‘Braveheart meets Game of Thrones’

Verdi’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s twisted tragedy Macbeth will be brought to the stage by State Opera South Australia in a performance director Stuart Maunder promises is “big, bold and full of blood and thunder”.

The show is a co-production with West Australian Opera, which premiered it in Perth in 2019. COVID-19 forced State Opera to cancel a planned Adelaide season in 2020, and it announced today that Macbeth will now be presented at Her Majesty’s Theatre over four nights from September 7-16 this year.

“No other composer can match the power, terror and emotional pull of Verdi,” says Maunder. “This 1847 version comes from a period where Verdi was at the height of his youthful powers.”

Adelaide-born Kate Ladner will play Lady Macbeth, while fellow Verdi specialist José Carbό takes on the role of Macbeth for the production, which Maunder describes as “Braveheart meets Game of Thrones”. The cast also includes Pelham Andrews as Banquo and Paul O’Neill as Macduff, while Berlin-based Finnegan Downie Dear will conduct the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

A new role at Vitals

Vitalstatistix co-CEOs Cassie Magin and Emma Webb. Photo: Tony Kearney

Vitalstatistix has appointed Cassie Magin to the new role of executive director/co-CEO, saying she will work alongside long-time artistic director and fellow chief executive Emma Webb to bolster the arts organisation as it prepares to celebrate its 40^th anniversary next year.

Chair Angela Flynn says that, like all small to medium arts organisations, Vitalstatistix has been under “immense pressure” over the past few years.

“While navigating both the economic and emotional tumult of the pandemic, we have found ourselves under increasing pressure to do more with less. By establishing this role and appointing Cassie, we are bolstering our organisational leadership and capacity, and ensuring the continued success and longevity of the organisation.”

Magin, who joined Yerta Bulti/Port Adelaide-based Vitals in the role of general manager in May last year, says she looks forward to working alongside Webb and will focus heavily on “the diversification of revenue streams, showcasing the beauty and versatility of our wonderful Waterside Workers Hall, and being a driving force behind the survival of experimental arts and culture post-pandemic”.

Brilliant things

State Theatre’s Tangent Talks explore ideas behind upcoming productions. Photo: Supplied

The intrinsic link between art and mental health is the focus of a Tangent Talk being presented on Monday (April 3) by State Theatre SA in the lead-up to its production of Every Brilliant Thing, the one-man play by Duncan Macmillan starring Jimi Bani as a boy who tries to help his mother overcome depression by listing every brilliant thing in the world.

The talk will be hosted by State Theatre artistic director Mitchell Butel, from 6pm in the State Library’s Hetzel Lecture Theatre (book here), with a panel comprising theatre-maker Ashton Malcolm, co-creator of the interactive experience QT (Quiet Time) presented at Adelaide Fringe; actor and director Jo Stone, co-founder of Theatre for Change; community development worker Estela Fuentes, founder of the Mariposa Trails cross-cultural education project; and Professor Nicholas Procter, director of mental health and suicide prevention research at UniSA.

Every Brilliant Thing is being presented from April 28 to May 13 at the Space Theatre in a double bill with the single-hander Prima Facie, starring Caroline Craig.

In theatre-adjacent news, Claudia Karvan ­– who captivated audiences with her performance in The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? at the Dunstan Playhouse in February – gave a fascinating insight into her life (especially her unconventional childhood) on ABC television’s Australian Story this week. The episode, Making a Scene, is now available to watch on iview.

Get writing

A range of guest writers are taking part in Writers’ SA’s autumn program.

A writing workshop at West Terrace Cemetery led by Adelaide author Carol Lefevre is one of the highlights of Writers SA’s just-announced autumn program.

To be held on May 13 as part of the SA History Festival and suitable for those interested in both life-writing and fiction, Words at West Terrace Cemetery will include life-mapping and writing exercises, as well as short walks to notable gravesites where participants will learn ways to “enter the past, hook a story and bring it into the present”. Lefevre is herself well-versed in the site’s hidden histories as the author of the 2016 book Quiet City: Walking in West Terrace Cemetery.

The autumn Writers SA line-up is the first delivered by new program manager Lauren Mullinder and also includes a two-part online series on literary non-fiction delivered by Ellena Savage (whose debut essay collection Blueberries was longlisted for the 2020 Stella Prize); a practical workshop on grant and application writing by local author Karen Wyld; an online session by children’s author and mental health expert Dr Helen Edwards on crafting characters who are neurodivergent or have a chronic or mental illness; and an exploration of “the joy of revising poetry” with Heather Taylor Johnson.

Author and creative writing teacher Ronnie Scott will lead an intensive “manuscript rescue” workshop in June for writers who want to get a stalled novel or non-fiction project back on track.

See the full program on the Writers SA website.

It’s just a jump to the left…

The official website for the new Australian production of The Rocky Horror Show has some useful tips for those counting down to the Adelaide season of the rock ’n’ roll musical – including a reminder that throwing things at performers is not okay, and if you’re going to do the Time Warp then “just a jump to the left” should be accompanied by… a jump to the left.

Richard O’Brien in The Rocky Horror Show.

Enthusiastic audience participation has almost always been a part of the Rocky experience, and as well as advice on etiquette and dancing, the extended “about” section of the site also tackles the dress code (or lack thereof). Suits, it warns, are a no-no: “These are only worn by people who thought they were booking for Phantom of the Opera or Chicago, but dialled the wrong number.”

The Rocky Horror Show’s 50^th anniversary tour lands at Adelaide’s Festival Theatre on April 13, with audience members attending the gala opening show on April 19 in for a special treat when show creator Richard O’Brien takes to the stage to share the role of narrator with Myf Warhurst.

Originally conceived as a homage to trashy B-movies, O’Brien’s Rocky Horror was first performed in front of an audience of just 63 people at the Royal Court Theatre in London and went on to become a worldwide phenomenon, with a film adaptation released in the mid-70s and the live show seen by more than 30 million people in more than 30 countries.

Warhurst will play the narrator until April 30, after which she will leave to host the Eurovision song contest and hand over to actor Nicholas Hammond. The cast for the Adelaide season also includes David Badella as Frank N Furter.

Emerging talent on show

A new generation of South Australian emerging creative talent is on show in the Helpmann Academy 2023 Graduate Exhibition at Adelaide Contemporary Experimental from April 1 until May 6.

The annual show this year features work by 21 visual artists spanning disciplines including ceramics, glass, installation, jewellery, moving image, painting, photo media, photography, printmaking, sculpture and textiles. Keep an eye on InReview next week for a review of the exhibition.

Meanwhile, Helpmann Academy has once again partnered with SA Power Networks to brighten up stobie poles in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council area with public artworks by emerging artists. Those selected to take part in the 2023 project will be mentored by local artist Seb Humphreys, with the opportunity including masterclasses and workshops to develop and collaborate on ideas. Applications (here) are open until April 23, and you can read insights from emerging artists involved in the 2022 stobie pole project here.

Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture.

Get in touch by emailing us at [email protected]