This year will see the first full-scale OzAsia Festival under the leadership of new Artistic Director Annette Shun Wah. Theatre, comedy, writing, and music shows are among the exciting lineup of early release productions, with the remainder of the program to be announced in August.
Destinations, The Special Comedy Comedy Special, and White Pearl are the three shows providing a sneak peek at Adelaide Festival Centre’s OzAsia Festival 2021.
The Australian premiere of Destinations by acclaimed Taiwanese-Australian pianist Belle Chen will be performed at Her Majesty’s Theatre on 23 October. Chen’s compositions retain the beauty of classical piano while traversing avant-garde and electronica to embody the world’s natural wonders.
The Special Comedy Comedy Special will be performed at Her Majesty’s Theatre on 30 October. It will feature Asian Australian comedians Jennifer Wong (from ABC’s Chopsticks or Fork?) and Adelaide’s own Jason Chong, along with Suren Jayemanne, Triple J Drive host Michael Hing and TV personalities Lawrence Leung(Offspring, Maximum Choppage), Alex Lee (The Feed) and Nina Oyama (Utopia).
The Adelaide premiere of Sydney Theatre Company’s White Pearl rounds out the early release, and will be performed at the Dunstan Playhouse on 20 – 23 October. Written by Thai-Australian playwright Anchuli Felicia King, this satirical play is about a skincare company whose new TV commercial goes viral for all the wrong reasons.
“For OzAsia Festival 2021, we are thrilled to be presenting the most significant showcase of contemporary Asian Australian artists that’s ever been seen before. We have so many world-class performers right here in Australia, and these first few shows that we’re announcing today are just the tip of an iceberg that includes world premieres and collaborations featuring some of Australia’s most respected artists alongside exciting new voices.”
– anette shun wah, artistic director
In addition to these three shows, the OzAsia Festival 2021 will present In Other Words – a new writing and ideas program featuring a range of talks, workshops and performances at the Adelaide Riverbank Lawns from 5 to 7 November.
Led by former Adelaide Writers’ Week director Laura Kroetsch, the program boasts acclaimed authors Benjamin Law and Roanna Gonsalves as guest curators. It will bring together some of Asia and Australia’s most inspiring contemporary writers as they engage in vital conversations about their past, present and future.
For more information, visit www.ozasiafestival.com.au.
