Covid obstacle? Sydney Festival director Wesley Enoch builds a bridge

Sydney Festival director Wesley Enoch is philosophical about the latest disruptions to his program.

Sydney Festival director Wesley Enoch has weathered the COVID storm to stage this year’s events, which include an Indigenous-themed bridge climb. Picture: Yaya Stempler

The 2021 edition of the Sydney Festival was never going to be like a pre-pandemic event, and on festival eve its director, Wesley Enoch, is philosophical about the latest disruptions to his program.

His centrepiece is an outdoor stage that has been erected at the Barangaroo Headland, the perfect site for audiences to enjoy entertainment under the stars and with views of Sydney Harbour and the Harbour Bridge.

But what was to have been the opening night attraction there on Wednesday, The Pulse, from Adelaide acrobatic troupe Gravity and Other Myths, has fallen victim to the coronavirus outbreak and the closed NSW-SA border.

“There are disappointments and there are joys — you just have to put things into perspective,” Enoch said on Tuesday.

“Sydney Festival can also look after people’s health by making sure everything is COVID-safe, and that we give people an opportunity to be safely in their community, not just locked away.”

Across five years, Enoch has made Indigenous performance a feature of his programs and he has unveiled a new attraction in partnership with Bridgeclimb Sydney.

Burrawa Bridgeclimb takes visitors to the summit of the Harbour Bridge where Indigenous guides explain some of the history of Sydney from a First Nations perspective.

Guides Matty Webb, Mia Makin and Shona Davidson pointed out landmarks as they were known to the Eora nation, from Tallawaladah (The Rocks) at the Bridge’s southern end, to the northern side and Kirribilli (which means “good fishing spot”).

Webb told the story of Lieutenant William Dawes and young Cammeraygal woman Patyegarang, who had a romantic relationship, while Makin described the migration of eels from their spawning grounds in the Pacific to Burramattagal (Parramatta).

The Burrawa Bridgeclimb tours run from Friday to Sunday for the duration of the Sydney Festival, and Webb said it would be great if they continued.

“It’s a really good opportunity to connect tourism with the first history of this country,” he said. “Our country deserves a bigger history book than 250 years.”

Highlights of the festival, Enoch’s last as director, include Sunshine Super Girl, a play about Evonne Goolagong, the theatrical adaptation of comedy favourite Kenny, and contemporary dance and opera at Carriageworks.

The Headland stage will open on January 12 with a performance by the Sydney Symphony ­Orchestra. Other attractions there include a celebration of songs by Cold Chisel’s Don Walker, featuring Katie Noonan (January 14), and the Bangarra Dance Theatre (January 20-24).