Knock Em Down Theatre’s Broken. Image via Browns Mart Theatre.
Despite the recent chaos wrought upon the sector by the federal government, and the subsequent aftershocks which resulted in dozens of organisations defunded earlier in the year, Australia’s performing arts organisations continued to impress in 2016.
Looking back, one of the key themes to emerge from the year was collaboration – typified by partnering between major companies and small to mediums, the championing of independents by major festivals, and mainstage companies creating new pathways for artistic development – demonstrating the interconnectedness and newfound collegiality of the sector nationwide.
Read: From major to minor: the new resource exchange
Read: Strengthening pathways for independent artists
The conversation around gender equity on Australian stages continued in 2016, with a recent report by the Australian Writers’ Guild noting that we are in effect at a standstill when it comes to achieving a gender balance in the authorship of main stage Australian plays. Sparked by such debate, the inaugural Festival Fatale took place in Sydney in October, to great success, with the conversation continuing the following month at Invisible Circus, a season of new works by women.
Read: Best and worst companies for gender parity
We also saw the long-awaited National Opera Review finally delivered. As well as the expected call for new money for the opera sector, there were also some surprises, including the recommendation that the Victorian Opera be admitted to the Australian Major Performing Arts Group, and that Opera Queensland be put on notice. The Federal Government has yet to formally respond to the Review in any detail
Read: Sector responds to National Opera Review​
Conversations with our Asian and Pacific neighbours continue to strengthen, though more work needs to be done to increase the representation of contemporary Asian art in our performing arts venues and festivals – the advent of new Melbourne festival Asia TOPA is definitely a step in the right direction in this regard, while Adelaide’s OzAsia Festival continues to kick goals.
Read: Australian festivals’ evolving conversation with Asia
Read: 14 cultural orgs partner to present new festival ​
The sector has also seen deepening engagement with First Nations artists – as typified by conversations and activities at both Artlands Dubbo in October and the Arts Front conference in Melbourne in November – though as evidenced by the fact that the majority of Australian presenters did not program Indigenous works in 2015, it’s clear that the process of ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural expression is truly at the heart of the arts in Australia has only just begun.
Read: Come our end: closing the gap with Indigenous culture
Read: Presenters reject Indigenous arts
The year has also seen increased awareness of the valuable work being generated by regionally-based companies such as Merrigong, Hothouse, the Flying Fruit Fly Circus, NORPA and Dancenorth, even while those same companies sometimes struggle for attention from their capital city-based peers and media outlets.
Read: Regional voices ignored by regional arts inquiry
Read: The new cultural cringe
While great work continues to be made everywhere, the changes to the arts funding landscape means that many companies remain in a precarious position – especially in the youth theatre sector, which may yet prove to be the canary in the coal mine for the future of the arts in Australia.
Read: Youth theatre companies under pressure in shrinking sector
Read: Even the winners have lost
For many in the performing arts it has been a tough year, but we fight on – and throughout the year, companies large and small have created some dazzling, boundary-breaking and excellent work. Here are just some of the many highlights, as nominated by ArtsHub’s reviewers and friends.
Gillian Wills, Brisbane​
My number one standout for 2016 has to be the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s ‘Slava, Rodrigo and Beethoven VII’ tour. While accustomed to this ensemble’s high standard of engaging performance, Tognetti’s unforgettably riveting and bold direction of Beethoven’s ‘Seventh Symphony’ was astonishing, an historical landmark of electrifying performance which elevated the ACO to greater heights of achievement. Tognetti and all of the ACO instrumentalists performed as if possessed. Each phrase, gesture, chord and voice in this fiery, spellbinding and soulful account had such sparkling persuasion it struck to the heart of each and every one of us in the QPAC concert hall.
Glen Falkenstein, Sydney
Original musicals, let alone great ones, are hard to come by these days. The Hayes Theatre Company, celebrating a streak of noteworthy musicals this year, topped them all with The Detective’s Handbook – a production that made filing and drafting reports seem like a stupendous deal of fun in one of its many inspired sequences.
A small production worthy of greater attention than it got, and of repeat viewings, the small cast and quick costume changes, seamlessly etched into the comedy, worked wonders on the bustling stage. Emblematic of the value of original Australian content, there’s a great deal to enjoy here.
Cj Fraser-Bell, Darwin
We’ve been hearing a lot about Broken by Mary Anne Butler this year, and it’s well worth the accolades! Presented by Knock Em Down Theatre as part of Darwin Festival, Broken astounded sold out audiences this August with some new onstage faces after premiering here at Brown’s Mart in 2015. Thoughtfully directed by Gail Evans with striking set, lighting and sound design by Kris Bird, Sean Pardy and Matt Cunliffe respectively, Broken was this year’s visceral and heartfelt stand out. Other highlights included the world premiere of Rianto’s transformative dance work Medium, also in Darwin Festival, and the only Australian performances from the Peking Opera Jingju Theater Company in November.
