Australian Premiere of Roman Tragedies Epic at Adelaide Festival 2014.
Ahead of the 2014 program launch on Tuesday 29 October, Adelaide Festival Artistic Director David Sefton has announced two major events for his second festival.
On the opening weekend of the 2014 Festival (Fri 28 Feb– Sun 2 Mar), Dutch theatre hit Roman Tragedies blends three of Shakespeare’s most famous political plays into one continuous six-hour political drama, while in the final week (Tue 11 Mar – Fri 14 Mar), Zorn in Oz sees John Zorn in his Australian debut, with an exclusive series of six one-off marathon concerts across four evenings.
David Seftonsaid: “Roman Tragedies is one of the best theatre shows of the last decade; an immersive contemporary retelling of Shakespeare for the 24-hour news generation. It is epic, on a scale not seen at the Festival since The Mahabharata in the quarry. People who see Roman Tragedies will remember it as an Adelaide Festival highlight for years to come.”
Toneelgroep Amsterdam's Roman Tragedies combines Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra into an immersive multimedia spectacular that frames personal political ambition and national interest through our obsession with the 24-hour news cycle.
With no fixed intermission and performed in Dutch with English surtitles, Roman Tragedies shatters theatrical conventions inviting the audience to move freely between seats in the auditorium to sofas scattered across the stage in order to experience different vantage points during the show. Refreshments are also available on stage throughout the performance.
Avant-garde musician John Zorn will perform six concerts, four of which are over three hours in length.
David Seftonsaid: “I am thrilled and proud that Adelaide Festival will present John Zorn in Australia for the first, and most likely the only time ever. The epic scale of these concerts is a testament to the range and diversity of Zorn’s music. There really is no one else like him and this is Australia’s chance to finally see him live.”
Over 40 of Zorn’s closest collaborators will travel to Australia from the United States (including Mike Patton, Milford Graves, Bill Laswell, Marc Ribot, Joey Baron and John Medeski), in addition to Australian contributions from Elision Ensemble and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Roman Tragedies
On sale from 7pm, Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Festival Theatre | 28 Feb, 1 Mar, 2 Mar | Unreserved Seating | $50 - $159 |
Zorn in Oz
All concerts on sale early evening Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Festival Theatre | 11 Mar - 14 Mar | $35 - $129 |