For his inaugural selection, Brisbane Festival Artistic Director David Berthold has unveiled a bold and politically charged programme that aims to shine a light on a range of provocative and highly topical social issues while championing the finest performing arts from around the world. With artists from Africa, the United States and Asia, in addition to locally sourced talent, presenting work during the three week arts festival in September, Berthold has curated several distinct thematic strands that will explore and unpick topics including race, discrimination, colonialism and sexuality.
 

Elaborating on this progressive curatorial philosophy in his opening remarks at the Brisbane Festival launch yesterday evening, Bertold said, “September is the beginning of spring. It’s a time of renewal, and a time when we look out into the world with open minds and eager hearts. It is in that spirit that this festival is keen to brighten and enlighten your world with a mix of the merry and meaty.” 

Artistic Director David Berthold

A well known figure to Brisbane theatre lovers as the former Artistic Director of Brisbane’s La Boite Theatre Company, Berthold has already made a powerful mark on the identity of Brisbane Festival as the director of the festival’s Theatre Republic programme over the past two years, which showcased independent and fringe theatre from home and abroad. Continuing during his opening remarks last night, Bertold spoke of the opportunity in 2015’s festival to be enlightened, through culture, about complex, intriguing, profound subjects across multiple events. “There are many ways to enjoy a festival. You can of course see that single show that catches your eye, but part of the exhilaration of a festival is to discover that things connect and accumulate,” he said. “Together we can discover that questions have more than one answer, and neither words, nor numbers can exhaust what we know.”

 

Four Brisbane Festival exclusive premiere productions, inspired by the Democratic Republic of Congo, a nation ravaged by civil war in recent decades, both celebrates the vibrancy of this African nation’s culture and enlightens a western audience who Berthold has described as having a “blind spot” about the civil unrest, poverty and social injustice in Africa. Belgian choreographer Alain Platel, director of acclaimed dance company Les Ballet C de la B, has collaborated with Congolese countertenor Serge Kakudji to create Coup Fatal. Joined by 13 musicians from Kinshasa, this moving and dynamic show combines musical masterworks of the Baroque era in a story that portrays the “cocky elegance” of the flamboyant sapeurs against the horror of the Congan war zones. Reimagined as Congolese warlords, South African director Brett Bailey transforms Verdi’s operatic setting of Shakespeare’s Macbeth into a taut 80 minute, African infused drama. In his first solo production, choreographer Faustin Linyekula’s Le Cargo celebrates the art of story telling through movement. Arriving in Brisbane as a Congolese refugee, playwright Future D. Fidel draws on his own experiences as a boxer for Prize Fight, in a Congo-to-Brisbane world premiere.

Brett Bailey’s Macbeth

From the USA, in a specially created version for the Brisbane Festival, hip-hop pioneer Regg Roc, and America’s most lauded theatre and opera director Peter Sellars have collaborated on a new piece inspired by the continuing racial unrest in the States following the rulings on police violence against young black men in Ferguson and New York. Flexn is not only profound in its narrative, but also pushes the boundaries of modern street dance, with Roc’s unique brand of urban physicality.

 

Taking the baton from Flexn, another Brisbane Festival exclusive explores the issue of racism and police brutality closer to home. ILBIJERRI Theatre Company’s Beautiful One Day tells the story of the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee in police custody on Palm Island, and the ensuing uprisings. Again, this work has a potent contemporary resonance, as a Class Action by the people of Palm Island will be brought before the Queensland Government during the festival in September.

Discrimination in another guise is explored in Singapore’s “sexiest theatre company” Wild Rice’s production of Oscar Wilde’s The importance of being earnest. This all male production of one of the English language’s funniest plays explores homosexuality against the cultural backdrop of a nation where same sex relationships are still illegal.

Wild Rice’s The importance of being earnest

The issue of global warming and marine ecology is also explored in a new multi-media collaboration. Rise of the Oceans will see Tim Winton, Bernard Fanning, Katie Noonan and the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the Southern Hemisphere by boat, Jessica Watson, joining forces.

 

Before becoming a theatre director, Berthold was an opera singer, and so it is perhaps unsurprising that opera has subtly infiltrated many of the festival’s headline shows. This includes the latest work of Brisbane-based physical theatre troupe Circa, Il Ritorno. Drawing on the music of Monteverdi, the piece explores Primo Levi’s post WWII poetry through the acrobatic choreography of this pioneering company.

 

While Berthold hasn’t been shy about wearing his political heart on his sleeve and exploring some gritty topics in his programme, there is also plenty of the familiar fun that has been a defining characteristic of Australia’s youngest international arts festival since it began in 1996. Rebranded for 2015, the Arcadia Festival Hub will be a centre for good food and drink, street art and world class cabaret, including Club Swizzle (from the makers of La Soiree) and Fear and Delight (from the makers of LIMBO). The festival’s closing night will once again see the Sunsuper Riverfire firework extravaganza.

Brisbane Festival’s Arcadia

Almost 500 performances make up the full festival programme, with some world class classical acts among them. American opera superstar Renee Fleming will appear at the festival as part of her Australian tour, and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra will offer a collection of performances, including a revival of their recent collaboration with composer Gordon Hamilton and Brisbane-based beat boxing legend Tom Thumb. 

 

Despite the political edge to Berthold’s first festival offering, the new Queensland Government’s resolve to make the state a national leader in the arts is proudly hooked to the Brisbane Festival as Queensland’s flagship cultural event. This was echoed by new State Premiere and Minister for the Arts Annastacia Palaszczuk, who revealed during her welcome remarks at last night’s launch event a State Government investment in the festival of $5 million.

The Brisbane Festival runs 5 – 26 September.