What Melbourne loved in 2019, part 11

My best of 2019 will be published on Monday.

Melbourne's most loved shows of 2019 are Daddy, Unwoman, Barbara and The Camp Dogs and Grand Finale.  

What an amazing selection! Two Melbourne indie shows, one Sydney/Melbourne company co-production show and one international festival production. (I haven't seen Daddy yet, but will do what I can to see it during Midsumma.)

Thank you so much to everyone who's been a part of the series this year and since 2012: I've loved doing it and love that so much theatre and so many artists can be celebrated and supported in ways that don't care about star ratings.

So let's finish with someone who has been here every year and whose ongoing support of independent arts and arts writing in Melbourne is unsurpassed: Richard Watts. (And me.)

Richard Watts
Performing Arts Editor at Arts Hub, presenter Smart Arts at RRR, bloody legend

Richard Watts at the Cliffs of Moher

As a result of taking long service leave from my day job at ArtsHub in August–September, I didn’t see as many shows as usual this year – I even missed the entire Melbourne Fringe for the first time in over 20 years, due to spending most of September holidaying in Ireland. I did see some great shows at the Dublin Fringe and Dublin Theatre Festival, but that’s a whole other entry

My many Melbourne highlights (not including the many shows I also saw interstate) included:

Barbara and the Camp Dogs. Co-written by and starring Ursula Yovich, this raw, electrifying, vital piece of theatre at Malthouse was skillfully directed by Leticia Caceres. One moment you were roaring with laughter, the next sobbing as an emotional gut-punch caught you unaware. Part sweaty pub rock, part theatre, and always thrilling.

Cock. Directed by Beng Oh at fortyfivedownstairs, this indie production featured the year’s most sensual sex scene – in which the actors kept their clothes on the whole time.

Mr Burns: A post-Electric Play. A triumph of independent theatre directed by John Kachoyan for Lighting Jar Theatre. Great performances, exquisite lighting by Richard Vabre, and Sophie Woodward’s sets and costumes were an absolute triumph.

Harry Potter and Cursed Child Parts One and Two. I went in cynical, I came out awed. Stunning stagecraft and some truly remarkable coups de théâtre which had the audience gasping – myself included. Yes, tickets are prohibitively expensive, but it really is worth it – and there’s always the Friday Forty lottery!

33 Variations. My god, wasn’t Ellen Burstyn amazing?

A View from the Bridge. Tension so tight you could hear the whole audience holding its breath, superb direction by Iain Sinclair, and judiciously minimal staging thanks to Christina Smith’s set and Niklas Pajanti’s lighting. Yes, there was a clear debt to Ivo van Hove's Spartan 2014 production, but instead of a stark white stage, here we got dark, brooding, electrifying minimalism. If Zoe Terakes and Steve Bastoni don’t get Green Room nominations for their performances in this production I’ll eat my hat.

Giantess. Cassie Workman’s imaginative, incisive and moving show at this year’s MICF was a thing of rare beauty: wryly funny, skilfully constructed and performed, and occasionally heartbreaking. So good I saw it twice.

The Aspie Hour. This clever cabaret about neurodiversity and musical theatre was another MICF highlight. If you missed it, it’s been programmed in Sydney Festival in January, should you fancy a trip north.

Magma. Also at MICF, Andy Matthews and Alasdair Tremblay-Birchall’s offbeat, intelligent and hilarious investment seminar was without doubt the funniest show I saw all year. I literally roared with laughter.

Neal Portenza is Josh Ladgrove. Bilge pumps! Bilge pumps! Bilge pumps!

Wake In Fright. My god, wasn’t Zahra Newman amazing?

Modern Maori Quartet. Initially this cabaret at Arts Centre Melbourne struck me as a trifle too slick for its own good, but about 15 minutes in it all clicked into place for me, and I was enthralled and delighted and crying and applauding rapturously.

Between Tiny Cities. Contemporary dance that’s inventive, technically adept, passionate and accessible. I love the fact that it was programmed as part of Arts Centre Melbourne’s family program – watching an enthralled circle of kids watching such virtuosic b-boying was an utter delight.

Come From Away. If you don’t like musical theatre ,then go see this show. If you love musical theatre go see this show. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Gander in Newfoundland receives an immediate increase in visiting Melburnians as a result of this life-affirming, heart-warming production.

Overture. Comedy in dance? Jo Lloyd makes it work beautifully. I’m so glad that Jonathan Holloway programmed a return season of this work for his final Melbourne International Arts Festival.

