Summer nights are heating up in Perth and so is the local theatre scene. West Australian theatregoers will be in for a treat when Blue Room Theatre’s Summer Nights officially launches.
The annual festival's 2025 iteration is set to be the most diverse and eclectic to date.
“This year we have a very diverse programme,” Blue Room Theatre Communications Coordinator, Mohammed ‘Ayo Busari’ says. “We have everything from poetry nights to dance shows, to experimental shows and pop artists – we are just so excited to have a lot of diverse artists coming together.”
“Among the many highlights is Summer Nights – Housewarming, which is the first night of the festival. It’s a free event where everyone gathers together. There will be karaoke, DJs playing, and on the same night there will be four shows on from drag performances to poetry performances, plus contemporary dance and more.”
Other festival highlights include 'Out For The Count' which Ayo describes as “theatre meets wrestling” and experimental show 'The Wetness' run by wetness influencer Rose KB, which Ayo remains tight-lipped about, but says audiences should wear something comfy and bring a towel – and to expect the unexpected.
While Summer Nights focuses predominately on West Australian artists, this year’s line-up includes an eclectic variety of international and eastern states-based artists.
Three-time Fringe World Weekly Award Winner and Melbourne Fringe Best Comedy nominee, Wil Greenway returns to Perth with a brand-new comedy show, 'Wil Greenway: It’s Probably Nothing' about renting on a dying planet, while UK-based performer Will Dickie returns to Perth for the international premiere of his acclaimed work 'White Sun', where Will conjures the ghosts of men who have dominated the stage before him, and takes audiences on a journey navigating tensions of inheritance, privilege and addiction.
“We have artists from all over the world, from Asian artists to artists of African heritage – there is something for every single person,” Ayo explains. On the local scene, Perth-based writer Dakota Gaudio writes, directs, and stars in 'A Third Place', a bittersweet reflection on grief, cultural identity and queerness within an Italian-Australian family, while WA authors Judith Huang, Asha Rajan, Seth Malacari and Anna Quercia-Thomas interrogate the harmful structures of the literary sphere through the medium of theatre and comedy in 'Still Here, Still Talking'.
As Mohammed ‘Ayo Busari’ says, what makes Summer Nights particularly unique is that it puts an emphasis on new artists and new works. “Summer Nights is the first taste of whatever you like – whatever is going to be big out there in the future, it really starts here with Summer Nights. It’s a chance to see upcoming artists for the first time or even established artists who come to test out new works here. There is something for every single person in the world, no matter if you like ballet, experimental stuff, poetry, drag – even wrestling. There is truly something for everyone.”
Check out the programme.
Summer Nights is on at The Blue Room Theatre (Perth) 24 January-15 February.
