Sydney Festival Is Doing Johnny Cash’s ‘At Folsom Prison’ In a Prison

A Johnny Cash show, to be held inside Parramatta Gaol, is on the bill for the 2015 Sydney Festival's Parramatta program. Aussie rocker Tex Perkins will take on the role of the legendary singer-songwriter, recreating his groundbreaking 1968 Folsom Prison shows, framed by looming, razor-wired limestone walls in what was once the jail's exercise yard. The 19th-century jail is now out of commission but will make a suitably moody backdrop for Perkins' Far From Folsom, which also involves The Tennessee Four and Rachael Tidd doing the the vocals of June Carter.

The one-night only spectacle is but one of five world premieres to which Western Sydney audiences will be treated. At the Parramatta Opening Party (POP), scheduled for January 9, Paul Kelly will bring his new collaboration, The Merri Soul Sessions, to the stage for the first time ever, for which he’ll be joined by a bunch of our best local soul performers, including Dan Sultan, Clairy Browne, Kira Puru and Vika and Linda Bull. The free event, which kicks off from 6pm at Parramatta Town Hall, will also feature Radical Son, Christine Salem, New York City DJ, $mall ¢hange, the Waratah Drumcorps and 'Uptown' Brown. Elsewhere in Parramatta, there’ll be a rooftop performance from the Stiff Gins and a block party hosted by the fine Soul of Sydney folk.

The emphasis on dancing your way to a good time will be continued at Disco Dome, which is described as “an after dark walking tour” but sounds more like a mobile dance party. Situated at the Information and Cultural Exchange, this event transports the audience back to a time when “the funk” had a strong grip on Parramatta — between 1979 and 1995. It’s a journey not only through music but through architecture and history, featuring dynamic digital, sonic and live artworks by Justene Williams, Khaled Sabsabi, Liam Benson, David Capra and Heath Franco, Fadia Abboud and Jerome Pearce.

Meanwhile, the Riverside Theatre will provide a temporary home for two world firsts. There’s Legs on the Wall's PUNCTURE, which will see the stage turned into a dance floor that travels through a world history of body movement, from ballet to tango to hip hop, and, wait for it, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show — yep, every child’s favourite ravenous critter will hit the stage in puppet form. We know it’s meant for kids, but...

Finally, there’s Cirque Alfonse, coming all the way from Quebec, to entertain us with a whole lot of “whip-crackin’, wood-chuckin’ and log-balancin’ and axe-jugglin’ galore — with live banjo-pickin’ and bluegrass-playin’ thrown in for good measure”.

Multipack tickets for Sydney Festival Parramatta go on sale at 9am on October 24, while single tickets will be up for grabs from 9am on October 27. The full Sydney Festival program will be announced at noon tomorrow (October 23). Watch this space.