REVIEW: BRISBANE FESTIVAL

While the Brisbane Festival usually delivers a diverse range of both national and international works, the acknowledgement of dance in the mix has been, since Covid, somewhat meagre. Therefore, I was delighted to see on reading this year’s program, that we were to be treated not only with works from dance companies rarely seen in Brisbane, but also with both a world and Australian premiere. The mix of the works was eclectic and four are looked at here.

The multi-award-winning dance theatre work, Volcano, written, directed and choreographed by Luke Murphy, artistic director of the Ireland based dance theatre company Attic Projects, was presented at the Powerhouse (and reviewed here on September 6). It draws the audience into a sci-fi, Orwellian world in an Australian premiere performance spread over four sequential 45-minute episodes.

Panels of clear Perspex making a fourth wall separate the audience from the box setting (design by Alison Cummins and Pai Rathaya) of a living room in disarray, without doors, containing a leather armchair and settee, blanket box, two TVs, an old-style radio and standard lamp with fringed shade straight out of the 1950s. The two characters, recreating the hits of their past lives, manoeuvre various items around the space to create these different scenarios – a favourite game show, a night at a rave, or quiet reminisces of a life past.

Multi-layered in its construct of a series of seemingly disconnected, rather dystopian vignettes, and peppered with flashes of black humour, Volcano is a two-hander with Murphy joined by Ali Goldsmith in a stellar, triple threat performance from them both.

The expressive soundscape (Rob Moloney) is pivotal to the dramatic twists and turns, as is the dynamically athletic movement, which is sometimes a simple rave to the music, but at others propelling the narrative, in broad, fluid sweeps across the space.

Volcano, undeniably both intriguing and thought provoking, also challenges the audience’s staying power with its length – three hours 40 minutes including an interval. A judicious pruning of the longer, more repetitive movement sections, while maintaining the integrity of the narrative, could only add to the work’s considerable appeal.

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At the Thomas Dixon Centre Dancenorth presented Lighting the Dark (reviewed September 12). This joyous work celebrates happiness, connection and love, where subtext is all but absent. Conceived and choreographed by Chris Dyke with Artistic Director Kyle Page and Associate AD Amber Haines, it is also directed by Dyke, an Adelaide-based choreographer who incidentally lives with Down syndrome. This world premiere is the first time a major performing arts company in Australia has commissioned an artist with an intellectual disability to direct.

Lighting the Dark had a gestation over years, with Dyke taking up residency with Dancenorth on a regular basis. The trusting relationship subsequently built up between him and the Dancenorth team is evidenced by the way his fertile imagination, wrapped up in his generosity of spirit and compassion, has been brought to the stage, in what is unabashedly a celebration of life.

The audience knows what to expect from the outset, when ensemble member Felix Sampson, as sort of compere, introduces each of his fellow dancers, and, engaging in humorous banter with Dyke, invites us into the world of his superheroes: Banksy, Bowie, Batman and Queen. A very sassy beatbox performance by Dyke on mic, interpreted in moves by the dancers, launches the work in style.

The stage is bare except for designer Andrew Treloar’s arrangement of silver painted milk crates in towers of varying heights, evoking the urban landscape of street artist Banksy. In a mesmerising process forming the central section of the work, the towers are deconstructed, and the crates then rearranged into a variety of shapes by the ensemble. In a lovely piece of theatre, a huge pyramid shaped construction that then cleverly challenges our preconceptions of engineering is the result.

The personality and ability of each of the dancers is shown in different moments as Bowie, Batman and other heroes are acknowledged with wit and style. Tiana Lung had a crystalline clarity in her interpretation of each of the superheroes, while a tender duet between Dyke and Sampson was also heart-warming. Sampson, a true triple-threat, gave a captivating acapella rendition of his and Anna Whitaker’s composition; the lyrics “anyone can be a hero” reminding us to always look beyond the superficial when searching for what it means to be human.

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Gurr Era Op ("face of the sea" in Meriam Mir) is a celebration of the culture of the eastern islands of the Torres Strait and a call to action in the face of rising sea levels that threaten their existence. Conceived and choregraphed by award winning Torres Strait Island artist Ghenoa Gela, with the support of Force Majeure in association with Ilbijerri Theatre Company, the powerful work premiered at the Sydney Festival in January and was presented at the Brisbane Festival at the Powerhouse (reviewed September 14). 

Gela’s creation, straddling both dance and theatre, begins gently and with humour, as she, along with Aba Bero, Berthalia Selina Reuben and Taryn Beatty, who are all mainland born Torres Strait Islanders, explain their heritage, lineage and language. Words and phrases are taught to the audience, including "Kai-kai", meaning food, or a connection to the motherland through food. Stories of culture, and family are then woven around this word, in movement and spoken text.

The set design by Katy Moir has fish nets and traps piled high centre stage, all vibrantly lit by Kelsey Lee. Brightly coloured costumes in striking patterns (design Lisa Fa'alafi), add to the work’s visual impact.

The movement, a blend of the indigenous and contemporary, is grounded, with expressive use of the arms and face, while feet and legs press softly into the floor. The soundscape by Ania Reynolds, at times together with the ominous sound of crashing waves, successfully underpins the movement and supports the urgency of the message.

The tension builds leading to the work’s frantic final moments as the nets are used to build a barricade in a doomed effort to stop the rising tide. The message so powerfully delivered packs a punch. Unless action is taken, the climate crisis guarantees large swathes of the Torres Strait Islands will soon become uninhabitable.

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It was a treat to see Restless Dance Theatre in Brisbane again, after a two-year gap (reviewed September 18). The company, under the artistic direction of Michelle Ryan, continues to deliver with theatrical acumen, challenging preconceptions around physical and intellectual disability.

Private View tackles the usually taboo subject of romance and sexual desire in a carefully crafted work conceived by dramaturg Roz Hervey. Renate Henschke’s intimate set design of four small performance spaces, each used to tell a different story, surrounds the audience on three sides. Direction, in collaboration with the Restless dancers, is by Ryan.

Private View first opened at the Adelaide Festival in March and was positively reviewed then by Dance Australia’s Maggie Tonkin. Six months on and the production still both provokes and entertains and confirms that again the company has delivered a carefully crafted gem. What always sets the Restless dancers apart is the raw, unfiltered honesty they bring to their performances. It makes compelling theatre.

- DENISE RICHARDSON

'Private View' will be showing in Melbourne as part of Alter State at the Showroom, Arts Centre Melbourne, from October 2 to 6.