Adelaide festival news, research and analysis - the conversation

March 20, 2025 Erin Brannigan, _UNSW Sydney_ From delicate duos to a mass gathering of 1,000 dancers, the Adelaide Festival shows a bright vision of Australian contemporary dance. September

29, 2024 Heather L. Robinson, _Flinders University_ The past few months has seen the sudden departure of leadership from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Ballet, Queensland

Theatre, Opera Australia and the Adelaide Festival. March 20, 2024 William Peterson, _Auckland University of Technology_ The theatre, dance and music works at this year’s festival have

helped fulfil a three-pronged vision from some two decades ago. March 12, 2024 Catherine Speck, _University of Adelaide_ Ruth Mackenzie’s Adelaide Festival of Arts has two heavyweights,

performance artist Marina Abramović and avant-garde artist and musician Laurie Anderson. March 1, 2024 Denis Muller, _The University of Melbourne_ Writers festivals navigate the fraught

frontier between social media’s echo chambers of outrage and the civilised public debate of the public square. What’s the way forward in this heated atmosphere? March 24, 2023 William

Peterson, _Auckland University of Technology_ Adelaide Festival is arguably the most robust international arts festival in our region. August 4, 2022 Sarah Thomasson, _Te Herenga Waka —

Victoria University of Wellington_ The survival of the Edinburgh International Festival, and others like it around the world, is testament to ingenuity of organisers and performers. But

there’s no substitute for the live experience. March 21, 2022 William Peterson, _Auckland University of Technology_ Choreographer Stephanie Lake brings together nine dancers and nine

drummers in this thrillingly original work. March 15, 2022 William Peterson, _Auckland University of Technology_ Billed as an opportunity for frank conversations, this beautiful production

was a deeply impactful sharing of what matters in life. March 9, 2022 Catherine Speck, _The University of Melbourne_ Sebastian Goldspink’s 2022 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art:

Free/State is a conceptual riposte to this colonial settler history, and much more. March 9, 2022 William Peterson, _Auckland University of Technology_ Dr George Ian Ogilvie Duncan was

murdered at a gay ‘beat’ in the 1970s. His death was instrumental in South Australia’s decriminalisation of male homosexual acts. March 7, 2022 William Peterson, _Auckland University of

Technology_ This beautifully crafted production at the Adelaide Festival is an intricate look at families and memory. April 9, 2021 Katherine Aigner, _Australian National University_ The

thinking behind the idea of a dump near Whyalla goes back 60 years. March 4, 2021 William Peterson, _Flinders University_ Neil Armfield’s production of the Benjamin Britten opera is a

triumph of sure-footed direction, subtle vocal shadings, brilliant comic timing and orchestral precision. March 3, 2021 Sarah Peters, _Flinders University_ This new work from Restless Dance

Theatre is staged in a bowling ally, and asks us to consider the possibilities of perspective. March 1, 2021 William Peterson, _Flinders University_ This new play based on Martin McKenna’s

memoir tells a difficult story with theatrical skill and artistic heart. March 13, 2020 Melanie Walters, _University of Adelaide_ Four choirs in 12 concerts cover 500 years of musical

terrain, connecting the psalms to the contemporary world for the Adelaide Festival. February 28, 2020 Maggie Tonkin, _University of Adelaide_ This new production from State Theatre Company

South Australia and Belvoir explores the messy and contradictory inner selves of pre-teen girls. November 19, 2019 Caroline Wake, _UNSW Sydney_ Australia’s three major summer festivals in

Sydney, Perth and Adelaide give an interesting insight into how festival programming is changing – or not. March 18, 2019 William Peterson, _Flinders University_ Hofesh Shechter’s latest

contemporary dance work is not the rousing narrative its title might suggest. Its dancers inhabit a global catastrophe and then a brutal new world order.