High Performance Packing Tape. Thrilling contemporary performance at the Meat Market as part of MICF in which Phil Downing’s sound design played a critical part. Never has watching a balloon inflate been so anxiety-inducing.

Colossus. Choreographed by Stephanie Lake and created for the 2018 Melbourne Fringe, Colossus was remounted for MIAF, and what a delight it was. Featuring some 50 dancers on the small Fairfax Studio stage at Arts Centre Melbourne, this exquisite work explores everything from subsumed individuality and the frightening power of the mob to the sound of the body in motion – hissing breath, snapped fingers, pounding feet. Athletic and multi-sensory, courageous and profound, it can soon be seen at Sydney Festival in January and Perth Festival in February – don’t miss it.


Looking forward to in 2020.
So much! Joel Bray’s Daddy, Selina Jenkins’s Boobs, Campion Decent’s The Campaign and You & I by Casus Circus at Midsumma; Kim Ho’s The Great Australian Play at Theatre Works; Grey Arias, the long overdue mainstage season of Patricia Cornelius’s Do Not Go Gentle... , and, especially, Loaded at  Malthouse; Benjamin Law’s Torch the Place, Dan Giovannoni’s Slap. Bang. Kiss., Fun Home and, especially, Andrea James’s bio-play about Evonne Goolagong, Sunshine Super Girl at the MTC; À Ố Làng Phối, Metal and Black Ties at Asia TOPA – and so much more. Most of all, I’m looking forward to seeing our beloved La Mama rising from the ashes as construction of the restored and future-proofed theatre gets underway.

SM: Richard is the hardest working arts journalist that I know. He sees as much as he possibly can, writes about the issues that no other publications write about, is the chair of the La Mama board, and has been on RRR on Thursday mornings for Smart Arts for FIFTEEN YEARS – as a volunteer.

How cool would it be if for his every show of 2020, a different delicious cake, a strong morning coffee and a cold post-show cider (he doesn't like beer) were waiting for him at the station. This isn't a joke.


Anne-Marie Peard
Arts writer

Anne-Marie Peard at Lakes Entrance

Favouirte moments of 2019
Lou Wall as Satan in Oh No! Satan Stole My Pineal Gland! at Melbourne Fringe.

Joshua Ladgrove as Satan in The many names of Bilge Pumps at MICF and Melbourne Fringe and, especially, dealing with the crappest microphone ever at the final fundraising performance in Decemeber.

Gender Euphoria with Mama Alto and the most incredible casts at Midsumma and MIAF. If the absolute joy generated by this show could be shared, the world would be a much better place,

Harry Potter and The Cursed Child: The relief and complete toe-tingling joy at the first cape swish and knowing that it was going to be as good as I imagined it could be. It was better. One day, I'll win the lottery and get to see it again.

The now-gone gun in Bron Battern's Waterloo and watching audience members make a choice that would swear they would never make.

Nikki Viveca's bee dance in Wasp Movie at Melbourne Fringe.

Break up by New Zealand's Binge Culture at Melbourne Fringe. This year, I watched more of this five-hour impro show than I did last year, and want to sit through all of it one year.

Running workshops with indie artists and seeing them get media coverage as a result. 

Seeing students get published.

What I'm looking forward to in 2020
Asia TOPA,  Po Po Mo Co's Summer of the 17th Doll, and seeing all those first shows that introduce new artists to the Melbourne arts community.

But what I'm most looking forward to is that significant companies, funded organisations and commercial producers SUPPORT INDEPENDENT MEDIA.

There are many amazing independent critical voices out there and so many more emerging voices wanting to be heard and wanting to be advocates and supporters of the arts in Melbourne.

But these voices are rarely supported by the companies and organisations that have the resources to offer support. 

The best funded and supported companies in our town don't support independent voices, including  online sites, podcasts, radio shows, student publications and social media wonders. 

Writers aren't invited to shows, and if they do see work, their considered commentary isn't shared. 

I know where I'm welcome when I write for mastheads and not welcome otherwise.

There is lots of love about these companies in indie writing; none of which is shared by the companies with their audience. All the positive and supportive things said about any company with funding in this series hasn't been shared, liked or, possibly, even read by companies. 

None. 

I reckon that subscribers, sponsors and the artists would love to know that their work was among some people's favourite moments of the year.

These companies are also missing the opportunity to have commentary from people who see so many shows that they can write about the big picture over many years. There isn't room for this type of reflection in 300-worder in a masthead. They miss the voices of people who were  there when some of the biggest names on our stages were performing in tiny venues. These writers were the early support and encouragement and can write about work with an understanding and a history that can't be summed up in a star rating.

