold-out season in 2007. Now a headline act for the Adelaide Fringe, 20 Something stars three University of Adelaide graduates: Rachel McCall, Tamara Shinners and Jamie Cock. All three are graduates of the University's Elder Conservatorium of Music. As the name suggests, 20 Something focuses on two 20-something women and a piano man who stumble their way through life, love, careers and Centrelink payments. They weave together original songs with a mix of those from the newest off-Broadway shows, cabaret classics, and a touch of opera. Rachel McCall completed a Bachelor of Music (Voice Performance) at the Elder Conservatorium and also has an Arts degree from the University of Copenhagen. She has performed with the State Opera of SA, Opera Australia, Co-Opera and many companies across Adelaide. Tamara Shinners also has a Bachelor of Music (Voice Performance) degree from the Elder Conservatorium and an Arts degree from the University of Copenhagen, as well as a Masters in International Studies from the University of Adelaide. She has performed in 'The Dining Room' with the Danish Theatre company Projekt Magerene under American director Michael Simpson and has recorded with UK producer James Hope. Jamie Cock graduated from the Elder Conservatorium with Honours in Piano Performance. Postgraduate studies followed at the Martinu Academy in Prague and later a Masters in chamber music at the Musikhochschule in Freiburg, Germany, graduating with distinction. He has been the recipient of many awards, including the 1992 Geoffrey Parsons Award, and was a prize-winner at the 1998 Berlin Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Competition (violin/piano duo). He has presented concerts throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand. 20 Something is playing at The Promethean, 116 Grote St, Adelaide, from 5-12 March. www.adelaidefringe.com.au
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