|
Hunger | rawcus / Melbourne Symphony Orchestra |
|
|
|
Written by Darryl Emmerson
|
|
Tuesday, 23 October 2007 |
 Left - (l-r) Rachael Edward, Kerryn Poke, Paul Mately & Mike McEvoy. Cover - the cast of Hunger. Photos - Paul Dunn
Hunger is the latest collaboration between rawcus and members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Community Outreach Program. Rawcus, an ensemble of people with and without disabilities, combines with five instrumentalists to present a solid and occasionally moving series of images on the perennial theme of love, ‘whether lived, longed for, dreamed about, fabricated, suffered or rejoiced in’. This is of course a vast and probably endless theme, one which has exercised people’s minds for centuries and one possibly without any satisfactory resolution, and this is in a sense what occurs. The great strength of the work is its choreography, and the show begins well with a skilfully-lit tableau vivant of the five players on different levels, while an attractive piano solo is heard. The main performing area is carefully arranged with a multitude of brown paper shopping bags, soon to be demolished and scattered by one of the actors. The significance of both design and movement is unclear, and disquieting thoughts arise when this segment is followed by a deafeningly loud change of music and an abrupt hurling into a new moment.
And so it continues. The images come and go, the music thunders or softens, but the sequence fails to gain coherence. The abruptness referred to comes to seem a substitute for a really intelligible change of direction. There are moments of stand-alone beauty, such as the duet between one dancer and the viola player, or the brief dialogue between two men later on, and the flow of action, sometimes simultaneously in different playing areas at once, together with the pleasure of seeing this varied group of performers, ensures interest is never actually lost. Nevertheless Hunger really does start to wander; some sequences could easily be cut, there seem to be several false endings, and the program – not in a good way – feels longer than it is. Image-based theatre, such as the over-hyped Cirque du Soleil, often lacks an inner logic, other than merely pleasure in going on performing, there seems to be a dangerous and beguiling pleasure in simply presenting another carefully-designed, vivid but unnecessary picture. Thus with Hunger. The dedication of all concerned, their courage in stepping out of the usual comfort zones are much to be admired, but more severe attention to form and structure would illuminate the real union of all these varied performers and this rich material.
rawcus and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in association with Melbourne International Arts Festival present
Hunger
rawcus / Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Venue: Arts House | Meat Market
When: Mon 22 – Wed 24 Oct at 7pm
Tues 23 & Wed 24 Oct at 1pm & 7pm
Duration: 60 min (no interval)
Prices: Full $28 / Conc $22
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 136 166
www.melbournefestival.com.au
 Quote this review on your site | E-mail
Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.4 |
