With the recent lockdown, the Glen Eira Storytelling Festival has moved online. There are some changes to the program, as outlined below. It opens Saturday 19 June until Sunday 4 July 2021.
The Festival will continue to embrace storytelling in all its forms for all ages and interests: through concerts, cabaret, theatre, comedy, talks, discussion panels and more.
This year marks the Festival’s 10th anniversary and will open with a keynote address from Jon Faine.
Personal stories inspire. As a household name, storyteller, lawyer and broadcaster Jon Faine AM ‘talks back’ about his life, peers, achievements and challenges. Mike Rolls has lived through one of the world’s deadliest diseases and multiple amputations. He draws upon his resilience to embrace ‘uncertainty’ and share the benefits of a positively inspiring ‘What’s Next?’ mindset.
Two local and prolific Creative Couples: Mitch Vane and Danny Katz (Little Lunch series, also on ABC TV) and Fiona Harris and Mike McLeish (internationally award-winning web series The Drop Off recently acquired by Channel 9) present on living, working creatively together and apart and venues of personal significance: Glen Eira Town Hall and Rippon Lea Estate.
Panels resonate powerfully. The Power of Empathy combines diverse voices from award-winning writers Tony Birch, Melanie Cheng and Arnold Zable and curator Moya McFadzean of Museums Victoria. Hope in an Envelope explores stories retold through letters housed in the collections of the Jewish Museum of Australia and Jewish Holocaust Centre.
In music, two outstanding artists feature: Kee’ahn, a young Kuku Yalanji, Jimbai and Badu Island songbird who honours her ancestors through soulful melodies, and veteran songstress, five-time ARIA award-winning artist Katie Noonan.
Tim Ferguson, of the legendary Doug Anthony All Stars and popular comedic performer, has joined award-winning writer Chris Thompson and composer Geoff Willis to create Billie & The Outback Dinosaurs. Billie lives in regional Australia, and likes science, history and geography, but she likes best tinkering with old junk to make new inventions. When Billie runs away from school to escape being picked on by Rodney and his gang, she stumbles across a lost valley: home to a world of Australian dinosaurs! Orchestral music, animation, movement and storytelling collide.
New to the Festival, Queerstories promises unexpected tales, stories of pride,
prejudice, resilience and resistance, delivered with warmth and humour by some of Melbourne’s finest storytellers.
Monday Morning Cooking Club uncovers the food-obsessed Jewish community’s heirloom recipes alongside moving stories with well-known food communicator, Dani Valent.
Each of the artists and the Festival Director are available for interview.
The Glen Eira 2021 Storytelling Festival opens Saturday 19 June until Sunday 4 July 2021. Full details: www.storytellingfestival.com.au