They miss out on being part of the history and the archive that indie coverage offers.

They miss out on writing that is more than a quoted word or phrase. 

By focusing on the potential short-term benefit of a review, they miss out on the long-term gains.

And what about all the new writers? Writers need to see work and need to write and be read. If they aren't welcome at shows, what does this say about your company?

If all you want is stars and adjectives, here:

****

Quote away.

I know how important indie voices are to artists; they talk to me and sometimes those messages and conversations are enough to keep writing.

So, here's to a year where every funded company invites EVERY indie voice, says yes to every student and emerging artist who would like to see shows, reads what they say and shares those voices.

SM: A-M spends a lot of her year convincing me to keep doing this. She reads the emails and messages. She buys me dumplings and convinces me to see another show each night during a festival.

But it's time to say goodbye.  

I look forward to passing on the torch, teaching and mentoring new voices and putting my hand up as a date to shows.

MIAF: Colossus

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL
Colossus
Stephanie Lake Company
5 October 2019
Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
to 6 October
www.festival.melbournek

"Colossus". Stephanie Lake Company

Colossus was given the competitive Arts Centre Melbourne and Melbourne Fringe Take Over commission for 2018. This gives the company the resources, support and previously almost-unheard-of opportunity to take over the Fairfax Studio area and create a new work. It also makes connections with the most independent of theatre festivals and the venue at the peak of arts in our city. The Melbourne Fringe season of Colossus sold out and was regularly talked about as an unforgettable show of 2018.

MIAF director Jonathan Holloway said at a media briefing that the only way he could see this show that so many people were talking about was to book it for the festival. It sold out again.

Melbourne-based choreographer Stephanie Lake formed her own company in 2014. She became known in Melbourne for her work with Chunky Move and Lucy Guerin Inc and has worked with many Australian and international companies and had work in international festivals.

Colossus is a work that couldn't have been made without the the support of a bigger organisation. There are 50 dancers in black on a stage that is a bit bigger than size of 50 dancers lying arm to arm, feet to the centre, in a circle. They are young and emerging dancers and are performing in an international festival.

Working with so many dancers is rare; I can't think of a contemporary company that is able to create with so many people.

For all of this alone, the work is so unique that you can regret not getting a ticket.

The bonus is that it's exquisite and impossible to look away. It begins in stillness, in that circle of dancers, and one movement creates momentum and energy that comes in waves that gently lap and tsunami and breaks apart and joins together until it eventually collapses. It's like a physics lesson as movement from one dancer creates movement in the next, and individuals swarm in masses or and break away for a moment before return is inevitable. No one is more important. No one is not important. The community are as much the art as its creators.

The community is also Robin Fox's composition that is almost inseparable from the movement as it follows and leads when it needs to, and Bosco Shar's lighting that creates a world that interacts with the dancers interacting with each other. It's stunning. The floor and walls are white. Sometimes shadows are created by light, but there are bodies between the source and the wall and at times it looks like there are shadows of shadows as height and depth and shades of grey change and move as the join and cross and fade.

It's so difficult to create work with a large cast, but Colossus has been seen twice now – and that's not enough.

What Melbourne Loved in 2018, part 8

Declan, Joshua and Rohan would make for strange dinner party, but I wouldn't miss it. Today we go from tiny Fringe venues to opera stages, and three more great pics.

Declan Greene
Half o' Sisters Grimm + Resident Artist at Malthouse Theatre

Declan Greene in Hills Hoist and fake Birkenstocks

Favourite moments in 2018
This year was crazy, and I didn’t get to see as much stuff as I normally do – totally missed most of Midsumma, Melbourne Fringe, MIAF. But these three shows below stuck with me, in a really peculiar way, because I’m a playwright and they’re all nearly wordless. IDK why. Maybe it was the glut of contradictory think-pieces in my newsfeed or politicians skull-fucking us with doublespeak, but at some point this year I think I started feeling exhausted by language and its limitations.

Carrion – Justin Shoulder at Arts House.
The visual and sonic design of this piece of post-human performance on evolution and adaption was fucking astounding start to finish, with an incredible performance by Justin Shoulder.

