by Ian Bell.
The year 2020 marked the first time in its 60-year history that Adelaide Fringe had a dedicated First Nations hub. This year, Tandanya present a remarkable programme of art, dance, theatre, comedy, cabaret, music and film, completely designed, programmed, performed and presented by local and national First Nation artists and creatives.
Tandanya, centrally located at 253 Grenfell Street, Adelaide, is an art gallery, performance space, cafe and a lot more besides. Over the four weeks of Fringe there is a vast collection of ticketed shows and free events. The DJs of Caravan Sounds (DJ Cheryl, DJ Pascoe Braun and MoZzi0 are playing regularly to keep the party vibe happening in the Tandanya Laneway space and will be joined by acoustic acts.
For the five week run Saturday nights sees the return of Black List Cabaret featuring comedy, burlesque, circus, comedy from across the Fringe, hosted by Fez Faanana (also starring in Bred a ‘hard hitting, high velocity, heavy handed variety show). Devi Tefler presents Song Revisited, a one woman performance, with workshop elements and storytelling (no two shows are quite the same.
Some highlights of the Tandanya First Nations Fringe 2021 programme include:
Theatre: Journey by Soul Lounge, Mirror Man (featuring Robert Taylor), The End Is High Concept and Elaine Crombie’s Janet’s Vagrant Love Song.
Dance: Winner of the 2020 Adelaide Fringe Best Dance (MIS)CONCIEVE returns along with Casus Circus production of Collision which combines street dance and contemporary circus.
Music: Mala Band, The Deadly Nanna’s, Katie Aspel (Fringe debut with My Story) and the brilliantly named Can’t Even DJ, with deadly First Nation DJs on the decks.
Comedy: Deadly Funny Adelaide, Fire Drum Fire (with Dane Simpson and Rob Edwards), The Jack and Annie Show, Kevin Kropinyeri Goes Talkabout and Joshua Warrior (The Boomerang Show)
Saturday and Sunday afternoons: there are free screenings of First Nation films like Storm Boy, Bran Nu Dae and the fantastic No Fixed Address/Us Mob documentary The Wrong Side Of The Road from 1981.
Tandanya’s full Fringe programme can be found at www.tandanya.com.au.
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