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Written by Georgia Fox
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Saturday, 11 October 2008 |
 Left - (l-r) Omar Ebrahim, Philip Larson, Deborah Kayser, Andrew Watts. Cover - (l-r) Omar Ebrahim, Deborah Kayser, Philip Larson. Photo - John Sones
The
Navigator could not be described as a pleasant experience. And yet, it
seems, that is the point. Audience members’ walking out half way through was
almost to be expected in this provocative staging of Barrie
Kosky’s latest directorial endeavour; a production that manages to pose the
unanswerable question: ‘What is Art?’
Dabbling
in experimentation of sound, particularly the human voice, The Navigator
charts the journey from birth to annihilation. Erotic nuances are littered
throughout to explore the nature of desire, while all too often this eroticism
finds form in a projection of ugliness, even crassness. Are we expected to
laugh or recoil? The Navigator continuously skirts this boundary and
frequently crosses it with an artistic argument that won’t shut up.
Opening
the 2008 Melbourne International Arts Festival, The Navigator reflects
the path to obscurity that this Festival is prone to take. It is undoubtedly a
challenge to watch constantly grotesque imagery without asking, is this where we’re
at; is this the level of expression needed to define artistic merit in the 21st
Century? Or rather, is this what I have to endure to appreciate
contemporary performance art?
Composer Liza Lim has been awarded international
acclaim, and the height of imagination she imbues in this work is awe
inspiring. Revealing her engagement with Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, Lim’s
score never relents. She employs both delicate and aggressive motifs in
harmony, and finds a context for unconventional breathing techniques and the
use of harmonics. Librettist Patricia Sykes adds a Gothic sensibility to
Lim’s surreal imaginings, using language that charts the sublime
territories of the human spirit: ‘exiles are naked lovers,’ ‘rapture and
rupture are twins,’ ‘hope's genitals thrive in us’. The sound of cicadas fills
the silences, never digressing from the sensorial bewilderment set up by the
players.
But cicadas are one of the few familiar reference points we’re
allowed, causing disappointment with an audience seeking to engage. This,
however, is not a production that seeks to engage audiences. Shock? Yes.
Provoke? Yes. Please? No. And yet crowd pleasing elements are utilized, such as
giving the singers microphones; and men dressed half naked in women’s stockings, high-heels and carrying a handbag.
This is a work that will happily divide audiences, feeling proud
that it can bring art to its limits and prompt discussion about the medium
itself. An all consuming, fantastical exploration of identity and desire with a
cast of exceptional merit sounds effortlessly appealing. But if a work does not
speak to you; to you, it ultimately falls a few metres short of success.
Melbourne International Arts Festival and Brisbane Festival
The Navigator
Liza Lim
Venue: the Arts Centre, Playhouse
When: Thu 9 – Sat 11 Oct at 8pm
Sun 12 Oct at 2pm (Audio Description)
Duration: 1hr 40min no interval
Prices: Full $55 / Groups (8+) $49.50 / Conc $41.25 / Student/MF-Y $25
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 136 166 / www.melbournefestival.com.au
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