A giant program prepared for Perth International Arts Festival 2015

This year sees the Perth International Arts Festival celebrating its 63rd year, and with a budget of over 22 million dollars, things look set to be huge. Quite literally!

To begin with, the festival will open in an epic spectacle in the way of French company Royal de Luxe’s ‘The Incredible and Phenomenal Journey of the Giants to the Streets of Perth’, the biggest arts event Western Australia has ever seen.

For three days over opening weekend, these masters of theatrical art will let loose a modern-day fairytale of gigantic proportions as 11-metre tall giants take inspiration from uniquely Western Australian stories and “tour” the city, partly in commemoration of the Anzac centenary.

Another highlight in the 2015 festival program (and still on a battle tip) is the production of ‘Black Diggers’ which interweaves stories of Indigenous soldiers who fought in the battlefields of World War I for Australian and then returned home to be treated as second-class citizens. Heavy – but pertinent – theatre, to say the least.

Perth theatre-goers will also have the opportunity to see the English National Opera’s production of ‘Madama Butterfly’ and, on a more raucous note, Australian circus ensemble Circa will present ‘Beyond’, a radical spectacle of modern music, superb acrobatics and outlandish comedy that made a major impression at the recent Edinburgh Festival.

Whether it’s serious or spooky subject matter you’re chasing, or light-hearted and comedic, the Perth International Arts Festival 2015 has got it all. And don’t get us started on the massive list of music acts visiting our shores to perform live, suffice to say that the names Neneh Cherry, Sinead O’Connor, Rufus Wainwright and Musica Viva should all ring a bell.

For more information and bookings visit Ticketek outlets, www.perthfestival.com.au or phone (08) 6488 5555.  Antonino Tati

Pictured (above:) ‘The Incredible and Phenomenal Journey of the Giants to the Streets of Perth, and (below:) one of the many excellent international acts visiting Perth shores for the 2015 festival, Sinead O’Connor.