The Final Act: The Melbourne Festival Comes to a Close

By Jess Graves | Photography Peter Tarasiuk

By Jess Graves | Photography Kristoffer Paulsen
Swanlights

By Jess Graves | Photography Peter Tarasiuk
Chunky Move's An Act of Now

By Jess Graves

By Jess Graves | Photography Peter Tarasiuk
Chunky Move's An Act of Now

By Jess Graves | Photography Kristoffer Paulsen
Text of Light

By Jess Graves | Photography Kristoffer Paulsen
Antony's Paradise

By Jess Graves | Photography Kristoffer Paulsen
The Hub

By Jess Graves | Photography Leah Robertson
Freedia

By Jess Graves | Photography Leah Robertson
THEESatisfaction

By Jess Graves | Photography Leah Robertson
Photography: Mark Allen. After Life

The Melbourne Festival has put on some stellar shows. But it’s not over yet. Here’s what you can catch this Friday.

Being Brett Sheehy’s final festival as director, this year’s Melbourne Festival has seen some stellar shows. The opening night performance, After Life, truly set the precedent for the performances to come. Mixing operatic theatre with video footage, all of which was set to a live orchestral score, After Life showcased a astute example cross-genre collaboration.

And now that the Festival is coming to a close, we thought we’d compile a gallery of some of our favourite events. Some of our top picks from this year’s season have included Chunky Move’s Act of Now, Antony and The Johnsons’ Swanlights, Antony’s solo art exhibition Paradise, Thurston Moore’s performance at Hamer Hall and Lee Ranaldo’s ensemble Text of Light. These performances, while diverse in genre, were unified by an inspiring ability to combine a variety of mediums (be it film with music or smoke with dance) without sacrificing the integrity of the performance or work.

If you haven’t managed to get to a Melbourne Festival event yet, don’t worry. There are still plenty of events on for the festival’s final nights. Have a flick through our festival gallery for inspiration and then get booking.

Here are a few of the performances you can catch on Friday:

VISUAL ART
Antony’s (of Antony and the Johnsons) Paradise
October 26 & 27, Arts Centre Melbourne
Santiago Sierra’s Destroyed World
October 26–28, NGV International
Place of Assembly by Schoolhouse Studios
October 26 & 27, Schoolhouse Studios

THEATRE
Taki Rua’s Michael James Manai
October 26–28, Fortyfivedownstairs
Orlando by THE RABBLE after Virginia Woolf
October 26 & 27, The Malthouse
La Soiree
October 26 & 27, Forum Theatre

DANCE
Chunky Move’s An Act of Now
October 26 & 27, Sidney Myer Music Bowl

*You can say farewell to the Melbourne Festival at the Foxtel Festival Hub on Saturday October 27, Project Jenny, Project Jan will be performing from 8pm and from 10pm onwards there's a huge goodbye party.

melbournefestival.com.au

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