Thrillseekers welcome at OzAsia Festival 2019
From talking rice cookers to a sushi-throwing Japanese pop troupe, this year’s OzAsia Festival will feature contemporary theatre at its most adventurous.
OzAsia Festival Artistic Director Joseph Mitchell said the program offered unique perspectives across 35 Adelaide exclusives, five world-first performances and 22 Australian premieres.
“Our festival showcases how contemporary performance from across Asia really breaks down a lot of the traditional genres and pushes boundaries in a way that’s exciting to behold. We’ve picked out internationally renowned artists with engaging works for audiences to explore,” he said.
Highlights include the return of Kuro Tanino after the success of 2017’s The Dark Inn to present the Australian premiere of The Dark Master – a play in which audience members are required to wear an earpiece to hear the instructions being given by a hidden character.
The Dark Master
An ordinary hiker stumbles into an Osaka restaurant and is asked to take over by the misanthropic chef, despite having no prior cooking experience. He serves meals for a host of endearing and colourful characters – all while the audience listens in on the chef’s commands.
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Adelaide’s own Zephyr Quartet will team up with Japanese performance group Contact Gonzo to present a mix of dance, music and physical theatre for the world premiere of Stuck in the Narrowest Path.
Contact Gonzo have been described as ‘dance meets fight club’ with their face-slapping, clothes-ripping, brawling performances featured on YouTube and in venues as prestigious as New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Three ‘talking’ rice cookers will serve as a narrative device for South Korean theatre maker Jaha Koo’s Cuckoo.
Cuckoo
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The play reflects on his country’s recent history while also sharing a deeply personal story about the pressures of modern Korean society.
Tofu, confetti and glitter are among the items that will blast from the stage when Japan’s Miss Revolutionary Idol Berserker presents Totes Adorbs <3 Hurricane.
The performances at Nexus Arts will see one of OzAsia Festival’s most adored acts return with a new whirlwind experience and wild tribute to Japanese subculture.
Emerging from the underground scene of Tokyo’s famous Harajuku district, the 25 performers are clad in rainbow-coloured school uniforms and launch into precise, synchronised moves as 50 songs are remixed into one music track, delivering information faster than the audience can process.
To help festival attendees navigate the exciting shows on offer, OzAsia Festival is offering a discounted Adventure Pass when they purchase tickets to three select performances including Cuckoo, Stuck in the Narrowest Path and Totes Adorbs <3 Hurricane.
Mitchell said OzAsia Festival 2019 offered thrilling experiences across all genres, with other Adventure Pass shows including street dance work Kata and music events Beirut Electro Parade, Ghost Gamelan and Shik Shak Shok.
Kata
“The diversity of our program is something OzAsia Festival prides itself on – from the range of countries represented through to the various ways in which our artists challenge pre-conceived notions of genre and cultural identity,” he said.
“We’re presenting truly ground-breaking works and I can’t wait for the moment they hit Adelaide Festival Centre stages for the first time later this year.”
