No Adelaide Fringe Reviews Or Coverage in 2024 - Will Be Back Every Other Year From 2025
The Adelaide Show Podcast putting South Australian passion on centre stage

314 – Let’s DreamBIG

314 Let's DreamBIG - The Adelaide Show Podcast

In this week’s episode of The Adelaide Show, we are going to DreamBIG. We will be joined by DreamBIG Children’s Festival Creative Producer Susannah Sweeney, for a deep dive into the importance of the arts especially in relation to the early exposure of children to theatre, circus, and other art forms.

The SA Drink Of The Week is from DiGiorgio Family Wines.

In the Musical Pilgrimage, Don Morrison gets into Bay To Birdwood gear with Grand Junction Road.

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Running Sheet: Adelaide Fringe 2021? Let’s DreamBIG

00:00:00 Intro

Introduction to the show.

00:02:04 SA Drink Of The Week

The SA Drink Of The Week is 2019 DiGiorgio Family Wines Coonawarra Cabernet Franc, tasted with winemaker Peter Douglas and assistant winemaker, Bryan Tonkin, along with The Adelaide Show’s own palate, John Gledhill.

00:06:51 Susannah Sweeney

In 2019, the highlight of my theatre review year was DreamBIG. Robot Song, New Owner, and Gruffalo, all scored 10 out of 10 – a score that does not happen often. That’s why I’m thrilled to be sitting a short but safe distance away from the DreamBIG Children’s Festival Creative Producer, Susannah Sweeney, because she’s just launched the program for 2021.

I want to start with a confession. When I went to review the DreamBIG shows, I did it out of duty. I take reviewing seriously and fully expected I’d be enduring 50 minutes at a time of – can you see the wolf? over there! where? Instead, I was blown away by theatre that had such high production values they left much adult theatre for dead. What has happened – what is going on?

How do we keep the shows in reach of kids and not morph into work that is being done just to impress other children’s theatre performers?

I think adult theatre is going to be challenged by the extraordinary dose of Netflix bingeing brought about by Covid-19. It’s going to take a while to adjust to theatre. Kids have screens more than ever before, how does this challenge of theatre play out? Is it a case of recreating screen like environments on the stage? In which case, what’s the point of going out and not just watching online?

As a marketer, I’m intrigued by how do you choose shows – the kids have to love it but parents or teachers need to be confident in booking it in the first place.

You have children. What sort of diet of the arts have you provided them?

Can you imagine raising children without the arts?

What media are covered in DreamBIG – theatre, magic, etc?

The theme is Be Curious. I think the whole world has lost this or perverted it into conspiracy theory hunting. Why did you choose it?

On the note of curiosity, Peter and Sa still smart over the name change from Come Out. Why was that decidion made?

What will be on the menu?

When and where?

Covid fallback plan?

 Magic Beach – from the team behind The Gruffalo and the Treehouse series, this play is
based on the best-selling book by Alison Lester, where the quintessential Aussie holiday
is brought to life on stage. The show will also head to Port Lincoln.
 Wolfgang’s Magical Musical Circus – Circa returns with a new show that combines
brilliant acrobatics and physical comedy performed to Mozart’s beautiful scores.
 Spirit – A moving show weaving together storytelling, song and dance with fire,
language and ceremony by Yellaka. Described as “The history lesson that everyone
should see” (Glam Adelaide.)
 Project Ludwig – an interactive show featuring SA performers from The Australian String
Quartet that allows students to choose their favourite Beethoven playlist.
 Still Point of a Turning World – An immersive performance installation where three
performers create poetic stories that inspire students to question who they are.
 Tröll – An Adelaide premiere, this show follows the story of a young pre-teen exploring
the jittery edges of the online world with the help of Icelandic folklore, music and
puppetry.
 We Come from Far, Far Away – A moving tale about the refugee experience, exploring
themes of survival, fear and friendship in an Australian Premiere.
 Listen to See – A beautiful and intimate participatory dance piece by SA’s Restless Dance
Theatre.

You’ve also worked in music PR including VIrgin and Sony, which, if I recall, involved you being out at concerts most nights just pushing and promoting. Are there any things children’s theatre circles could learn from that heady space, or vice versa?

Who would have thought live arts might be giving you a more stable living than the record industry which must have been rolling in money in the 80s and 90s?

Do you know you’re one of very few husband and wife teams in which both partners have been guests on The Adelaide Show? Chris Drummond joined us with Andy Packer for episode 105 called Arty Farty Adelaide, five years ago in August 2015.

On that note, an ethidcal question to end on. If Brink did kids theatre, there might be some pressure at home to book OR if they had a great show, some push back about booking hubby. In the arts community, people know people. What systems to you have in place so we don’t get just the “in crowd” while also not robbing us of good stuff just because you’re linked to them?

01:12:55 Musical Pilgrimage

In the musical pilgrimage, we have a song, Grand Junctiion Road by Don Morrison.

Here’s this week’s preview video.

SFX: Throughout the podcast we use free sfx from freesfx.co.uk for the harp, the visa stamp, the silent movie music, the stylus, the radio signal sfx, the wine pouring and cork pulling sfx, and the swooshes around Siri.

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