Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE Development Program has announced 10 new and exciting works-in-progress selected for development in 2024 as well as a new writer in residence as part of writeSPACE. The program will run from February 2024 until December 2024 and will showcase children’s theatre, dance, storytelling, and a look into South Australian LGBTIQA+ history.
writeSPACE is an Adelaide Festival Centre program to fill the missing space between ideas, writing and the stage. In 2024, acclaimed musician Holly Ball will continue to develop a script for her semi-autobiographical drama exploring a young person’s journey through creation and success.
Kicking off inSPACE 2024 is theatre production Paper Trails by Sarah Wilson that will reflect on our loved one’s histories through powerful dance by Flinders University graduate Kate Burgess. Later in February, Patch Theatre alumni Zoe Dunwoodie and Tim Overton will present Evelyn, a new children’s theatre show that follows a puppet’s journey through the cosmos and the mind.
Adelaide based choreographers and performers Ade Suharto and Alison Currie will present their new interactive dance piece Maintain Rest Value which will see them offer participation to their audience in actions of maintenance, rest, and value. In May, Award-winning performance artist Jingwei Bu will explore life, death, and the continuous flow of existence in Bloody ink Play through durational performance, sound, video and live music by South Australian musician Emily Tulloch.
In a collaboration with Feast Festival, Museum of Hope by Eric Kuhlmann will pay tribute to South Australian lives lost to prejudice in the 50 years from when homosexuality was decriminalised in the state. Another program highlight is theatre show, French Guise that follows the life of Julie d’Aubigny who famously burnt down a convent to escape with her female lover. Created by Various People Inc, audiences can expect extravagant music, sword fighting and dance.
South Australian painter, performer and filmmaker, Kirsty Martinsen, will further develop Bodiness: Hands Like Wings with renowned New York City director Erwin Maas. The unique collaboration brings theatre, painting, and disability together in a piece that address notions of freedom, beauty, and ability.
Prominent Adelaide creatives Rebecca Meston and Eliza Lovell will humorously look into the taboos around the representation of women in pop culture through clowning and dance in Leaking. Award-winning Adelaide theatre icon Hew Parham will return to inSPACE with new development work Visions of God Support Group. This theatre piece explores life, faith and existential questions with local actors Chrissie Page, Henry Cooper, Rory Walker and Rachel Burke.
In December 2024, co-founders of award-winning theatre company Fish Bowl Productions, Steph Daughtry and Matthew Barker will further develop The Rat Race which investigates what it is like to experience the world differently and how to navigate living in modern day Australia.
Adelaide Festival Centre inSPACE Programming Executive Callan Flemming: “Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE 2024 program continues to invest in the future of performing arts in South Australia. inSPACE is a vital incubator for groundbreaking artistic voices.
“We are excited by what these incredible artists have in store for us this year, the lineup promises to challenge, inspire, and educate on the artistic process. Get on the list so you can catch artists sharing their fresh ideas.”
Minister for Arts, the Hon. Andrea Michaels MP: “Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE has been at the forefront of artistic creation and excellence whilst supporting local independent and emerging artists. I look forward to seeing South Australian artists develop further in inSPACE 2024.”
Over the past 20 years, inSPACE has proudly worked with representatives across South Australia’s flourishing independent arts scene with organisations such as Vitalstatistix, Slingsby and Brink and alumni include Erin Fowler, Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Finegan Kruckemeyer.
For more information about inSPACE programs at Adelaide Festival Centre or to sign up to receive updates and invitations to work-in-progress shows, visit www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/festivals-programs/inspace
