The audience is put in the spotlight in this year’s “Youtopia”, celebrating the empowerment of the people.

With his first programme for the Brisbane Festival last year, artistic director David Berthold put some big topics in the spotlight. His debut selection in 2015 examined, challenged and defied aspects of racial discrimination, sexuality and political oppression, bringing brave and uncompromising subjects of global magnitude to the Queensland capital’s stages. For this year’s programme, Berthold has tightened his focus from the macro to the micro, bringing the intimate and personal to the fore.

Under the banner “Youtopia”, 2016’s offering celebrates the empowerment of the individual in an age where the ubiquity of technology and information has made us voyeurs, activists, influencers and pioneers; dynamic participants guiding the trajectory of our modern society. “Digital progress has created a world in which authority is more contested and the people more empowered than ever before,” Berthold explains. “Look at the convulsions in the media and music, or the great wave of human migration powered by smartphones in the hands of almost every refugee, or the power of a tweet to swing the conversation. Much of this year’s Brisbane Festival reflects...