Otago Festival of the Arts

Otago Festival of the Arts

I think we often forget, or rather overlook, the privilege of living in a culturally assimilated city like Dunedin. We always have a production on somewhere, be it professional or student-led, so if we feel like it we can take the evening off to enjoy a show. We are also lucky enough to have a variety of festivals take place every year, such as the Fringe Festival and the fast-approaching Otago Festival of the Arts. Commencing on October 5, Otago Festival of the Arts will take over Dunedin with a variety of performance mediums from visual arts to dance. For nine days we will be treated to groups from all over New Zealand, and the world, coming to show off their talents. You can find brochures around most cafes and advertising hotspots, but for those of you too lazy to read the whole thing, I have chosen five highlights from the festival. What makes them highlights? Um, I like the sound of them?

Chalktagon

On the first Saturday of the Festival, the entire Octagon will be blocked off to vehicles, leaving the space free to use as a huge, eight-sided canvas. The general public is encouraged to come along and, to the theme of “My Favourite Things”, decorate the ground in beautiful creations. Students from the Art School will be around to lend a hand or inspire you. It’ll be interesting to see how it turns out! Though you can never really go wrong with chalk.

Vienna Boys’ Choir

If the poster doesn’t make you want to go, then I guess you’re just…I don’t know, immune to advertising featuring pictures of cute children? I mean, come on, they’re dressed as sailors. That’s cute. And they’re talented too. The Vienna Boys’ Choir performs over 300 shows a year, with the choir being made up of approximately 100 boys between the ages of 10 – 14. Who knows why they’re not in school, the point is they’re good. And in the Regent Theatre they’ll sound even better.

Hatched

The brochure states that those who love The Addams Family (yes), Edward Scissorhands (double yes) and Harry Potter (oh dear god yes, always yes) will “LOVE Hatched”. Now, that seems quite the reputation to live up to, but I’ll give it a go. If I’m promised love in caps, I’ll go. The show is performed largely by old and slightly creepy marionettes, and tells the story of a somewhat grim fairytale of magic and grief. The show has been touring internationally since 2008, and is definitely worth seeing.

Play

Written by Samuel Beckett, the father of crazy theatre where words are the heart of the performance and even they don’t make sense, Play is a combination of performance and instillation art. Someone once described Beckett to me as “a symphony”, and that’s certainly true. Confusing yet beautiful. This performance, only 20 minutes in length, runs repeatedly for an hour and a half, giving audiences the opportunity to pop in and out or stay for the whole duration.

The Beatgirls

Swing Time! A blast from the past in the form of beautiful swing music, military uniforms and three part harmonies. What more could you ask for? Taking place in the HMNZS Toroa Hall, these three women will be taking us back to the 40s and entertaining the troops. Think Christina Aguilera’s “Candyman”, but better.

For more information on the festival, check out their brochures yourself! Study break excuse? I think so.
This article first appeared in Issue 26, 2012.
Posted 5:01pm Sunday 30th September 2012 by Bronwyn Wallace.