Opera singer Anna Dowsley (left) and Circa acrobat Charlotte Cayer performing in Opera Queensland and Circa’s collaborative production, ‘Dido and Aeneas’. Photo: Murray Summerville.
In 2017, when Patrick Nolan joined Opera Queensland (OQ) as Artistic Director, after five years leading the pioneering physical theatre company Legs On The Wall, part of his brief was to shake things up.
Little did anyone know that within his first two years at OQ, he would take the company into completely uncharted territory, and enter into what was then seen as a risky partnership with contemporary circus arts company Circa to produce the companies’ first ever opera/circus arts collaboration.
ArtsHub's Arts Feature Writer Jo Pickup is based in Perth. An arts writer and manager, she has worked as a journalist and broadcaster for media such as the ABC, RTRFM and The West Australian newspaper, contributing media content and commentary on art, culture and design. She has also worked for arts organisations such as Fremantle Arts Centre, STRUT dance, and the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of WA, as well as being a sessional arts lecturer at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
