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.

Review: Structure and Sadness

Structure and Sadness
Malthouse Theatre and Lucy Guerin Inc
25 November 2009
Merlyn Theatre, CUB Malthouse

A contemporary dance about the 1970s collapse of a bridge in Melbourne; who would have thought it! Fortunately for us, Lucy Guerin did, and if you missed Structure and Sadness at the 2006 Melbourne International Arts Festival, or its various performances around the world, you’ve got until Sunday.

Words are not necessarily the best way to tell our stories. Guerin’s beautiful dance captures the emotion of a story and lets her audience breath in the hope and the pain until it is indistinguishable from their own.

Even if most who were in Melbourne in 1970 can tell you where they were when they heard about it; some under 40s might have to be told that 35 men died when the when a section of the West Gate Bridge collapsed when it was being built. This is a story that is so much a part of Melbourne, but fading into history rather than recollection. Even with instant media and an internet full of records of events, stories are still forgotten and need telling.

Guerin’s telling isn’t about facts, but a response to the momentary nature of disaster and its far-reaching effects. It is neither cringing “aussie” or alienating foreign, but connects with everyone who has seen and felt the sudden loss of life in a place where people should have been safe.

The inevitability of collapse fuels the tension, as the dancers build a sprawling timber house of cards. Their dance too is structural, but always shows the contradiction of bodies that can fluidly bend or remain rigid and strong. Despite all anticipation, the collapse is room stilling and the dance becomes more personal as the mood changes and the rebuild begins.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com.

Two Faced Bastard

MIAF 2008

Two Faced Bastard

Chunky Move and Melbourne International Arts Festival

11 October 2008
Arts House

What can you say when a performer declares that they don’t like reviews that describe the experience of a show and that there’s no room for flippancy in reviews, because the artists are too highly invested in the work?  “Umm…you are really good looking and I liked the beer I had at the bar…” Surely, if there is room for flippancy on the stage, there is room for flippancy in a review?

Chunky Move’s Two Faced Bastard is about duality. It’s directed and choreographed by Lucy Guerin and Gideon Obarzank, and explores the on and off stage aspects of theatre and the “Jekyll and Hyde” nature of performance – seriously and flippantly.

The stage is split down the middle with the equally split audience on either side. Each side only see half of the show, whilst glimpsing and hearing the other. Stage and backstage become one, as the exit to one is the entrance to the other. (Sorry to ruin the experience – but even the program guide gave that away.)

Audiences appear as equally split in their opinions about its success. I really liked the mystery of what was going on beyond the curtain, but in the Q&A after the show, nearly half of the remaining audience indicated that they thought they missed out on something.

Two Faced Bastard was created though workshops and a series of development performances. The process is still very clear on the stage, especially as and performers (actors and dancers) discuss their opinions and fears.

The questions are fascinating and this festival is the ideal place to ask them. However, I felt that the concepts weren’t explored beyond an almost obvious level. I don’t think it’s a revelation that performers are scared of stuffing up on a stage or that artists continually ask if they are creating to please themselves or an audience.  I would have liked to see the creators express a firmer opinion, rather than just offer the questions. I'd love to know your answers.

Being on the non-dance side of the room, I didn’t see much of the dance, until the final scene when the curtain is withdrawn. These final moments were stunning, and expressed the concept of the show more simply, succinctly and easily than what went before.

The process seemed like a lot of fun, but the final product still seems to be finding itself. After the performance, Obarzank said, “It’s searching for itself and I’m quite happy about that.” Perhaps that is the answer I’m looking for.

This review appeared on AussieTheatre.com

Green Room Awards 2007

Green Room Awards 2007
1 April 2007

I’ve just come from an afternoon of Green Room Awards. Congratulations to everyone. The ceremony was fun, Julia Zemiro was a much better host that Ellen at the Oscars, Suzanne Johnson and Helen Noonan showed us that opera singers are much wittier and funnier than often thought and everyone paid tribute to the outstanding plethora of artists and companies in this amazing city of Melbourne.

“It really is just an honour to be nominated”...but it’s true. The list of Green Room award nominations show how even the most dedicated of theatre, dance, music, cabaret, opera or musical theatre devotees can barely skim the surface of the arts scene in this town. I see more my fair share of shows, but there were nominated names, companies and shows that I hadn’t seen, some I hadn’t heard of. Debt was the tied winner of Best New Australian Play, but was only seen by 270 people. I think the lesson is – see as much as you can, because you never know when a gem is going to appear.

Dance was an especially strong category this year. Lucy Guerin summed up the feeling among Melbourne’s dancers, by acknowledging the strong sense of community and the involvement of everyone. This was supported by Ros Warby, whose award for Monumental was especially welcomed.

Tim Minchin was my favourite winner of the day. Not only did he win Original Songs, beat a phenomenal group of nominees for Cabaret Artiste, but then scored the award for Outstanding Cabaret Show, beating the Famous Speigeltent and the Melbourne Theatre Company. This continues to prove that the best shows are often created by independent artists and found in non-commercial venues. Tim is “so fucking rock” and so fucking deserved each and every award.

“If you get a job you like – you never have to work a day on your life. Maria Frendo from, the fabulous venue, Dantes reminded everyone of this when she collected her award for her Contribution to Cabaret. When you do what you love, it will always shine through in your work. Every nominee and winner today has proven that they love what they do.

This originally appeared on AussieTheatre.com.