Ross Ganf

Whether organising outdoor raves while studying at Flinders Drama Centre or directing unconventional dance theatre performances, Ross Ganf has always searched for ways to bring audiences into a production.

It’s a quest that reached its apotheosis in Barrio, which he co-created as the Adelaide Festival club in 2012 and 2013.

Taking its cues from participatory theatre, Barrio was a place of freedom and surprise, “a maze that people could get lost in” where guests might find themselves participating in a wedding ceremony, meeting passionate model train experts or being kidnapped and ransomed.

But while the presence of the unexpected around every corner lent the site an anarchic atmosphere, Barrio was the product of meticulous planning and every performance was contained within a framework of highly structured improvisations.

The former Creative Director recalls meeting his now wife at around that time, “And she goes, ‘what do you do for the rest of the year?’” She simply couldn’t believe that it would take twelve months to plan a festival hub that ran for just two and a half weeks.

“I said, ‘It bloody well does!’” he laughs, “and I think that’s what makes [festivals] so special, that they are just this incredibly concentrated moment in time.”

Ganf’s own introduction to the power of cultural festivals came in 1996 when he had just finished high school.

The Adelaide Festival that year featured the immersive theatrical performances of Catalan troupe La Fura dels Baus, which he describes as “Life-changing… I didn’t even know what the shows were about, but the style and the way that they were delivered was so interesting.”

1996 was also the year of the Red Square festival hub, constructed from shipping containers “like someone built a colosseum out of Lego blocks.”

This striking vision sprang from the mind of Adelaide Festival Production Manager Geoff Cobham, who would later co-create Barrio with Ganf.

“In Adelaide you get to meet these mentors, and they’re in your friendship groups,” explains the multi-hyphenate creator. “It makes your dreams and goals quite attainable.”

Adelaide’s other great strength as a festival city is its size, which allows festivals to completely take over both the physical and cultural landscapes and transform the city into a globally significant home of the arts.

“Every time the festival season starts these other voices and languages come to the city,” says Ganf with undisguised enthusiasm.

“You can sit at the Exeter and hear so many different languages, and suddenly we feel like part of the cultural fabric of the world.”

It is, he declares, the time when Adelaide shines the brightest.

Visiting during the height of festival season “is like showing somebody your house after it’s just been cleaned and all the bedspreads have been ironed down, your shirt is looking the best it possibly can, there are flowers in the living room and there’s a lovely smell coming from the kitchen.

That is the most beautiful time to show your house, and for me that’s like cultural festivals here.”

 
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This article is part of the Festival City Stories series, a collection of reflections about Adelaide made by the people who make this a festival place. The project was funded through the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Arts South Australia, Arts Recovery Fund, and delivered in partnership with the State Library of South Australia. 

Written by: Alexis Buxton-Collins

Photography by: Thomas McCammon