Even if you aren’t into rugging up, there’s reason to get excited when winter’s icy clutches gradually take hold of Melbourne. It means that Rising (May 27 to June 8) is almost upon us, with a fabulous array of artistic excellence transforming the city’s throughfares.
This year marks the inaugural Australian Dance Biennale, including Sissy Ball taking over the Melbourne Town Hall. Day Tripper, the music festival within the festival, is back, as are yam daisies in City Square, thanks to Barkindji artist Kent Morris’ entirely free immersive art experience, Flower Power.
First Nations works that won’t cost a penny to enjoy include the return of the merrily trundling Art Trams, and Calling Country: The Land Speaks Back, a light show projected onto the Hamer Hall façade featuring visuals from Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota artist Cannupa Hanska Luger alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creatives.
Want to warm your soul at Rising this winter? Here are ten top things to check out.
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Festival Hall, May 30
Attracting headlines for all the right (and occasionally wrong) reasons, there’s no denying the incredible cultural impact of hip-hop legend Lil’ Kim. The Queen of Rap’s mighty talent was recognised and raised up by the late Notorious B.I.G. and she’s proudly gone her own way since, blazing a bright path for women to follow. Celebrating foundational albums Hard Core and The Notorious K.I.M., this Festival Hall gig will surely shake the city.
Dancehouse, June 3-7
The world can’t get enough of ultimate goth queen Mary Shelley’s tragedy, Frankenstein, with an unending array of adaptations in the 200-plus years since her grief-informed story, born in a storm, grew into one of the most famous and frightening novels of our time. They include a slew of recent movie reanimations. Now you can catch Melbourne-born, Berlin-based choreographer Martin Hansen’s solo spin on the aching classic in limber, rather than lumbering, form.
Arts Centre Melbourne, May 28-31
Abandoning architecture studies in favour of feminist-fired performance art, Austrian Florentina Holzinger has built an international following for her wild and unruly works that push patriarchal buttons, furiously rewriting the narrative around women’s health and happiness. So it makes sense that a giant inflatable womb dominates the stage in this similarly Shelley-inspired work, reclaiming space and a diversity of body shapes.
Melbourne Town Hall, June 2-4
TikTok sensation, 'Very Few Friends' singer, smoky saxophone player and multilingual marvel Marwan Abdelhamid, aka Saint Levant, grew up by the sea on the Gaza Strip. He’d play in the beautiful Al-Deira Hotel, designed by his father and run by his family. It was destroyed by the Israeli army, but war drums and the ongoing occupation cannot silence this indomitable artist. Fall in love with his fusion New Wave Arab sound at the Melbourne Town Hall.
ACMI, May 22 - August 31
Championing the analogue glory of fishing a record out of its work-of-art sleeve and spinning sweet sounds on a tactile turntable, London heroes The Vinyl Factory are so much more than a printing press. They also curate incredible exhibitions, live music and movies. They’re coming to Rising in an awesome collaboration with ACMI that will let you live and breathe the history of sound with a mash-up of magnificent proportions.
Malthouse Theatre, June 2-6
Scottish-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla appeared alongside Matt Damon in the film Green Room; as Princess Diana’s lover, Dodi Fayed, in Netflix hit The Crown; and spoke passionately about protest in Jehane Noujaim’s powerful documentary, The Square. You can see him up close on the Merlyn stage in this ‘anti-biography’ solo show that begins with the Arab Spring, tackles racism and type-casting, and the mess of our world today.
Union Theatre, June 4-7
If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise. Especially when contemporary dance geniuses Lucy Guerin Inc are involved. This latest fairytale-like work invites you to follow a winding trail deep into the mysterious heart of a sentient forest thrumming with unusual forms. Winding her dancers in Maypole-like red lace, Guerin draws you deep into this hallucinatory labyrinth crackling with green magic.
Footscray Community Arts, May 27 - June 6
Unless you’ve already made the A-list, acting can be a super-tough gig. Which is why Sri Lankan Tamil hopeful, Kaye, has a side gig performing on OnlyFans. Only her grasp on this tenuous reality is shaken to its core when she discovers she’s actually a clone of a very bored corporate ladder-climber, Kavitha, who wants to play sliding doors. This provocative new work from Cut Chilli playwright Chenturan Aran asks what is art without authenticity?
Melbourne Town Hall, June 3
The siren call of Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon’s lush pop-art synthscapes are so irresistible, her production skills are in demand from a host of her contemporaries, from St Vincent to Dry Cleaning (the latter also appearing on this year’s stacked Rising line-up). Lose yourself in her silken wizardry when she explores her sensual album Michelangelo Dying at the Melbourne Town Hall, supported by Melbourne trip-hop act Georgia Knight.
Signal, June 4-14
If you’ve got teens and are looking for something that won’t have them mercilessly branding you terminally uncool, let them go wild for this family-friendly participatory theatre adventure. Set in a spooky high school with a hint of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, everything’s a lil bit monstrous as they explore intriguing nooks and crannies stalked by witches, werewolves and vampires. Ideal for lovers of anime, cosplay and RPG dreamers.
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