Revelly Robinson, Canberra
The highlight of the Canberra theatre season, Hannie Rayson’s Extinction was a thought-provoking play examining themes of environmental conservation and moral culpability. The intelligent script combined with strong performances by the talented cast of Colin Lane, Ngaire Dawn Fair, Brett Cousins and Natasha Herbert highlighted the quandary of a mining executive and environmentalists in their quest to save the endangered tiger quoll. The nuanced experiences of the characters as their ideological positions come into conflict with their personal circumstances was presented thought provokingly in a stylised production. A great piece of original theatre bringing to the fore important, prevalent issues.
David Barmby, Melbourne
Two very different concerts but equal first nominations from me for the best performances in 2016:
The Australian debut of Concerto Italiano at Melbourne Recital Centre in February: the memory of soprani Anna Simboli and Monica Piccinini’s glorious rendition of Sonata sopra Sancta Maria and tenor, Raffaele Giordani’s sublime reading of the Motet: Nigra sum will remain for some time. Other qualities included perfect diction, clear balance of voices and instruments blending one each per part, thrilling ornamentation, the subtle shaping of phrases, particularly the ends of phrases and perfectly matched, warm, open Italian vowels used in the Latin text.
At the same venue in March, Pierre-Laurent Aimard plays Messiaen: an extraordinary musical offering. I’ve rarely witnessed before an audience leaping to its feet in unison and shouting for sheer joy such as on this occasion.
Robert Jarman, Hobart
Hobart highlights of 2016: Tasmanian Theatre Company’s Tree Widows. Played amongst a soldiers’ avenue of trees, Alana Valentine’s verbatim play tapped into the cultural DNA of old Hobart: a small town with deep generational roots. Veteran Tasmanian actor Iain Lang was particularly moving.
Loudmouth’s The Moon, The Bull and The Coronet of Stars showed the growing maturity and sophistication in this young company.
And Maude Davey’s touring production, My Life in the Nude, which is just one of the very best shows I have ever seen. Ever. Such beauty, compassion, depth, thoughtfulness – and sheer bloody skill!
(Editor’s note: Modesty forbids Robert mentioning it, as he directed the production, but we’re told Blue Cow Theatre’s intimate, playful and fresh ensemble production of The Tempest was another Hobart highlight. Definitely not a museum piece despite being performed within the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery!)
Nerida Dickinson, Perth
Wendy Martin put together a comprehensive PIAF program in 2016, Claire Cunningham’s presentations and Blackmarket staying strong in memory. FringeWorld provided a venue for Nicola Gunn’s Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster, bringing duck focused perspective.
Local work Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories was a brilliant children’s piece that adults should see if possible. Picnic at Hanging Rock saw Matt Lutton return with distinctive physical styling to present a classic work with an edge of horror.
Independent theatre The Blue Room had a strong line up, featuring diversity in presentation. Signifying Nothing was very theatrical in many good and political ways, while The Astronaut pushed boundaries of physical theatre and memoir.
Dr Diana Carol, Adelaide
It’s been a great year for musical theatre in Adelaide, opening with an excellent production of Ghost the Musical at the Festival Theatre and ending with Singin’ in the Rain delighting its audiences. The Sound of Music was another treat for musical theatre fans of all ages. But the highlight this year was the superb production of Little Shop of Horrors at Her Majesty’s Theatre.
This colourful Australian revival was campy, creepy, and seriously good fun, from the B-Grade movie news-reel opening (with a very popular special guest cameo) to the dramatic final moments. How can you not love a show with a murderous plant named Audrey wailing, “Feed me….feed me…”? And Seymour Krelborn, the sad and love-sick shop boy seduced by the lure of a better life, who obediently feeds the plant’s insatiable blood-lust.
Everything about Little Shop was brilliantly executed, and it all came together as a joyous night of musical theatre.
Best shows of 2016 by Richard Watts, Deputy Editor, ArtsHub
Having seen a modest 135 live performances this year, including works in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Eureka (in the Northern Rivers region of NSW) as well as my home town of Melbourne, it’s reassuring to know that despite the recent turmoil facing the sector, the performing arts have flourished in 2016.
There are so many outstanding productions and seasons I missed this year – Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife at Belvoir, the entirety of Liveworks at Performance Space, Jacob Boheme and Ilbijerri’s Blood on the Dance Floor, and La Boite’s The Tragedy of King Richard III among them – but I also saw some magical works. Here are my personal highlights for the year – those productions that transported me, moved me, and stayed with me long after the curtains closed:
A Mile in My Shoes – The Empathy Museum
A simple idea powerfully executed, A Mile in My Shoes at Perth International Arts Festival was an exercise in empathy and understanding: increasingly rare commodities in our ‘post-truth’ world. Long after I had left the event, re-lacing my own shoes and walking off, the stories and experiences I’d just encountered lingered with me. They still do.
