Text from the Adelaide Festival Program:
It’s 50 years since the infamous drowning of Dr George Ian Ogilvie Duncan; a moment in time that triggered an alleged police cover-up, a city-wide scandal, national outrage, a Scotland Yard investigation, pioneering gay law reform… and a glaring absence of convictions.
Watershed, a new oratorio commemorating this moment, is the product of some of Australia’s most acclaimed talents. A searing, no-punches-pulled libretto by Alana Valentine and Christos Tsiolkas has been set by composer Joe Twist, winner of the Chanticleer Prize for international choral composition. His affecting score is given theatrical life by director Neil Armfield and choreographer Lewis Major, bringing together solo voices, a dancer, the Adelaide Chamber Singers and an elite chamber orchestra under the baton of Christie Anderson.