Created by writer and director Rebecca Meston, with developmental assistance from Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE program and presentation support through Arts SA, Hits is a love-letter from your teenage self to that song, that artist or that person who came to you at your most awkward and misunderstood times and pays homage to the music that saved you. Hits is set to debut this July, at Adelaide Festival Centre’s Space Theatre with tickets on sale today.
Hits will transport the audience back to early 1990’s suburban Adelaide where 15-year-old Rhiannon is living with her mum. Obsessed with music, Rhiannon befriends cool girl Suzie, a muso who works at the local record store. Their friendship introduces Rhiannon into a punk underworld and her coming of age begins.
Writer and Director Rebecca Meston: “I have been a popular music nerd my entire life and grew up in a musical family. So, this show really is close to my heart. As are all the extraordinary artists who are part of the team. Transforming the Space Theatre into the Big Day Out 1993 and bringing a 13-member mosh pit chorus to life, audiences can expect to be dropped into a grunge-soaked, music festival underworld, backed by a soundtrack you'll wish you had on mix tape”.
With an all South Australian cast with alumni from Flinders University Drama Centre and AC Arts including Annabel Matheson, Eddie Morrison, Emma Beech and Ren Williams Hits will feature a compilation of musical hits throughout the performance that are sure to evoke all-new and past musical memories for the audience.
Minister for Arts, the Hon. Andrea Michaels MP: “Giving a voice to independent and emerging artists for over 20 years, Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE program has provided a vital investment in the future of the performing arts in South Australia. I am delighted to see the South Australian production; Hits take to the Space Theatre stage as a result of this important program”.
Adelaide Festival Centre CEO & Artistic Director Douglas Gautier AM: “We are delighted to collaborate with Brink and Flinders University Drama Centre to present Hits at Adelaide Festival Centre. To see this production come to life on the Space Theatre stage is a testament to the development of local shows and artists as part of Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE program.”
Hits has been developed through Adelaide Festival Centre’s inSPACE Development Program. inSPACE provides support, encouragement and invaluable feedback to South Australian independent artists, with works-in-progress shown to an invited audience of arts critics, industry experts and members of the public at Adelaide Festival Centres Drama Centre Rehearsal Room.
Over the past 20 years, inSPACE has proudly worked with representatives across South Australia’s flourishing independent arts scene with organisations such as Vitalstatistix, Slingsby and Brink. Alumni include Erin Fowler, Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Finegan Kruckemeyer.
For more information about inSPACE programs at Adelaide Festival Centre or to sign up to receive updates and invitations to work-in-progress shows, visit www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/festivals-programs/inspace