The Howling Girls – Damien Ricketson and Adena Jacobs at Carriage Works.
Mind-blowing contemporary opera about the effect of trauma on language, performed for the first 20 minutes in near total darkness – and then midway it suddenly detonated into explosive light and non-verbal vocal scoring. When it ended I realised I’d been tensing my whole body for its entire 50-minute duration.

friendships at Hugs&Kisses.
OK this was a music gig so not technically a piece of theatre, but it still felt more complete as a work of live art than a lot of stuff I saw this year. No single moment I can remember as a stand-out. It was one set of unbroken sound and live video-mixing that journeyed from soundscapes of cyborg voices struggling to speak into crushing, mind-melting beats, with fragments of language rising to the surface: ‘was i good’, ‘are u still there’ ‘i forgot where i am’. Video of mutating children in a digital soup giving way to rushing 3-D landscapes. I can’t explain it properly but it took me out of my body, totally transporting.

Also loved Vic Opera's Lorelei a lot, as well as the Next Move double-bill – Nether and Dharawungara – at Chunky Move. Incred.

Looking forward to in 2019
The whole Malthouse 2019 season but especially Zoey Dawson’s amazingly cooked mainstage debut Australian Realness. Krishna Istha’s Beast for Midsumma. Melanie Lane’s Nightdance for Dance Massive. The Very Good Looking Initiative’s incredibly named Poopy Tum Tums at the Comedy Festival. And Ivo Van Hoove’s queer All About Eve on the West End with Gillian Anderson and PJ Harvey, after I find a wealthy benefactor who will fly me over to see it (just putting it into the ether thnxxxxxx). (SM: as long as you bring me as your chaperone.)

SM: Dec directed Blackie Blackie Brown: it's one of those shows that people are going to talk about in the years to come and a lot of us can say, "Yeah, I saw it". It's back next year.


Joshua Ladgrove
Neal Portenza

Joshua Ladgrove

Favourite moments in 2018
Born Prepared: 1980s Brownie Guide – Megan McKay at Melbourne Fringe.

Looking forward to in 2019
I'm not sure. I tend to not look too far into the future. I'm hoping for the complete downfall of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and the subsequent musical that follows.

SM: I don't like the star-rating system for shows – read the words – but I take it seriously when I give stars. If I add them up, Josh/Neal have had the most stars from me. Fafenefenoiby II: Return of the Ghost Boy was his last show. But, last shows don't stick for the good ones. As for a moment: I saw Fafenefenoiby twice and it was every time he guessed the names of the audience. Fuck his sophisticated, heart-breaking, fuck-yeah comedy, give me a mind-reading trick every time!


Rohan Shearn
Managing Editor, Australian Arts Review

Rohan Peron

Favourite moments in 2018
Once again, we were spoilt for choice this year as the commercial and independent sector delivered a mixed bag of delights. But three shows have resonated with me this year:

Calamity Jane
Big, bold, brash and brassy, Richard Carroll’s exuberant re-imagining of the 1950’s cult film hits its target in every department. Central to its success is Virginia Gay’s brilliant performance as Calamity Jane. A gift that keeps on giving, it is currently playing a sold out encore season at Arts Centre Melbourne before transferring to the Comedy Theatre in January.

Colossus
Commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne as part of the Melbourne Fringe Take Over! initiative, Colossus was excitingly compelling and mesmerising as 50 dancers converged on the Fairfax stage. A surprise hit of the Melbourne Fringe, Stephanie Lake’s work was worthy of a main-stage festival offering.

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
A co-production with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opera Australia’s new production by celebrated director Kasper Holten was a grand and extravagant night in the State Theatre. Wagner aficionados were not disappointed with an all-star cast and Mia Stensgaard’s set – that was one of the largest ever seen in Melbourne.

Looking forward to in 2019
Muriel’s Wedding the Musical
Directed by Simon Phillips, a theatrical version of PJ Hogan’s iconic hit film features music and lyrics by Australian award winning songwriters Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall. I was lucky to see MW during its premiere Sydney run in late 2017. With a new cast, it will look absolutely gorgeous in Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Theatre.

Come From Away
This Tony Award–winning musical tells the true story of the 38 planes and more than 6500 passengers who were unexpectedly forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland in Canada after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. Writers David Hein and Irene Sankoff used hundreds of interviews taken from the community in Gander to deliver a powerful message about the kindness of strangers. A terrific all-Australian cast will bring this show to life at the Comedy Theatre in July.

The Lady in the Van
Alan Bennett’s mostly true story of the fascinating relationship between the award-winning British writer and his long-term guest. Starring the effervescent Miriam Margolyes as the eccentric and cantankerous Miss Shepherd – The Lady in the Van will be a great opener for MTC in 2019.