Awakening – Monash Uni Student Theatre
Written and directed by Daniel Lammin, this incisive adaptation of Frank Wedekind’s Spring Awakening was the sort of devastating yet beautiful theatrical experience that I immediately wanted to share with everyone. Lammin’s script was truthful and compelling, his direction focused and controlled. Thankfully the production – originally staged at Melbourne’s Trades Hall – has a return season at fortyfivedownstairs in May, so more people will get to see it. Don’t miss out.
Backstage in Biscuit Land – Touretteshero
Hilarious, heartbreaking, empowering and compelling, Jess Thom’s autobiographical production about living with Tourette’s Syndrome (a neurological condition which results in her saying words like ‘biscuit’ and ‘hedgehog’ thousands of times a day) was so good I saw it twice at this year’s Melbourne Festival. Despite coming from a place of pain following a humiliating experience in a London theatre, Backstage in Biscuit Land is a joyous, celebratory affair. It’s also a valuable exercise in consciousness-raising: a reminder that the theatre is neither as welcoming nor as inclusive as many of us in the sector may like to think. If it inspires more relaxed performances in Australia, all the better – and hopefully we’ll see Thom return to Australia before long, so that more audiences can experience this life-affirming, remarkable show.
The Echo of the Shadow – Teatro de los Sentidos
This intimate gem was the transformative highlight of Jonathan Holloway’s first Melbourne Festival. As I noted in my review in October: ‘If the purpose of art is to make you see the world differently, then this richly imaginative, immersive and transporting work by Barcelona’s Teatro De Los Sentidos is one of the best works of art I’ve ever experienced.’ Haunting, magical and memorable.
Hero Complex – Sammy J
A masterclass in storytelling, the latest solo show from award-winning comedian Sammy J premiered at this year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival. Sammy is at the peak of his powers as a stand-up comic, as evidenced by this deftly controlled and tightly written work: an increasingly implausible tale of comic books, hero worship and the aftershocks of childhood. The true magic in this show was that every time things started to seem unlikely, Sammy J would present you with the truth of the tale – often in the form of childhood artefacts whose existence made the show even funnier. An hour of outrageous laughter and impossible to fault.
Lotus Readings – National Play Festival
This showcase of four in-development plays by Asian-Australian writers (Siti Rubiyah by Katrina Irawati Graham; Squint Witch by Shari Indriani; My Father Who Slept in A Zoo by Ngoc Phan; and Entomology by Natesha Somasundaram) was one of the most exciting theatrical experiences of my year. Instead of tired middle class dramas and overly-familiar tropes we were tantalised by fresh new perspectives and new ideas – ranging from a young woman trying to escape the clutches of a malevolent Sumatran sorcerer and a story of post-war survival and migration, to a group of foul-mouthed schoolgirls on a crowded Melbourne train. Vital, exhilarating and alive – I left the theatre wanting to see full productions of each play immediately.
Trigger Warning – Zoe Coombs Marr
Misogynist comedian ‘Dave’ is having an identity crisis and we’re all invited to watch. Magnificent meta-comedy from Zoe Coombs Marr which plunges so far down the rabbit hole it turns entirely inside out. Immaculately written, achingly funny and an incisive commentary on clowning, stand-up, identity and intersectional feminism. Just brilliant.
Wit – The Artisan Collective
As Vivian Bearing, an imperious English Literature professor dying from aggressive ovarian cancer, Jane Montgomery Griffiths gave the very best performance I saw onstage this year. Switching in a heartbeat from humour to horror, her exploration of a woman coming to terms with mortality and discovering her own humanity was deeply affecting and utterly transfixing. Supporting roles, especially Helen Morse as Bearing’s aging mentor, were also strong, as was Ben Pfeiffer’s delicate yet assured direction. A bravura production which demands a return season.
The Young King – Slingsby
In his short story The Young King (first published in 1891, in the collection A House of Pomegranates) Oscar Wilde’s political sensibilities were just as much on show as his spiritual and aesthetic concerns. This story of a princess who rejects the social order, and her son whose rejection of feudal power structures goes even further, was a joyful highlight of this year’s Adelaide Festival. Incorporating live music and puppetry, and with a richly realised design that’s utterly integral to the production, Slingsby have constructed an enchanting theatrical treat for ages eight to 80.
Richard’s honourable mentions: Matilda the Musical; Le Patin Libre’s Vertical Influences at Melbourne Festival; Malthouse Theatre/Black Swan’s Picnic at Hanging Rock; InFlux’s Animal at Theatre Works; Nederlands Dans Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne; Dancenorth’s IF_WAS_ at The Substation; Queensland Theatre’s Ladies in Black at MTC; and MTC’s Jasper Jones.
