A flood, a final feast and a maze to amaze at Brisbane Festival

A sculptural maze will be seen from a mezzanine level in a Northshore Brisbane warehouse where dancers, including Australasian Dance Collective, will move to haunting melodies.

The colour red will coat a long dining table that will rotate in a pool of water where the Last Supper takes place as part of Salamander – a new production by artistic visionaries Maxine Doyle and Es Devlin.

Brisbane Festival artistic director Louise Bezzina worked hard to get the artists on board for this year’s festival, from September 1 to 23.

Bezzina’s fourth program consists of more than 1000 performances, including 19 world-premiere shows.

Without giving away too much, she says audiences who see Salamander won’t ever forget it – the work is set in a flooded landscape that begs people to make a change in their lives before it is too late.

“The music by Australian composer Rachael Dease is mind-blowingly beautiful,” Bezzina said.

Salamander will transform a warehouse at Northshore into a dream-like world through light, sound, design and movement.Credit: Damien Bredbrug

“There is a scene where a big rain curtain comes down on the dancers while they grasp each other in the last few moments and clutching to humanity.

“It’s quite a big deal to have Maxine and Es’ creativity in the Brisbane Festival. It’ll be something quite extraordinary that people won’t ever forget.”

Thinking ahead of the Olympic Games, which Brisbane is set to host in 2032, Bezzina said she was already focusing on the city’s reputation and evolution aligning with the festival.

“The drone project is spectacular and sets the tone of large scales, First Nations’ activation of celebrating the Brisbane River and building the capacity of local artists,” she said.

“Come 2032, Queensland artists can take the stage and really be in the driving seat leading the culture program and absolutely keen to what opportunities it’s going to bring.”

Lightscape will take visitors on a journey of the senses through light, colour and sounds in the Botanic Gardens.

The festival will bring the City Botanic Gardens to life with multi-sensory immersive experience Lightscape, while thought-provoking and highly Instagrammable art such as Hiromi Tango’s Hiromi Hotel: Yu Ka will have people posing and posting.

Also on the bill are Bananaland, a new witty Australian music theatre production by singer-songwriters Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall, and 400 drones will tell the tale of Nieergoo: Spirit of the Whale thanks to Shannon Ruska and Tribal Experiences.

“We don’t have a dedicated Vivid Sydney [event], so creating something for Brisbane is important for us,” Bezzina said.

“I think Brisbane is playful, it’s got a sense of adventure to it and a defining feature of the Brisbane River that we should play to our strengths.

“Every city has its own personality and nuance.

“I think Brisbane has an extraordinary amount of opportunities and we should be celebrating what we can offer so people can connect to Brisbane and feel proud to live in this city.”

For more information on the Brisbane Festival program, click here.