Established in 2022, philanthropic arts platform, House of Oz, returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August, marking its third consecutive year presenting original Australian talent at the world’s largest arts marketplace.
In an exciting new chapter, House of Oz has joined forces with Assembly Festival to showcase the richness of Australian performing talent as a “house without walls” distributed across several of Assembly’s key venues.
House of Oz Founding Patron & Creative Director, Georgie Black, is thrilled about this new partnership. “House of Oz remains the only Edinburgh platform dedicated exclusively to amplifying Australian arts for cultural export,” she says.
“We carefully curate shows and aim to de-risk the financially challenging Edinburgh experience for our creators and presenters. Our new “house without walls” model; addresses the importance of getting the right shows into the right spaces, and has the added benefit of enabling us to showcase even more Australian talent than before.”
Assembly Festival Artistic Director, William Burdett-Coutts, commends the collaboration, stating: “We are delighted to be working with Georgie Black and applaud her for choosing and supporting Australian work under the banner of the House of Oz.”
Each performance promises to captivate audiences with unique storytelling, staging, innovation, and artistic excellence. House of Oz continues until 26 August 2024. For more information, visit: www.houseofoz.co.uk for details.
Image: Summer of Harold (supplied)
House of Oz Shows 2024:
The Listies: ROFL
Riotous, gratuitous and possibly hazardous, kids comedy duo The Listies return to EdFringe for the eleventeenth time with a new show. ROFL tackles the most torturous family situation of all time: BEDTIME! Rich, the exhausted parental proxy, tries to get an early night while Matt uses every trick in the book to stay up. Packed with rambunctious humour, a mini panto, detachable legs, and too many baked beans.
Dancefloor Conversion Therapy
A History of Dance-floors and Joyful Regret. How a repressed Christian Youth Minister swapped out Jesus for Disco and found a new religion on the Dance-floor. Jonny Hawkins was once on the straight-and-narrow, but now they’re on the queer and wide. In their early 20’s Jonny helped start a church, went to Bible College and was preaching the Gospel in front of thousands of people, but since has become one of Australia’s most loved DJs, dance floor icon, queer party promoter and a disciple of Joy. The only show with a built-in After Party.
Down Under: The Songs That Shaped Australia
Multi-award-winning live music sensation direct from Australia makes its Edinburgh debut with a celebration of Aussie hit-makers and songs that spurred change throughout history. Australian music is vast and varied. It captures the beauty and brutality of the land with storytelling at the forefront. With powerhouse vocals by acclaimed songstress, Michelle Pearson and a incredible five-piece band this nostalgic homecoming will have you on your feet with classics from INXS, Midnight Oil, ACDC, Tina Arena and more, while reminiscing about Australia’s musical history and the artists’ guts and determination.
Of The Land On Which We Meet
Walking on stone and cement it can be hard to remember what it feels like to have earth beneath our feet. Na Djinang Circus hopes to re-discover a connection we once had. Following the journey of three contemporary Australian circus artists with distinct relationships to Country; an indigenous Australian, a descendant of migrants, and a descendant of colonial settlers. As we question what it means to be where we are.
Plenty of Fish in the Sea
A castaway is saved from the surging seas. Conversation is sparse and he comes face to face with a startling kind of hook-up culture. An absurdist fable begins as a story of rescue and unfolds as an unsettling dissection of dreams and desire. Have you ever grappled with dating apps? This is physical and visual theatre which creates a world that spins a different kind of net and has us caught – hook, line, and sinker!
Summer of Harold
Two actors. Three short plays. Summer of Harold is a trio of comedies about clinging and letting go. Janet recounts her summer of ’84 when on a gap year in London she finds herself housekeeper for the playwright Harold Pinter. Gareth is an embittered ceramicist who, tonight, takes revenge on his rival. Rae and Jonathan meet at a lookout in the Blue Mountains – for the last time.
The State of Grace
Grace was a high-class sex worker, who rose to meteoric fame on social media. She was an activist and modern-day maverick, until suddenly, she died… Award-winning artist Michaela Burger (A Migrant’s Son, Exposing Edith) explores her legacy in this one-woman show. Through Grace’s writing – unpublished hip hop lyrics, monologues, and musings – Burger unveils her multifaceted life. Her outrageously funny wit and charm, fearlessness and ‘f*ck it’ outlook on life will seduce you into marching with this social justice warrior who was determined to decriminalise the sex industry.
Yozi: No Babies in the Sauna
Solo Edinburgh debutante, Aussie Yozi, has been called many things – “Mesmerising” ***** (Mindshare.com), “Dynamite” ****1/2 (Advertiser), “Fearless” **** (The Age) – but never “rule breaker” – and for good reason. This by-the-book bad binch holds one rule above all others: every baby must GET OUT OF THE SAUNA RIGHT NOW! Witness this multi-award-winning creature perform absurd-sketch-clown-comedy-theatre like you almost-definitely have never-ever-ever seen before.
The Unburdening of Dolly Diamond
Therapy, a game the whole family can play. Australia’s reigning Queen of comedy cabaret, Dolly Diamond works through decades of problems, peculiarities and personal challenges live on stage with her ever-supportive (and unsuspecting) audience. This colourful midlife crisis – live on stage – promises to be camp cabaret gold with more than a touch of honesty. “Apparently people enjoy other people’s misery. They call it a shared experience. Well, I think it’s time to share. Everything.”
Lien
A new, one-on-one performance that embodies the beauty of human connection and the power of shared moments. In the gentle embrace of solitude, Lien emerges as a testament to community and empathy, born as an antidote to the distancing and isolation that has shaped our recent history. In this intimate exchange, one audience member and one dancer come together on an otherwise empty stage for a singular ten-minute encounter that will never be repeated. Lien reimagines shared performance as a deeply personal, spiritual event.
Triptych
A unique collaboration performance between the rising star of Australian dance, choreographer-director Lewis Major, and his company, with his mentor “Britain’s leading modern dance creator” (The Daily Express), the legendary Russell Maliphant OBE. Three unique repertoire pieces investigate various poetic possibilities, universal rhythms and cycles performed by Major’s company of dancers. This is a captivating evening of dance, of connection between internal and external worlds – of non-duality – all set within a whirling maelstrom of movement, sound and light.
Ten Thousand Hours
Following the hit sell-out sensations Macro and The Pulse at the Edinburgh International Festival, and Fringe-favourite smash-hit A Simple Space, Gravity & Other Myths return with their critically acclaimed, brand-new show Ten Thousand Hours. This is an ode to the countless hours needed to achieve great things. Eight acrobats investigate physical skill: how we obtain it, how we perfect it and how it can transform our lives. This family-friendly acrobatic extravaganza is filled with everything you love about Gravity & Other Myths and a tribute to the dedication required to become a world-class acrobat.