Sydney Opera House has unveiled its latest jam-packed UnWrapped line-up, platforming independent voices and exciting Australian works. Encapsulating everything from live music with a twist, to a First Nations-led cabaret, you should probably save yourself the time and agony of choosing and sign up for the lot.
Iranian-Australian tar (an Iranian string instrument) player and composer Hamed Sadeghi presents Project Masnavi May 14-15. Fusing traditional Iranian music with jazz, the work is inspired by revered 13th century Persian poet Rumi. He’ll be accompanied by the Eishan Ensemble playing saxophone, accordion, double bass and drums, ensuring some real smooth sounds.
Next up, Steven Oliver, one of the standout stars of hit ABC show Black Comedy, will perform his cabaret set Bigger and Blacker from May 19-20, following a stint at La Boite Theatre. Speaking of love and less through comedy, and the power of music and friendship, the talented songwriter will deploy everything from rap to lilting lullabies with disco ball-accompanied dance breakouts and spicy banter, accompanied by musician Michael Griffith.
Then choreographer and dancer Angela Goh will present a new take on her Keir Choreographic Award-winning work Sky Blue Mythic from May 26-29. This mesmerising story physically depicts a soul cast adrift between worlds, weaving through times loops and distortions of meaning in an ethereal thriller set to a live sound composition by Corin Ileto.
Irish-Australian percussionist and singer-songwriter Bonnie Stewart (AKA Bonniesongs) teams up with Ensemble Offspring member Freya Schack-Arnott, a Danish-Australian cellist and nyckelharpist, on Runa Cara. Performing live on May 28, their blissed-out folk-pop is set to strings and percussion, and works some seriously magical harmonies.
And last but certainly not least, Shakespeare’s undying tale of doomed teen love Romeo and Juliet gets an update for the artificial intelligence age in two-part event Outlines. Part one, R+J RMX, challenges a group of dancers to work with sophisticated computers that usually work on Hollywood movies and computer games, and are powerful enough to generate possible new endings to the story. The immersive, multimedia experience asks us to ponder the future of art: Is this a brave new world, or a dystopian dead end?
Serwah Attafuah and Soft Centre fuse motion-capture technology with electronic music, creating a hallucinogenic experience in part two, Apotheosis, featuring live music by Ptwiggs and dance by Lydia Kivela.
Sydney Opera House director of programming Fiona Winning says, “We’re thrilled to present these diverse and beautifully crafted works from some of Australia’s independent and boundary-pushing performance-makers and musicians.”
