What’s on in Adelaide

Apr 26, 2015, updated Oct 22, 2015

Bowerbird design market runs from Friday-Sunday at Adelaide Showgrounds.

Bowerbird design market returns to the Adelaide Showgrounds this weekend, the About Time history festival kicks off and Anzac tribute dance-theatre work Rotunda opens at the Festival Centre.

Other picks include the First Fridays after-hours event at the Art Gallery of SA, a piano performance by Paul Grabowsky at Nexus Live, circus spectacular Le Noir and the State Theatre Company’s production of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.

Bowerbird

The autumn/winter Bowerbird design market will be at the Stirling Angas Pavilion, Adelaide Showgrounds, from Friday through Sunday, featuring dozens of stalls selling artisan-style homewares, fashion, jewellery, textiles and other products. There will also be workshops, demos, kids’ activities, food, and a Friday night bar and live music. Entry is $5 for adults. More info on the official website.

First and Last – ASO

British viola soloist Lawrence Power will join the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra for this concert under the baton of conductor Mark Wigglesworth. Part of the ASO’s Master series, it will feature Dvorák’s final symphony, From the New World, as well as Haydn’s Symphony No 1 and the premiere of Scottish composer James MacMillan’s Viola Concerto. Performances are at the Adelaide Town Hall tonight (Friday) and tomorrow night.

About Time history festival

The annual celebration of South Australia’s history begins today and will feature more than 500 events around the state throughout May. This weekend’s activities include a “Twilight Tales from the Graves” lecture at Adelaide Gaol, Discover Willunga Fair, a tour of World War I memorials in the Adelaide parklands and a guided tour tonight of West Terrace Cemetery. The festival also features exhibitions, film screenings, concerts and bus trips. The full program is online and there’s a new mobile app for easy access to events.

Baby et Lulu

Baby (aka Abby Dobson, formerly of Leonardo’s Bride) and Lulu (Lara Goodridge, FourPlay) are playing at Trinity Sessions tonight as part of a national tour on the back of their latest release, Album Deux (reviewed here). The Francophiles perform classic and contemporary chansons, as well as their own original compositions written in French. They will be supported in their Trinity Sessions (318 Goodwood Road) show by Adelaide’s The Baker Suite.

Nexus Live – Paul Grabowsky solo & Gian Slater Trio

Former Adelaide Festival artistic director Paul Grabowsky (right) – renowned as a pianist, composer, arranger and conductor – will present a one-off solo piano performance tonight (Friday) at Nexus Live. Jazz musician Gian Slater (2015 recipient of Victoria’s PBS Young Elder of Jazz Commission) will also perform with her trio, which includes Christopher Hale and Nathan Slater. The show begins at 8pm at Nexus Arts.

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll

Australian playwright Ray Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll tells the story of a pair of Queensland cane cutters who travel to Melbourne every summer to share their holidays with two barmaids. Considered an iconic play in Australia’s theatre history, it is being presented by the State Theatre Company of SA at the Dunstan Playhouse until May 16. Read InDaily’s review here.

First Fridays – Art Gallery of SA

The First Fridays after-hours event at the Art Gallery of South Australia tonight (5pm-9pm) will feature live music by jazz group the Cyberjacks, tours of photographer Trent Parke’s exhibition The Black Rose and a conversation with Parke and curator Maria Zagala. On Sunday from 11am-3pm, the gallery will hold a free START interactive event for children aged five to 10 and their families, with the theme Every Picture Tells a Story. The Black Rose continues until May 12 and will also be the subject of a Departure after-hours event on May 8. More gallery events info here.

Rotunda

The New Zealand Dance Company has teamed up with the 24-piece Kensington and Norwood Brass band to present this dance-theatre work, which is a tribute to the Anzac spirit. Timed to coincide with the centenary of the Gallipoli landings, it presents a snapshot of a community before, during and after World War I. View a trailer and read choreographer Shona McCullagh’s interview with InDaily here. Rotunda is playing at Her Majesty’s Theatre tonight and tomorrow night.

Hugo Race – Wheatsheaf Hotel

Australian musician Hugo Race (ex The Bad Seeds and The Wreckery) is promising “electronica and blues, covers and originals, tenderness and rage in an emotional trip into his heart of darkness” at his show at the Wheatsheaf Hotel on Sunday. Special guests at the Wheatie gig will be indie-rock, alt-country duo Battle of Flowers.

Much Ado About Nothing

Audiences will be transported to an English summer garden at the end of World War II for the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild’s production of this popular Shakespearean comedy. Directed by Megan Dansie (Richard III, Romeo & Juliet) , Much Ado About Nothing will be presented at the Little Theatre in The Cloisters at Adelaide University on various dates from May 2-16.

Le Noir

Subtitled The Dark Side of Cirque, this international production features acrobatics and acts of contortion, balance and stamina to get the heart racing. The Adelaide Festival Centre’s Festival Theatre has been transformed to offer audiences a 360-degree view of the feats, which are performed by a cast that includes former members of Cirque du Soleil. Le Noir is at the Festival Theatre until May 2. Read our review here.

Madame: The Story of Joseph Farrugia

This dance-theatre show at the Burnside Ballroom is based on the life of Joseph Farrugia, creative director and host of Hindley Street strip club Crazy Horse Revue/Madame Josephine’s. Madame includes burlesque and vaudeville, archival photos – and plenty of nudity. InDaily’s reviewer recommends it as a “warm, witty and affectionate production”. Performances continue until May 2. Coinciding with the season is an exhibition of black and white images by documentary photographer Ben McGee which were taken at last year’s Miss Nude Australia pageant at The Crazy Horse Revue.

G&S Fest – A Princess, Sailors and Ghosts

This weekend is the last chance to see the G&S Society of South Australia’s semi-staged productions of three comic operas by Gilbert and Sullivan at the Arts Theatre. The final performance of Ruddigore is tonight (Friday) with Princess Ida and HMS Pinafore being presented tomorrow afternoon and evening.

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang are at Stirling Community until May 9. Presented by the Hills Musical Company and based on Charles M Schulz’s famous cartoon, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown was first presented on Broadway in the 1960s and follows a day in the life of Charlie Brown as he tries to discover what it means to be a good man. See InDaily’s review here.

Punuku Tjukurpa – SA Museum

This touring exhibition at the South Australian Museum is a retrospective of work from the Maruku Arts company, based in Uluru. Punuku Tjukurpa represents three generations of artists for whom the tradition of wood carving has been passed down, and is described as a view into one of Australia’s finest art movements. The exhibition continues until May 17.