The Bridal Lament at Riverside Theatres
Dates: 1/23/2025 - 1/26/2025
📍 Theatre: Riverside Theatres
Corner of Church and Market Streets
Parramatta, New South Wales 2150
Phone: 02 8839 3399
Riverside Theatres and the Contemporary Asian Australian Performance, supported by Sydney Festival, is excited to present The Bridal Lament by award-winning vocalist, producer and multi- disciplinary artist Rainbow Chan at the Riverside Theatres from the 23rd – 26th January 2025.
Rainbow Chan’s music and performances are celebrated as 'genre-bending art pop' (NME), drawing comparisons to iconic innovators like Bjork for their enchanting and avant-garde qualities (The Music). Her debut solo theatre work, The Bridal Lament, named after her highly anticipated forthcoming album, promises to immerse audiences in a lush, pop-infused audio-visual experience, blending the boundary- pushing artistry of contemporary pop with striking theatricality.
Drawing on her Weitou ancestry (first settlers of Hong Kong), Chan reimagines a Weitou ritual known as the bridal lament, a public performance of grief in which a bride wept and sang in front of family and friends. In this liminal space, brides expressed bitterness towards their arranged marriages and the prevailing patriarchal rule.
Conceived and structured as a song cycle, The Bridal Lament brings to life intergenerational and cross- cultural perspectives on diasporic experiences and the complex history of Hong Kong. With a new suite of songs by Chan and direction from Contemporary Asian Australian Performance’s Artistic Director Tessa Leong, this lush and lavish work pays homage to ritual in a vibrant and dynamic world of projection, movement and colour.
An award-winning vocalist, producer and multi-disciplinary artist, Rainbow Chan has previously been recognised in Asian-Australian Leadership Awards’ ’40 Under 40: Most Influential Asian Australians Award’ for her contribution to arts and culture and won ‘Artist of the Year’ in the 2022 FBi SMAC Awards.
News About The Bridal Lament at Riverside Theatres
THE BRIDAL LAMENT Comes to Riverside Theatres in January
December 03, 2024 Riverside Theatres and the Contemporary Asian Australian Performance, supported by Sydney Festival, will present The Bridal Lament by vocalist, producer and multi-disciplinary artist Rainbow Chan.About the Theatre
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