Perth Festival: Sneak Peek at the program

 Melbourne Festival is nearly upon us, Adelaide Festival has already begun it’s pre-announcement announcements (MASS), Sydney Festival let leak 2 of their exciting acts for 2012 – now Perth International Arts Festival are following suit and sharing some of the highlights of the 2012 lineup… 

 Melbourne Festival is nearly upon us, Adelaide Festival has already begun it’s pre-announcement announcements (Big Bold and Bernstein: MASS to feature in Adelaide Festival Lineup), Sydney Festival let leak 2 of their exciting acts for 2012 (Meow Meow and Assembly to play at the Sydney Festival) – now Perth International Arts Festival are following suit and sharing some of the highlights of the 2012 lineup…   With preparations in full swing for the 2012 Perth International Arts Festival (10 February – 3 March, 2012), incoming Festival Director Jonathan Holloway has announced five advance highlights of next year’s program, including two Australian exclusives, a spectacular outdoor public event, and fabulous offerings from the worlds of dance, music and theatre.  Founded in 1953 by The University of Western Australia, the Perth International Arts Festival is the longest running international arts festival in Australia and Western Australia’s premier cultural event. The Festival has developed a worldwide reputation for excellence in its international program, the presentation of new works and the highest quality artistic experiences for its audience. The mission statement of the Perth International Arts Festival’s is to “stimulate our culture and inspire our community through the highest quality arts is made possible with the generous help of our sponsors, supporters and donors”. In 2012 the Perth Festival celebrates 20 years of Lotterywest support, enabling the Festival to deliver diverse and high quality programs through literature, music, dance, theatre, film and the visual arts to a wide range of audiences. Lotterywest Chairman Mr John Atkins said: “Through free and subsidised events, podcasts, broadcasts, disability access, technology and the web, Lotterywest’s ongoing support ensures the whole community can engage and enjoy a host of exciting Festival experiences… Through the support of the Perth International Arts Festival, Lotterywest contributes to creating a richer and more inclusive Western Australia for everyone to enjoy.”   Below is a list of the advance highlights from “five of the world’s most talented companies and individuals at the top of their game”, as Perth Festival Artistic Director Jonathan Holloway said.  “[They are] just a small part of the 2012 Festival line-up to be announced in November”, said Holloway, the Artistic Director for 2012-2015. The full program for 2012 – the sixtieth Perth Festival – will be launched on 2 November. Tickets will be on sale exclusively to Friends of the Festival from 6pm that night, with all tickets on sale 7 November.  

Raoul

James Thiérrée’s La Compagnie du Hanneton (France) combines humour, incredible physical feats and spectacular visuals in Raoul, a production of startling illusion that is operatic in scale. Raoul is the inhabitant of a shape-shifting structure under siege by a mysterious outsider who shares his face and form. His household appliances are attempting to pillage him and strange creatures abound. James Thiérrée is a performer of rarefied lineage and exceptional range, and his Compagnie du Hanneton has won four Moliere Awards, France’s highest achievement in theatre. 

Place des Anges

Perth Festival presents an Australian exclusive, the Australian premiere performance of Place des Anges from Les Studios de Cirque de Marseille (France), who have been creating unforgettable aerial spectacles around the globe for a decade. This once-in-a-lifetime event sees angels land on St Georges Terrace and Council House in a breathtaking display that must be seen to be believed. Heavenly bodies glide, float and careen through the air, leaving a blaze of feathers in their wake.

Beautiful Burnout

The National Theatre of Scotland returns to Perth in association with Frantic Assembly, with a knock-out production from the explosive world of boxing. Featuring a pulsating soundtrack by electronic heavyweights Underworld, Beautiful Burnout explodes that very second when the guard drops, the eyes blink, and the hammer blow hits. “Frantic Assembly turn something aggressive and male into something beautiful and painfully tender … a brilliantly acted exploration of what makes boxers box and what happens when a shooting star shimmers, shines brightly and falls to earth,” GUARDIAN ****.

A Magic Flute

In another Australian exclusive for Perth Festival, legendary director Peter Brook turns his hand to Mozart’s comedic and adventurous A Magic Flute, in this grand culmination of his four decades helming the famed Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord (France). In Brook’s A Magic Flute, Mozart’s enchanting music takes centre stage, as a talented ensemble of young singers led by a single pianist fill the score with new life, energy and colour. This is raw, intimate operatic theatre at its very best. “The resulting poetry is so intense that you stop breathing, so funny that you burst out laughing, s
o precisely written that it is the very quintessence of Mozartian opera. Mr Brook, we salute you,” LE MONDE. 

Dance

In 1979, three creative titans pooled their considerable talents to craft what would become one of the great post-modern works of the 20th century. Choreographer Lucinda Childs, composer Philip Glass and artist Sol LeWitt mixed movement, music and film in a way that would transform the world of dance forever.
In 2012, Childs invites a new company of dancers to inject a youthful new life into this electrifying and simply beautiful work of music and motion. In this rarely seen signature piece, three dances are performed live, set to a projection of LeWitt’s performance on black-and-white film.