Cloudstreet
It has been 20 years since the stage adaptation of Tim Winton’s award-winning novel, Cloudstreet has been presented on the Merlyn Stage. Matthew Lutton directs an all-star cast in this epic production that chronicles the lives of two working class families in Perth in –World War II Australia.

SM: Rohan and I don't agree about a lot of shows, but he's still the person I totally trust if I'm not sure if I should see a musical. Or if I need to know anything about any show that's been on in the last 30 to 40 years.  Australian Arts Review is another independent arts media site that keeps covering more shows and artists than any of the mastheads. Maybe 2019 needs to be the year when indie arts media gets the love it deserves.

What Melbourne Loved in 2018, part 7

Today, we celebrate more indie shows.

Penelope Bartlau
Artistic Director, Barking Spider Visual Theatre
Creative Projects Director, Women's Circus

Penelope Bartlau. Nicked from FB, possibly taken by Jason Lehane.

Favourite moments in 2018
1. MUST's End Transmission: the most insane, intricate set I have ever experienced (go Jason Lehane!) – a spaceship with crystals growing and secret doors and hidden rooms

2. Women's Circus 2018 Cabaret PLACE  because I laughed so hard, gasped and cried.

3. Daniel Lammin's Sneakyville, at fortyfivedownstairs, for what was not revealed and for fabulous, unexpected directorial choices.

4. In a Heartbeat at La Mama, just before Fringe, because audiences had the best time.

Looking forward to in 2019
More unexpected work in weird-arse places.

SM: Goodness, I adored In a Heartbeart. I really did have the best time.

Fleur Kilpatrick
Playwright, director, enthuser 

Fleur Kilpatick and the company of "Terrestrial", State Theatre Company SA
Photo by Kate Pardy

Favourite moments in 2018
It was in The Bachelor Season 17, Episode 5. It was a very quiet moment. The Bachelor had just approached one of the contestants and had 'can I steal you for a second'ed her. They left the stage. In an episode of The Bachelor, the camera would have followed them but, in that theatre, we did not. They were gone and we were left to stare at the other contestants. The ones who weren't picked. And they sat. In silence. One ate a chip. That crunch of the chip on that silent stage, these candidates at love held in stasis: that was my favourite moment.

Looking forward to in 2019
I'm very excited about the programming from Theatre Works, Darebin and, up in the south-east, MLIVE. But, most importantly, I am looking forward to us as a community confronting some demons in 2019 and, hopefully, making our workplaces safer, more respectful and more generous as a result. I'm really hopeful that 2019 will be the year we do away with the idea that there are different sets of rules for creative work places: everyone has the right to feel safe and respected at work. Bring it on.

SM: It's a bit meta, but I love that Fleur's new work Whale has already been mentioned a lot as something people are looking forward to in 2019.

Tim Byrne
Theatre critic, Performing Arts Editor – Time Out Melbourne

Tim Byrne. Photo by Sophie Reid

Favourite moments in 2018
I can pinpoint the precise moment this year because I had a jolting physical reaction to it, as involuntary as it was thrilling. At one point in Stephanie Lake's Colossus the cast of dancers rushed screaming at the audience and the kinetic energy, that sense of the potential and the danger of the human body en masse, felt like a shock of electricity through my own body. It was a terrifying moment, political and primordial at once, and one I'm unlikely to forget.

Looking forward to in 2019
Given that, I can't wait for Stephanie's follow-up work at Malthouse for Dance Massive, Skeleton Tree. It is about grief and the ritual of grieving, and should prove a highlight of the dance calendar. I was very pleased to see Stephen Nicolazzo tackle and triumph with Tennessee Williams's Suddenly Last Summer this year; I'm hoping to see him turn to Joe Orton next, maybe with (hint, hint) Loot or Entertaining Mr Sloane. They'd make a good match, that pair.

SM: I still read Tim's reviews, especially if I totally disagree – oh, I do – or if it's a show I didn't see. I also love that he notices if I'm not around.

Review: Conversation Piece

Conversation Piece
Lucy Guerin Inc, Belvoir and Arts House
19 March 2013
Meat Market, Arts House
to 24 March 2013

Conversation Piece is the only show in the Dance Massive festival that I’ve managed to see and it left me wanting to talk and rave and see it again.


Lucy Guerin’s work makes me understand contemporary dance; her choreography has a visceral effect that goes beyond the physical, lets me know what she and her dancers were thinking and leaves me cursing that words can be a useless form of expression.  And this is so much more than dance. To say it’s part-impro, part-dance, past-performance doesn’t do justice to any form as it becomes something original and is created from a premise that you will relate to if you read internet reviews.

