2015 COME OUT CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL

More than two million South Australian children have participated in Come Out since its inception in 1974 and next year hundreds of shows to tickle funny bones, stimulate young minds and engage youngsters in all sorts of wonderful ways will take place over nine days, from May 22 – 30 in the Come Out Children’s Festival 2015. Lesley Reed reports.

The Come Out Children's Festival program has something for everyone, including theatre, dance, circus, science, puppetry, investigative play, orchestral works, robots, literacy and astrology.

The program is divided into two categories, the schools program where children can participate in events and performances through their school and the general public program. It features a total of five hundred and fifty events, performances, exhibitions, workshops and activities. Twelve South Australian premieres, one Australian premiere performance and five world premieres demonstrate kids’ appreciation of the arts is taken very seriously by Come Out organisers.

The theme for this year's Festival is 'Building Bridges', with this providing a metaphorical link between the Festival's artistic events and the Australian curriculum, especially the arts.

Children will launch the Come Out Festival instead of the usual dignitaries and the Festival begins with a unique event for the community, A Bridge Across Time. This event commences at 11am on Friday May 22 and will evoke a moment in time with three generations engaging in a shared experience; one remembered, one real and one imagined.

Adelaide Festival Centre CEO and Artistic Director Douglas Gautier says, "Adelaide Festival Centre is producing the festival for the first time. We embrace the responsibility that comes with putting on an event that holds such an important place in the hearts and souls of South Australians of every age. We want to grow and nurture the Come Out Children's Festival to provide the opportunity and benefit of participating in the arts to as many children in South Australia as we possibly can.”

The wonderful adventure story of Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton's best-selling books is back, this time with the sequel The 26-Storey Treehouse.
Children will watch the book come to life on stage, with the performance presented in association with CDP Productions, renowned for adaptations of well-known books and specialising in high quality boutique theatre. The show will also tour regionally, thanks to Country Arts SA.


Argus is a wonderland full of whimsy, because its format is simply household objects and four pairs of hands. Tabletops grow grass and water bottles are the depths of the sea in this performance for 7-14-year-olds.

All kids love a circus and in Come Out 2015 they’ll have the chance to go on a circus safari through jungles, oceans and plains when The Circa Carnival comes to town with Carnival of the Animals. This is an happy tale of creatures from the land and the seas. Using digital animations and multimedia together with the language of circus, children are taken on a delightful acrobatic safari.

Look, an Imaginary Theatre production, is a story of resilience and friendship using physical storytelling, object theatre and interactivity. For children aged 2 - 5, it's a gentle theatre experience that entices them into play through fun physical storytelling.


Chalk About, by Edinburgh-based Curious Seed, is for kids 8+ and is a playful, funny and sometimes moving look at how young people see themselves and others. It includes dance, chat and kids will be very happy to know one scene even has pizza.

Masquerade is a world premiere and is expected to be just the ticket for audiences aged 9 to 90. It has been commissioned for the Sydney and Melbourne Festivals and co-produced by State Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre Company as part of the Come Out Children's Festival. It is written by award-winning playwright Kate Mulvany, based on the iconic children's book by Kit Williams. Masquerade is presented in association with Windmill Theatre.


The Festival also tackles real-life issues in History of Autism by Julian Jaensch and members of Company @. The performance uses the medium of theatre to show society's understanding of autism over the last 70 years. Company @ is a home-grown South Australia company and is believed to be the only autism spectrum theatre company in Australia. They offer actors with autism a chance to openly express their emotions and experiences of living with autism, to help them conquer some of the condition’s most difficult developmental restrictions.

An interactive workshop running throughout the Festival is the South Australian premiere of I Think I Can. Tasmanian Puppet Theatre Company Terrapin uses puppetry, live video and active audience participation, where students choose a miniature puppet as their alter ego and play out their lives on a large scale model railway in the actual Adelaide Railway station.

Though a series of mini-plays, the True North Youth Theatre Ensemble asks what it means to be a kid in A Kid Like Me. This is a world premiere where the audience becomes part of the show using innovative handheld Zig Zag controllers, which influence how the performance is played out. It is technology invented by SA contemporary performance ensemble and technologists, The Border Project.

Argus by Dead Puppet Society is a whimsical wonderland making use of nothing but household objects and four pairs of hands. The performance for 7-14 year olds transcends from the simple to the sublime when a fragile little creature seeks to find a home in a world where he doesn't fit in. It's magic in miniature, a place where table tops grow grass and water bottles become the depths of the ocean.


The whole family will be catered for when the Big Family Weekend happens on Saturday and Sunday May 23-24. It will be two days of performances, workshops and other activities. The full family program will be announced in February 2015.

The Come Out Children's Festival 2015 is produced and presented by Adelaide Festival Centre and is supported by the Government of South Australia through Arts SA and the Department for Education and Child Development

Only a few events have been described here, but the full program can be viewed at www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/come-out-childrens-festival/program

Without doubt, Come Out is going to be fantastic fun as always; a kids’ festival in every respect.

Where: Adelaide, South Australia with some SA regional tours.

When: May 22-30, 2015.

Information and Program: www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/come-out-childrens-festival/program

Images (from top): Look; Chalk About; Carnival of the Animals and The 26-Storey Treehouse.