THE CABARET COLLECTIVE

Cabaret is the most flexible and accommodating of genres. Visceral, intellectual, physical, cultural, emotional, political and, of course, hitting the funny bone, cabaret fosters the alchemy between artists and audiences to create a shared human experience.

It is my most incredible privilege and honour to be part of the 23rd Adelaide Cabaret Festival, standing alongside the collective of previous Artistic Directors and the amazing festival performers, staff, crew, volunteers, sponsors, friends and families.

After the first festival in 2001, I wrote a one-page 20-year plan for Adelaide Cabaret Festival. It seemed audacious, even a bit silly, to imagine the fledgling festival so far into the future. Yet here we are in 2023... reviewing the past and looking to the future. Perhaps most importantly though, we are celebrating the present. Where we can, once again, be out together dancing cheek to cheek.

Can’t wait to see everyone!

DAVID CAMPBELL OAM & LISA CAMPBELL

We have been fortunate to work in the entertainment industry for decades, doing a variety of roles, but our time at Adelaide Cabaret Festival is a career highlight for us both. We made lifelong friendships; with performers, with colleagues at Adelaide Festival Centre and with the most important people of all – the festival goers. There is nothing more thrilling as an Artistic Director than walking around the festival talking to people about what they had just seen and hearing their immediate reaction – particularly when it’s positive!

Adelaide Cabaret Festival feels like a mad, creative village for those three weeks in June and we feel honoured to have been a part of it. We have loved seeing the festival grow over the years and we cannot wait to see this brilliant program come to life and to catch up with those familiar faces!

A message from our 2023 Artistic Directors

Kate Ceberano

What I loved most about my time as Artistic Director was my role as host; making sure audiences and performers felt loved, seen and welcomed to Adelaide.

Working with artists like David Bromley gave me an insight into the importance of facilitating a creative environment, which in turn can inspire audiences and performers alike. Cabaret is incredibly inventive and almost beyond description. The audience experience can be as big or small as the artist intends it to be – on THEIR terms, in THEIR words, in THEIR safe place as they offer their heart and soul.

One of my favourite memories of Adelaide Cabaret Festival is of an event I coordinated for Molly Ringwald and Martha Wainwright’s children. An Australian wildlife rescue came to the hotel and let the animals run free through the lobby. However, the most thrilling part for me was that at one point the Dalai Lama walked into the room and I’ll never forget the delight on his face as one of the beautiful animals greeted him at the entrance.

My cabaret heart has always been obsessed with the creation and development of new works and new songs for the stage. Adelaide Cabaret Festival has been instrumental in my development as a composer and lyricist, so I’m excited to provide those opportunities to the next generation of original Australian writers.

We have an opportunity through this world-leading festival to create bold, intelligent and unique works for the stage here in Adelaide and find pathways for them to have a cultural impact throughout the world. It’s time that Australia’s composers and lyricists found their way to a global stage, and it starts with the support of brilliant arts festivals like Adelaide Cabaret Festival.