2024 Wal Cherry Lecture

The Wal Cherry Lecture was held in the Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre on Friday 15 November.

In 1982, a young filmmaker, and Drama Centre graduate, Dr Scott Hicks (BA(Hons)(Drama) ’75, DLitt ’97), documented the groundbreaking twelfth edition of the Adelaide Festival of the Arts and its iconoclastic Artistic Director, Jim Sharman. The resulting film, The Hall of Mirrors: A Festival, captured footage of an Adelaide on the cusp of an explosion of creativity. For the 50 Years of Flinders Drama Centre celebration, the Wal Cherry Lecture titled, The Hall of Mirrors: A Retrospective, featured a screening of Scott Hicks’ original documentary followed by Jim Sharman and Dr Scott Hicks in conversation with graduate and Drama lecturer Dr Tiffany Knight (BA(Hons)(Drama) ’14, PhD(CreatArts) ’18).  This was a rare chance to watch the documentary on the big screen, and to hear two of Australia’s most celebrated artists reflect on their legacies and on what it takes to drive creative innovation.

It was fitting that the screening was held in The Adelaide Festival Centre's Space Theatre, which was opened in October 1974. In November 1974, the first cohort of graduating actors of the Flinders Drama Centre, performed at the Space Theatre in a production of the musical The Fantasticks, directed by Flinders Foundation Professor Wal Cherry. Graduate Douglas Gautier AM (BA ’74, BA (Hons) ’75), CEO and Artistic Director of the Adelaide Festival Centre (AFC) and Deputy Chancellor, Flinders University, spoke at the lecture about the long history of the relationship between Flinders and the AFC and the ongoing partnership and bright future for the two institutions.