Perth Winter Arts Festival

Editorial

When: 1 June-31 August, 2009
Where: Various venues across Perth

The City of Perth has done it again this year and is presenting another three months of arts to tempt you away from the home hearth and into the warm interiors of theatres and galleries this winter.

The Black Swan Theatre Company has a number of high quality productions worth braving an icy wind to see. There is the comedy God of Carnage (13 - 28 June), which sees two sets of parents resorting to childish games as they try and work out whose child started a playground fight. The black British play The Memory of Water (4 - 19 July) by Shelagh Stephenson deals with three sisters reuniting at home after the death of their mother, and how the memory can cheat when it comes to childhood events. And you can't go past Shakespeare to warm the cockles of your winter heart, and this year, Black Swan is presenting Much Ado About Nothing  (22 August - 6 September). This much-loved comedy is about two returned soldier attending a masked ball, how one falls in love with a beautiful girl and the other meets his match with a feisty girl who is more than his match.

Staying with Shakespeare but on the dance front, West Australian Ballet is presenting Romeo and Juliet (3 - 18 July) at His Majesty's Theatre. Choreographed by Youri Vàmos of Deutsch Oper Am Rhein, this interpretation has a 1930's setting; and WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts) is presenting Zilch (25 - 29 August), a season of their dance students'original dance works, the culmination of three years of study.

And some of the many visual arts exhibitions include Things Beware the Material World, a bold exhibition of furniture, lighting, sculpture, moving-image and photographs from around the world, and is on until 5 July at the Art Gallery of Western Australia; there are also works by Mari Funaki, one of Australia's leading jewellers at the Gallery, (27 June - 18 October), showcasing her work from 1992 and today; as well as fellow jewellery maker David Walker's exhibition, Anatomy of the Object, that traces the artist's past and current practices from student works to contemporary pieces.

There's no reason to stay cooped up indoors this winter. “Whether it is dance, drama or digital art this year's program has something for all ages and tastes,” says Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi. So get out there and 'arten' up!

Tim Hunter, Citysearch

More Perth Winter Arts events:
Necromancing
Zilch
Singular Women