If you’re reading this on your phone, book your ticket NOW. It’s on until the weekend.

Rarely do I sit in a theatre and have no idea what’s going to happen next. Conversation Piece had me for every moment because I had no idea what is was going to do. Developed with Belvoir and first performed last year (Melbourne has two new cast members), it’s had time to develop, but still feels fresh and new.

Three performers (dancers) walk onto the stage and talk, while recording themselves on a pair of iPhones. With no rehearsal, topic or brief, each performance is unique and a second visit is almost mandatory. And if you see someone laughing as they drink granulated ginger tea or a Ural sachet, you’ll know they were at the Melbourne opening night.

Despite being very public, the initial conversation feels as awkwardly delightful as overhearing a group of strangers chatting. Unlike dialogue, it sounds like people talking with interruptions, unfinished thoughts, genuine laughs and the illogical logic that few writers master but we all understand.

At eight minutes, three new performers (actors) come onto the stage, take an iPhone from the talkers, put in earphones and repeat the conversation as they hear it. So a conversation about wasabi, parenting and UTIs becomes the soundtrack to the rest of the performance and is re-visited in the most unexpected forms.

From conversations with themselves to competitions between performers and their craft, it becomes much more than an exercise in form as it confronts our so-quickly-adapted-to smartphone culture. I’ve only had one for 18-months and I don’t take books on the train anymore, I tweet in intervals and let people know if I’m going to a show via Facey. We stare at tiny screens instead of interacting with our friends or strangers. (Please look up from your screen and smile at someone nearby; even if it’s just yourself.)

Don’t think for a moment that this premise of isolation makes boring theatre because we’re watching what the isolated do – and I can say that at the end of this show, there wasn’t the usual rush to check phones in the foyer.

Throw in a cast who I can’t say enough good about (Megan Holloway, Stephanie Lake, Alisdair Macindow, Byron Perry, Katherine Tonkin, Matthew Whittet) and this is dance that springs over any limitations or fears of dance being a world away from theatre.

If you haven’t been to much or any of Dance Massive, cancel your weekend plans and get to the Meat Market to see what they are going to talk about.


This appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Review: Human Interest Story

Human Interest Story
Malthouse Theatre, Lucy Guerin and Perth International Arts Festival
24 July 2010
Merlyn Theatre, CUB Malthouse
www.malthouse.com.au

Lucy Guerin's choreography speaks louder and clearer than most words on our stages.  Human Interest Story explores the overlap of our domestic lives with the "news" and current events. Is it as hard to care as passionately about wars and stuff when Callum might beat Adam at Masterchef?

Be it the nightly news, daily papers or Facebook updates, we each have some connection and interest in the world beyond ourselves, and when Presidents Ahmadinejad and Obama are presented alongside the gossiping of Michael Jackson's former nanny, it's no wonder we feel unable to understand or react in the most positive manner.

Human Interest Story opens with the dancers watching a big screen TV with a monotone narration of the news. In the background, a barely lit, full-size tank sits like a tamed wild cat wondering if it can still attack.  In brightly coloured camouflage outfits, the dancers' words are their music in a world where slicing strassburg (fritz or devon for non-Victorians) at Coles is as important as getting a text about your euthanised dog,  giving your kids scrambled eggs, oil spills and Julia Gillard's view on climate change.

With a wow soundscape created by Jethro Woodward and lighting by Paul Jackson (whom I can never say enough good about), colours turn to grey and black as heartbeats, breath, scrunching newspaper and finally music accompany the dancers, whose intensity and emotion moves from the personal to a deeply personal reaction to a world they are part of and unable to control.

The physical language of dance is often foreign to people like me who love words, but dance like this reminds us of their limitations. Guerin and her dancers (Stephanie Lake, Alisdair Macindoe, Talitha Maslin, Harriet Ritchie, Stuart Shugg and Jessica Wong) create a balance where their skill creates the emotion and response, so rather than watching and wondering how bodies can do that, we feel deep in our guts; feel what we really think about the overwhelming nature of our multi-media contradictory society, even if we can't find adequate words to express it in a tweet. They bring the human response back to the stories.

As this review got unintentionally lost in a week of film festivals and musical openings, the short Melbourne season is over, but Human Interest Story will be at the Perth International Arts Festival next year.  It's great excuse to go to Perth.

This review appeared on AussieThearte.com.