The Village in Winter June 2013
The Village Winter Festival will be in Castlemaine this June
A weekend festival focussing on the art and use of story telling, it will highlight the sharing of stories through the use of theatre, puppetry, cabaret, song and a ritual street parade of lanterns made by the community.
The Village in Winter Festival is developed around the concept of an old European village and will take the form of a series of highly decorated temporary theatre spaces and facades appearing in the Castlemaine central green, Victory Park, like an old-time travelling carnival or a gypsy wedding.
The Village in Glebe Park 21st – 24th March 2013
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are delighted to inform you of the Village program for it’s inaugural Canberra season. From the 21st to the 24th of March, as a part of Canberra’s centenary celebrations, the Village’s collection of handmade venues – tents, caravans, inflatables, cupboards, cars and more – will nestle into the gorgeous Glebe Park, perhaps the jewel of Canberra’s open spaces.
From 21-24 March, The Village’s collection of handmade venues will provide the stage for a range of local and interstate acts.
The program includes works of theatre, cabaret, puppetry, circus, spoken word and much more. There will also be a range of workshops, games and participatory works, including the popular So You Think You Can Interpretive Dance competition.
A major highlight of the program is a new work by the 1990s Canberra theatre collective Splinters. The work, titled Babylon, will be performed by the disparate Splinters alumni each evening. Directed by Rebecca Rutter, Louise Morris and Renald Navilly.
Other highlights include Greedy Boy, a handmade shadow puppetry show about a cheeky boy who goes too far; When Claude met Roxy, a finger puppet show about love gone right; a performance by Dr Neil Potenza MD (PhD), winner of Best Comedy at Melbourne Fringe; Natalie Randal’s rarely seen Cheer Up Kid show; a circus from Poncho Circus and Warehouse Circus and The Bally crew; and a collection of local and interstate sideshow and variety works.
The program also includes a wide range of musical performances including the sweet country blues of The Sugar Fed Leopards; the 1960s surf tunes of Johnny and the Johnny Johnnies; local gypsy heroine Crystal Berraca; old time favourites Dr Stovepipe and The Fuelers, and the Brass Knuckle Brass Band. The Melbourne-based women’s marching brass band Red Brigade will play a stage set as well as undertaking a series of ‘brass band battles’ with local mystery brass upstarts Blue Brigade. Sparks will fly!
The Go for 2&5® World Kitchen will be open throughout the four days, featuring cooking demonstrations, food workshops, local produce and cooks. It will culminate at 1pm on Sunday afternoon with an Iron Chef competition. The Go for 2&5® World Kitchen has been proudly supported by the ACT Government, under the ACT Health Promotion Grants Program.
On Thursday, 21 March, The Village will be host to Our Own Grown Market Day, which will feature produce grown in the market gardens of Canberra’s schools. Highlights of the day include the Kids Iron Chef and Chicken of the Century competitions. The public can browse the stalls for lunch or shop for fresh produce to take home for dinner.
Entry into The Village is free, with food, drinks and coffee available throughout the four days. There’s dancing every night and plenty for the kids on the weekend.
Opening times:
Thursday, 21 March: 10am-2pm
Friday, 22 March: 6pm-midnight
Saturday, 23 March: noon-midnight
Sunday, 24 March: noon-6pm.
The Village Festival Edinburgh Gardens has a limited number of tickets available to pre purchase through Try Booking.
Dont miss out – jump on the links in 2012 program to grab one or two for the show you want to see.
Artistic Directors, Pidd, Kalk & Vaskess have pulled together an eccentric and feisty program of comedy, theatre, music and visual arts for this Year’s Village Festival in Edinburgh Gardens. Every night the park will vibrate joyfully to a chaotically curated selection of theatre, sideshow, film, circus, music and workshops. All placed within easy reach of nice drinks, good food and great coffee.
The Village is currently seeking Expressions Of Interest from ACT artists to present within The Village Glebe Park March 21st-24th 2013. Expressions of interest are Due 17th September 2012
Rehearsals for The People’s Show at the Village Festival start at 2pm. Read more
Most obedient Dog – Chloe; Cutest Dog – Peggy; The Robert Doyle Prize for the Ugliest and Stupidest Dog – Babe; Best Dog Trick – Pepe; Judge’s choice - Best in Show: Hoover. Fastest Dog Prize - 1st place: Elvis, 2nd place: Lucy, 3rd place: Boubou.
Finally, the prize categories for the Famous Village Dog Show can be revealed. Prizes will be awarded for:
Most obedient Dog
Cutest Dog
Ugliest Dog (gasp)
Fastest Dog
Best Dog Trick
Judge’s Choice
Categories are not final.
The time to for your pooch to shine is nigh. Bring your best friend down to Edinburgh Gardens this arvo for The Famous Village Dog. Registrations open at 3pm. The Famous Village Dog Show starts at 4pm.
What can I say? From start to finish JUNE was a trip. Literally. We were led from the warmth and safety of the Village site, past the Pleasure gateway and through the badlands of Edinburgh Gardens to a creepy trailer park on the outskirts of town. There we encountered a brother and sister held captive by a grumpy two-headed monster that acted as a gatekeeper to some sort of secret realm. The two children feed and amuse the monster, degrading themselves in humiliating rituals and games for the monster’s entertainment. Then strangers arrived…
Well that’s the particular version I was immersed in anyway. Long after we were released back into the park my whole family (yes family!) were buzzing and trying to describe what we had just seen. It’s that kind of show: evocative and stimulating.
JUNE was devised and superbly performed by the wonderful Louise Morris, Rebecca Rutter and the group. Full credit goes to the design and production team; I particularly loved the set and costumes: everything white and shiny but crappy and corrupted, disused and broken. The sound designer did an amazing job, combining speech and eerie motifs into an alternately disturbing and creepy and then somehow soothing soundscape – able to rise above the rather loud festival sing-along crowds nearby.
JUNE really is the must-see show at the Village. Genuinely original and visually astounding, like a Grimm fairytale. On tonight and tomorrow at the Village, Edinburgh Gardens. Don’t miss it!
