York Festival @ York
Friday, September 30 – Saturday, October 1, 2022
Just as spring signals the reawakening of the natural landscape, the annual York Festival reignites the cultural activity in the historic town. The 2022 edition of the festival runs from Saturday, September 24 to Sunday, October 9 and features such a vast array of performances and exhibitions that there is guaranteed to be something for everyone. Michael Hollick visited York to see just some of the festival’s many delights.
Showing on the Friday night of the second weekend of the festival was Jannet Millett: Life in Barladong at the Holy Trinity Church. Millet, who came to York in 1863 to accompany her husband, the colonial chaplain of York’s Holy Trinity Church, recorded her experiences in what became a best-seller, An Australian Parsonage. Now 150 years since its publication, the performance was brought to life in the very same church that brought Millet here.
Co-written by Rob-Garton-Smith and Sarah McNeill, this theatrical piece with musical accompaniment from cellist Anna Sarcich, was an entertaining window into the history of York. McNeill is known for bringing works of literature in the Lit Live reading series, and by drawing on her experience in this combined with her theatrical background, breathed equal parts gravitas and frivolity into the memoir to paint vivid pictures of York in the early days of white settlement.
At the same time as Life in Barladong, the stunning Federation Town Hall hosted Bogan Shakespeare Presents: Macbeth, which much like its Fringe World shows in summer, made the most of its setting to tell a wildly entertaining tale while that was resonant in both place and time. The show was the talk of festival-goers enjoying a frothy at The Back Verandah band at Settler’s House late into the night.
On the Saturday, Perth experimental and ambient music label Tone List brought two events to the festival; a soundwalk and a concert of medieval and contemporary music. Before taking off on the soundwalk, participants were provided with a personal and historical understanding of the region from Ballardong Noongar Program Associate & Cultural Advisor Dr Marion Kickett. Kickett recalled what it was like growing up in the area, the significane of the two hills that surround the town, and reflected on how listening can serve a vital role in understanding and learning about the land.
The collective sound activity itself was a meditative and enlightening experience, as participants focussed their listening on their surroundings as they made their way along a pre-ordained trail through native flora. As the trail turned towards the Avon River, ambient music began to drift into their surroundings which, in fact, turned out to be six musicians performing for the activity. After stopping with the musicians, the participants returned to the trail, taking in more of the native flora and an increased heightening of their hearing senses. Upon completion, the group was asked to share their experiences of the walk, which encapsulated the activity’s reflective and communal nature.
Returning to the main drag of town Avon Terrace, the music hall sounds of Adeline & Edward permeated from the Speakeasy. The tunes, performed by Chris Gibbs and guests, are taken from Rob Garton-Smith and Gibbs’ musical.
Next up was the Audible Edge Concert at the Holy Trinity Church, a combination of the modern and the medieval. The concert had many highlights such as the solo piece from double-bassist Djuna Lee, Jameson Feakes’ interpretation of Clarence Barlow’s …until and a beautiful free-jazz piece arranged for a trio that utilised a recurring tone at its central motif.
The later half of set introduced Michael Terrern on the Church’s organ. The organ was a stunning addition for the unique twists and turns of Solage’s Fumeux fume par fumee as well as new compositions from Simon Charles, where it lilted against the other performers in a marriage of curious harmonics.
With so much happening at the festival, the days can quickly get away from you. After getting just a taste of all the action and with so many more enticing events yet to commence, the saying “it’s always better to leave audiences wanting more than have them wanting less” couldn’t be more apt than for the York Festival.
MICHAEL HOLLICK
