CityMag’s free festival guide: Cabaret edition
It might be getting cold, but SA’s festival season is still getting warmed up. This month’s winter offering, the Cabaret Festival, gives you plenty to do in June without denting your savings.
Adelaide’s Cabaret Festival is the largest celebration of the art form in the world, with this year’s artistic director Reuben Kaye promising a “delicious revolution”.
For three weeks, a program packed with acts like the more mainstream Post Modern Jukebox – the YouTube-famous collective that has racked up hundreds of millions of views – and experimental works in program will take over the Festival Centre.
If you’re looking for something arty and avant-garde to indulge in without breaking the bank, we’ve rounded up some free parts of the program to get around.
Maybelline Wasn’t Raised Like This, But She Is Born With It
When: 5.45 pm, Thursday, June 11
Where: Quartet Bar by Corryton Burge
If you love a show that will make you laugh, cry, and question your childhood, then this cabaret performance by comedian Maybelline is for you.
Drawing on the Filipino love language of karaoke (and roasts, in the comedy sense), Maybelline brings her family onstage to deliver a mix of heartfelt storytelling, comedy, and live music. The show explores her identity, celebrating the matriarchs who raised her and the men who like to take the credit.
Presented as part of Work in Progress, a platform for artists developing new creative works, the show is an emerging performance about culture and connection.
Light
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When: 5.45 pm, Friday, June 12
Where: Quartet Bar by Corryton Burge
Another Work in Progress production, this musical explores the South Asian diaspora experience through the lens of three generations of Indian women.
As their stories interweave during the annual Navarati festival, the women each deal with their unique but interrelated demons – navigating motherhood, burnout, public expectations and secret relationships.
Developed by Naarm (Melbourne) based Vidya Makan, who made The Lucky Country, and Tasnim Hossain, Light is a humorous but heartfelt story of suburban South Asian Australians.
Rags to Riches
When: June 4 – 21
Where: The Galleries, Festival Theatre
If you have ever wanted to see cabaret props and costumes up close, away from their curated performances, this is your chance. The newly renovated Adelaide Festival Centre foyer will be transformed into a free exhibition space featuring items from cabaret performances across Australia and the world.
This opportunity provides an up-close visual of “the fabulous glamour and grit” of cabaret, as Kaye puts it.
Piano Man
When: June 4 – 21
Where: Quartet Bar by Corryton Burge
Cabaret Festival mainstay Dr Trevor Jones is back for another year, taking over the Quartet Bar with his iconic piano until late.
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Expect crowd-favourite classic sing-alongs with requests encouraged, alongside games and themed cocktails.
Also featuring surprise guest stars straight from the green room, the free event is the perfect late-night festival stop for anyone keen to belt out a tune.
Festival masterclasses
When: 2 pm, June 14 and June 21
Where: Adelaide Festival Centre Quartet Bar
Artistic Director Reuben Kaye will be joined by special guests for candid behind-the-scenes chats about cabaret as an art form, with two sessions left before the festival wraps.
On June 14, the talk focuses on ‘Revolution and Sequins’ about how cabaret keeps its identity throughout each era of history that has shaped it.
Then, the June 21 talk is called ‘Designing for Divas’, all about costume design in cabaret and how they’re designed to be fun and functional.
Show Tunes Trevia
When: 5:45 pm Thursday, June 18
Where: Adelaide Festival Centre Quartet Bar
Sequin-clad piano man Dr Trevor Jones is playing quizmaster for an evening in Show Tunes Trevia, a quick-fire hour and a half quiz night.
Reuban says Trevor is a musical theatre “megamind” and encourages anyone or their friends who could say the same to get around the jazzy test. This event is a chance to flex your musical theatre knowledge.
LGBTIQ+ Elders Dance Club
When: 1 pm, June 21
Where: Space Theatre
An artist-led, community group called All the Queens Men is bringing back its elders dance party for the seventh year in a row.
The event has become a fan favourite among Adelaide’s cabaret community, as a chance for all ages to come out and celebrate community and chaos.
Organisers say no dance experience is necessary, but an open heart is required.
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