Artists Laurie Anderson and Marina Abramovic are among the global names on the bill for the first Adelaide Festival under new artistic director Ruth Mackenzie.
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Anderson has used artificial intelligence to create writing by an AI version of herself and her late husband, Lou Reed, as well as creating a new language to rewrite the Bible.
So who knows what Abramovic, the world's best-known performance artist, will bring to the party?
Her students will develop a long-form work during the festival as part of a program boasting 64 events, 16 world premieres and 12 Australian premieres.
The centrepiece is the already-announced Australian premiere for Robert Lepage's acclaimed production of Stravinsky's The Nightingale and Other Fables, with two more international operas already locked in for 2025 and 2026.
"We're showing you what opera can be when the greatest theatre directors in the world meet the greatest composers, and that is unbeatable really," Mackenzie told AAP.
An extra $2.3m from the South Australian government has helped the festival cope with the extra costs of bringing them to the city - meaning it can now afford to stage these expensive international productions.
The opening weekend features the world premiere of Stephen Page's Baleen, staged on Glenelg Beach with a whale skeleton as the set, as well as the first performances of Guuranda from Narungga/Kaurna choreographer Jacob Boehme.
"This is going to be his biggest show... the most ambitious piece that he's made," Mackenzie said.
"This is exactly the sort of risk that festivals should be taking."
The 2024 program is the first of three under the stewardship of Mackenzie and chief executive Kath Mainland, and overlaps with other arts events including Writers' Week and world music festival WOMADelaide.
For Writers' Week, the guests include Elizabeth Strout, Alastair Campbell and Dame Mary Beard, with the full program yet to be announced.
Acclaimed French author Edouard Louis is not only on the Writers' Week bill, at the festival he will star in the stage adaptation of his memoir Qui a tue mon pere (Who killed my father).
US artist Elizabeth Streb, the inventor of choreographic art form Extreme Action which combines dancers with giant "Action Machines", will also stage performances at both the festival and WOMAD.
Former festival director Barrie Kosky brings his production of Brecht/Weill's The Threepenny Opera to Australia for the first time, while five-time Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo will return to the festival as part of her Australian tour.
There's also Icelandic pianist Vikingur Olafsson, who will begin his debut Australian tour in Adelaide with his Goldberg Variations.
As well as bringing top-flight international performers to the city, the festival is known for discovering future stars, with Albanian director Mario Banushi presenting Goodbye, Lindita, which caused a sensation in its recent run in Athens.
"You won't forget it, which is one of the best compliments I can give to an artist," said Mackenzie.
Local outfit Slingsby Theatre Company is developing three new shows across the next three festivals, which will all premiere in 2026.
But before that, anyone can come and watch their work in progress, in a specially-designed flat pack theatre called the Hall of Possibilities - a fitting theme for the festival itself.
The Adelaide Festival runs from March 1-17, and Adelaide Writers' Week runs March 2-7.
Australian Associated Press
