“This year we are investigating the idea of revelation”, says Festival Artistic Director, Caroline Stacey, “I was inspired by the words of Voltaire who said ‘what then do you call your soul? What idea have you got of it? You cannot of yourselves, without revelation, admit the existence within you of anything but a power unknown to you of feeling and thinking’”.
Taking place over Easter from 30 March to Sunday 8 April, the festival will feature an extraordinary 130 different events across all art forms. Having forged strong partnerships with Tasmania’s ‘Ten Days on the Island’ and the Auckland and Singapore Arts Festivals, this year’s program brings together the best that the world has to offer, alongside brilliant local works from central Victoria.
Set in the heart of the central Victorian goldfields, and renowned for its Victorian and Edwardian architecture, dedication to the arts, locally produced food and wine, Castlemaine gives itself completely to the celebrations during festival time. Over 500 artists descend on the town and perform in venues as diverse as the historic Theatre Royal and Town Hall through to venues that recall the region’s bygone era, Forest Creek Diggings Park, Tute’s Cottage, Wattle Gully Mine Shed and Carman’s Tunnel. Intimate and engaging, historic and mysterious, the town embraces a rich tapestry of performances and artists.
This year the main street of Castlemaine is invaded by giant puppets, inflatables and aerial flying rigs as artists-in-residence ERTH create cutting edge physical and visual theatre, and bring the mysterious and wonder-full Gondwana land inspired Garden to Victory Park.
International guests include Newfoundlanders Duane Andrews and his quartet, and storyteller and humorist, Andy Jones, and Sardinian singer-songwriter Simone Salis, who sings the music of her Mediterranean island home in a voice reminiscent of Norah Jones.
The festival’s core music program covers a huge range of styles from traditional to avant-garde. Highlights include:
Bach’s Passion on Good Friday by Paul Grabowsky and the Australian Art Orchestra with Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach. The work will draw on the nuances of the Bach’s St Matthew Passion while employing the language of contemporary music;
Stuart Greenbaum and Ross Baglin presenting the World Premiere of Nelson, an opera about British Commander Captain Horatio Nelson;
The Barber of Seville presented by Melbourne Opera;
classical contemporary Topology journeys through famous speeches of 20th century in their work, Airwaves;
The Ern Malley Project about the world’s greatest literary hoax, presented by the University of Melbourne Faculty of Music;
New Zealand actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand reproducing the glamour and decadence of 1930’s Berlin with her recreation of Marlene Dietrich;
the Tom Tom Club;
the massed choral performance Thirst, investigating the relationship between people and the Australian landscape;
the Piano Trio series including Geoffrey Lancaster and The Ensemble of The Classic Era, Benaud Trio and Freshwater Trio;
jazz performances by Aronas with the amazing Aron Ottignan, Misinterprotato, and Nichaud Fitzgibbon;
Stopera’s jazz music theatre Nigredo Hotel;
the return of the festival’s most down to earth event, Masters Down the Mineshaft.
The 400th anniversary of Monteverdi’s death will be celebrated with stunningly exquisite early music group Ludovico’s Band and e21 in Love and the Art of War.
The Ultimate Poetry Reading has a stellar line up of poets including Les Murray, Dorothy Porter, Emilie Zoey Baker, Ron Pretty, Robyn Rowland, and Michael Sharkey. In one of many seminars, walks and talks, author Raimond Gaita will present Romulus, My Father, From Book To Film about the process of adapting his extraordinary novel into the feature film, starring Eric Bana, scheduled to premiere later this year in Castlemaine.
Performance highlights include Taizé, The 2007 George Fairfax Play, written by local playwright Teresa Bell set within the walls of the Old Castlemaine Gaol; the Aphids double bill, A Quarreling Pair & Apples and Ladders; A Tribute to Danny Kaye by funny man Russell Fletcher; Tarnished by La La Parlour, the surprise hit of the 2006 Adelaide Fringe Festival and The Advertiser’s Best of the Fringe winner; He’s Never Done This Before, an autobiographical glimpse into the life of the great Australian actor Lewis Fiander performed by Fiander himself, and Auto by Charlie Pickering one of Australia’s funniest funnymen, The 100th anniversary of the Australian Society of Musicians will be celebrated with Ross Skiffington’s innovative magic show, Lounge Wizard.
And for the first time in 2007 the Castlemaine State Festival is going ‘carbon neutral’. All venues will have Green Power, there will be Green Ticketing, a food program focusing on local produce, a Carbon Neutral Hub, free bicycles for festival goers, special festival walks, improved recycling and waste management and green art.
“Pound for pound, Castlemaine State Festival is the equal of any in the country” Herald Sun, 2005
For more information about this amazing program please go to www.castlemainefestival.com.au
Castlemaine State Festival 2007
Dates: Friday 30 March – Sunday 8 April
Tickets: (03) 5434 6100 | www.thecapital.com.au
Information: www.castlemainefestival.com.au
Updates and enews:
