2019 in Review
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2019 in Review 1 | 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW CONTENTS 2 3 THANK YOU 2019 SNAPSHOT 4 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS AUDIENCE MARKETING & PR REACH CASE STUDIES Acknowledgement of Country Brisbane Festival expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the Brisbane Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, 20 26 including the custodial neighbouring communities on whose land works are created, performed GIVING PROGRAM PARTNERS and celebrated by Brisbane Festival. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and emerging. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to play in the creative and artistic events and celebration spaces. Brisbane Festival and the Indigenous Advisory Group will meaningfully engage, embrace culture and commit to a progressive future together. 28 FESTIVAL TEAM River of Light Image by Atmosphere Photography 2 | 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW 1 | 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW THANK YOU 2019 SNAPSHOT THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO MEASURE SUCCESS In the following pages you’ll read about ticket The support our Giving Program receives is also sales, reviews, attendance and records broken. a significant contributor to the ongoing success $20M $46M For me, the success of Brisbane Festival 2019 of the Festival. The Giving Committee, led by INT. ARTS FESTIVAL ECONOMIC IMPACT OVERALL ATTENDANCE was on Saturday afternoon at Treasury Brisbane the Honourable Justice Thomas Bradley, is Arcadia seeing families and partygoers alike all comprised of some of our city’s most influential revelling in the sunshine between shows, and leaders and we are deeply appreciative of their in the tear-strewn faces of audiences having great support and generosity. experienced deeply moving theatre. It was in A sincere thank you to our Brisbane Festival the rapt expressions of our international artists Board Directors, staff, interns and volunteers as they were personally welcomed with local for your dedication and hard work. A special stories by our Indigenous Advisory Group, and mention and tribute to outgoing Chairman in the hot pink glow emanating from Divine of the Board Paul Spiro – your leadership and and The Courier-Mail Spiegeltent. guidance over the past five years has been Brisbane Festival is equally proud of the strong transformative to Brisbane Festival. Thank you. legacy we have in improving business outcomes 25 84 813 I also extend a very warm welcome to our for our Sponsors and Partners. It is no mistake VENUES PRODUCTIONS PERFORMANCES incoming Chair Alison Smith. I look forward that we have a 98% return rate of Partners to working closely with you and am excited by year after year. This year, more than ever, the opportunities your leadership will present we felt the desire of the business community to Brisbane Festival. to really create meaningful connections and build experiences and memories through our We are only as strong as the relationships partnerships and this is incredibly exciting. we maintain; together we are transforming 5 98 A Festival without our Partners’ support would the culture of Brisbane, and we look forward ARTISTS WORLD PREMIERES SOLD-OUT PERFORMANCES look very different. It is their commitment that to continuing to work with you in the future. enables us to add the extra special glow which Charlie Cush makes Brisbane Festival Australia’s premier Chief Executive Officer international arts festival and one that draws people to our unique city. 20% $47 31% SPEND on FREE ART AVERAGE TICKET PRICE BOX OFFICE INCREASE QUEENSLAND’S HIGHEST $4.2M ATTENDED EVENT BOX OFFICE 2 | 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW 3 | 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS BEAUTY & BALANCE Not everyone can afford to travel the world, so this year Brisbane Festival brought the world to them. We went on a trip to five continents, with work from Africa, across Europe, USA and Canada, Asia, and of course from throughout Australia. More than that, we travelled to invisible cities and to countries of the heart. And along the way, for the third year in a row, we broke our box office record. Invisible Cities Image by Atmosphere Photography 4 | 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW 5 | 2019 YEAR IN REVIEW GLOWINGLY GLOBAL Something remarkable happened in the final SS Mendi: Dancing the Death Drill and St Matthew week. Invisible Cites and YANG LIPING’S Rite of Passion were two separate productions from Spring sat side-by-side, two glorious works from South Africa’s fabulous Isango Ensemble, global artists, both reflections of China in a uncovering hidden African stories and Western mirror redefining the art of the possible. perspectives. In their own ways, both shows reflected on questions of race and colonialism, They were both Brisbane Festival commissions – very pertinent to Australia. we were been part of their very creation – and for me they marked the coming of age of the Stories from Africa and Asia have been Festival. This year, we truly became a trusted consistently present in our recent Brisbane global player, showing ourselves capable of Festival programs, alongside those from Europe genuine international leadership. I think that’s and North America. There’s no doubt our world important for a burgeoning global city such is moving from west to east, and from north as Brisbane. to south, from people of pasty white to people of colour, and we need to be part of that. Brisbane has never ever seen anything like Brisbane is a gateway city, tuned to the world. Invisible Cities. Actually, most of the world hasn’t. To be in that vast warehouse in Yeerongpilly, enthralled by state-of-the-art projection mapping from 59 Productions and sensational dance from Rambert choreographed by the great Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, was to witness a benchmark moment in performance, and not only for Brisbane. Bryony Kimmings’ I’m a Phoenix, Bitch affected people deeply. This raw and personal work from one of the UK’s most incisive performance artists unlocked questions of motherhood and mental health in a way that spoke to all. The 25-year-old UK jazz genius Jacob Collier was part of our opening weekend, and he ensured that we blasted off in a blaze of musical invention. Those lucky enough to be in the QPAC Concert Hall knew we were witnessing one of the great concerts. YANG LIPING’S Rite of Spring Image by Atmposphere Photography 66 || 20192019 YEARYEAR ININ REVIEWREVIEW 77 || 20192019 YEARYEAR ININ REVIEWREVIEW LOVINGLY LOCAL Our international achievements balanced River of Light, our free light-and-laser spectacle Our ongoing collaboration with Brisbane’s Tivoli a significant focus on the distinctively local. on the river itself, returned for a second inspiring offered a wide variety of work. The Church of Local commissions teamed with a celebration year. Local Aboriginal songman Shannon Ruska House: Groove Terminator, involving a wondrous of the river and much-loved city venues. told a first encounter story that few knew well: collaboration with Brisbane’s Aboriginal Centre how Milbong Warrar (Hidden River) became for Performing Arts, was a great opening night Fangirls was a co-production with Queensland Brisbane River. This was part of a significant event. A screening of the Coen Brothers film Theatre and Sydney’s Belvoir, in collaboration elevation of First Nations storytelling in the No Country for Old Men was accompanied by with the Australian Theatre for Young People, Festival and showed three times each night a live score played by Tropical Fuck Storm. Holy that lifted the roof. This world premiere was a to hundreds of thousands of people. Holy and The Middle East both played sold out vivacious piece of musical theatre that reached gigs, while the much-loved Tivoli-in-the-Round significant new audiences, particularly younger This year, we also honoured two much-loved series ran for four nights. Leading Australian demographics. Brisbane music venues: Riverstage and The Tivoli. comedian Sam Simmons played two nights, Steven Oliver’s From Darkness was a As part of our celebration of Riverstage’s 30th while Brisbane’s Regurgitator played their kids’ co-production with La Boite Theatre Company, birthday, we fielded four exclusive concerts event, POGOGO SHOW. and part of a long-term relationship with this across a range of musical genres, on each of And we tried for the City Botanic Gardens! important company. This world premiere was our Saturday nights. On our opening night, and But our Fire Gardens project, which would have a moving family story that shared an aspect the date of the actual birthday, Hot Dub Time been a beautiful experience for around 40,000 of Aboriginal spirituality rarely seen on Machine led a line-up of local bands including people, was necessarily cancelled as a result Australian stages. Cub Sport, Confidence Man, The Last Dinosaurs, of a total fire ban throughout the city. and Clea. Brisbane heavy metal heroes The Flamenco Fire: Veinte Años celebrated 20 years Amity Affliction then headlined an Australian The ‘local’ stretched beyond Brisbane. Communal of Flamenco Fire, a significant achievement exclusive concert Heaven and Hell, featuring Table was commissioned from Townsville-based for this Brisbane-based company. It was a massive line-up of ten metal bands from the Dancenorth with eight choreographers from worth celebrating, so we jumped on board USA, Japan and around Australia. across Australia. This was our fourth time with and enabled a first-time collaboration with this ground-breaking contemporary dance Brisbane’s Camerata (also a great boon for Our third Saturday saw Symphony for Me, company. Occupying a West End warehouse, them), the engagement of several national a Brisbane festival invention, move from the Communal Table was an inventive mix of and international guest artists, and a first-time QPAC Concert Hall to Riverstage for the first food, conversation and dance that offered appearance in QPAC’s Concert Hall.