At Perth Festival 2026, shows with French links allow you to pull back the velvet curtain on the world of haute couture in theatre that’s as sharp as a needle, watch 150 amateur dancers take part in a six-day workshop with a French choreographer and then put on free performances for the public, and take advantage of a rare opportunity to share a very special evening of beautiful music old and new with two exceptional artists. We tell you all about these experiences.
6-10 February | Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of WA, PERTH | $79 – $119
Performed in French, Tamil and English with English subtitles
Paris, 2025. A prestigious fashion house receives an important commission – to create the wedding dress for a British royal princess. Beauty, secrecy and power collide in this cinematic thriller – the story of the creation of a dress and the secret that ties it together.
From a Parisian haute couture fashion house to an embroidery workshop in Mumbai, to a lace atelier in Alençon, invisible hands labour in silence, stitching threads of ambition, sacrifice and survival. All for a dress that will spend mere minutes in the spotlight.
Renowned French director and filmmaker Caroline Guiela Nguyen pulls back the velvet curtain on the world of haute couture in LACRIMA. This is theatre as sharp as a needle – dazzling in its spectacle, unflinching in its humanity, unforgettable in its emotional impact. Following five-star, sell-out seasons across Europe, this extraordinary production now premieres in Australia.
LACRIMA unfolds like a cinematic thriller. With its shifting plots and intersecting characters, it has the grip of a Netflix binge – layered, suspenseful and impossible to stop watching.
15 February 7pm l The Embassy, Perth Town Hall PERTH | $79
This post-post-modern diva performs a one-night only show of … everything Meow Meow.
Meow Meow has hypnotised, inspired and terrified audiences globally with unique creations and sell-out seasons from Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Centre and Hollywood Bowl to London’s West End and the Sydney Opera House. Now this ‘diva of the highest order’ (New York Post) invites you to an intimate evening of sublime music (and some ridiculousness) with her long-time friend and artistic collaborator Iain Grandage on keys.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to share a very special evening of beautiful music old and new with two exceptional artists in the intimate setting of The Embassy.
For a taste of Meow Meow’s shows, read our review of her Adelaide Cabaret Festival show here and read our interview with Meow Meow here.
26-28 February | Forrest Place PERTH | FREE
An exciting choreographic emergence that builds day after day. A collective energy that radiates and carries away both participants and spectators. French choreographer Boris Charmatz invites 150 amateurs to a six-day workshop exploring circular movements of traditional and contemporary dance.
Together with a dozen professional dancers from Europe and Australia, Boris Charmatz transmits a collection of circle dances set within the expanse of Forrest Place. CERCLES explores the circle as a cocoon, as a raging crowd or a wall of bodies – agile, determined.
Propelled by a soundtrack by Meute, a Hamburg-based techno brass band who reinterpret electronic music classics in their own unique way, this communal movement experience extends our perception of what dance can be.
For its first edition the project was realised at Festival d’Avignon 2024 and was then presented in Wuppertal the same year and at Grand Palais in Paris in July 2025. Now it comes to Perth, in an Australian Exclusive as part of the free Perth Moves program.
NOTE: Registration to participate as a dancer has already closed but you can watch the performances for free 5.30 – 8.30pm on 26-28 February
PERTH FESTIVAL 2026 FILMS
Don’t forget there is also the open-air cinema program that we wrote about last week. Read more about that here.
KEY INFO FOR PERTH FESTIVAL 2026
WHAT: Perth Festival 2026
WHEN: 6 February – 1 March 20026
WHERE: Various events
HOW: Purchase your tickets via the links above.
HOW MUCH: Ticket prices depend on the performance chosen.
We have also written about the shows with links to France and the Francophonie that are happening at Perth Fringe 2026.
For more events with links to France and the Francophonie happening in Australia this month, check out our What’s on in February
