A meticulously wrought masterpiece
Presented by Peter Sellars / Julia Bullock / Tyshawn Sorey / International Contemporary Ensemble
Reviewed 1 March 2026
Joséphine Baker was born poor and Black in St. Louis, Missouri at the turn of the 20th century. Living in Jim Crow America, she was segregated and othered. In 1925 she fled to the dance halls of Paris where she was feted and became a singing and dancing star. Eventually she returned to the United States to become part of the Civil Rights movement.
Originally produced for the Dutch National Opera, Perle Noire: Meditations for Joséphine, is an exploration of Baker’s work and life, and an examination of the relationship between fetishisation and exploitation. It is essentially structured like a cabaret, with stories from a performer’s life interspersed with music. And yet this is fundamentally operatic. Like Baker herself, it is its own genre.
Director Peter Sellars keeps the blocking and movement highly intentional and choreographic, weaving around James F. Ingalls’s brilliant, stark, lighting. The staging is deceptively simple, with just a centre-stage stairway leading to a platform.
Julia Bullock leaves it all on the stage. Her powerful, classical, voice, soars over jazzy orchestration, the two musical vocabularies working towards a new kind of harmony. Her movement work is worth the price of admission on its own, and her delivery of poet Claudia Rankine’s spoken word component of the work leaves no doubt that she is a performer’s performer.
Music is composed and arranged by Tyshawn Sorey, who also plays percussion and piano with the ensemble. Sorey has won a swag of awards, including the Pulitzer, and appears to be at the height of his powers. He is also performing one night of solo work at this year’s Festival. The International Contemporary Ensemble consisted of: Jennifer Curtis violin; Dan Lippel guitar; Alice Teyssier flute; Rebekah Heller bassoon; and Travis Laplante saxophone. These five incredible artists, along with Sorey, delivered tight, subtle, precision-built music.
This is an awe-inspiring, moving, surprising, and ultimately uplifting, work of music theatre, and a testament to the art that can be wrought from struggle. The last words should be with Baker herself:
“I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens and into the houses of presidents…But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee.”
Reviewed by Tracey Korsten
Photo credit:
Warnings: Contains nudity, sexual references and references to racial violence and abuse.
Note: Performed in English and French with English surtitles.
Recommended for audiences 12+
Latecomers will not be admitted
Venue: Her Majesty’s Theatre
Season: Until 4th March 2026
Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes no interval
Tickets: $40 – $169 (plus booking fee)
Bookings: https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/whats-on/season-2026/perle-noire-meditations-for-josephine
Adelaide Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre, Alice Teyssier, Claudia Rankine, Dan Lippel, Her Majesty’s Theatre, International Contemporary Ensemble, James F. Ingalls, Jennifer Curtis, Joséphine Baker, Julia Bullock, Peter Sellars, Rebekah Heller, Travis Laplante, Tyshawn Sorey
