Musical memories

Nigel Kellaway is a lost man without identity or memory, with only the baroque sounds of Bach as a clue to who he is and where he’s come from.

Kellaway describes his new show Sleepers Wake! Wachet Auf! as a performance about forgetfulness, amnesia and filling in gaps.

“I think we all know people who are beginning to lose bits and pieces – it happens to us all after the age of 30,” Kellaway said.

The unidentified lead character arrives in the theatre without explanation of how this happened to him. But one of the few things to spark his memory is music, performed live on stage by pianist Michael Bell, violinist Margaret Howard and cellist Catherine Tabrett.

“What I’ve done is recompose the Bach. At times [it sounds] quite funky. The audience is hearing 250 years of music, right up to contemporary dance music,” Kellaway said. “On top of this he also has a strange affection for Dean Martin.”

Kellaway says we all invent ourselves a bit, and his character has the opportunity to break all the rules.

“I think he has a few more clues at the end – certainly he discovers a lot of possibilities. It’s very funny in parts, but parts are sad because he’s lost so much.”

Rather than a distressing experience, Kellaway describes his show as a playful, witty four-hander for one actor – the product of his music and four female writers.

“It’s beautiful, fun writing, though it’s very difficult to remember, I must say. There was no way I could do it if I were an amnesiac,” Kellaway said.

“My challenge is to bring these four voices into some kind of coherent person on stage that audiences can relate to. There’s a sense of vertigo in the piece, you’re never quite sure where he’s going – it’s a mind-fuck for me.”

Also undetermined is the character’s sexuality, which Kellaway said was playfully left confused.

“The writers, knowing they were writing for an out gay man on stage, have been very playful with the subject,” he said.

“He does seem to remember he has a long-term partner, at times implied as male and sometimes not. The audience is left wondering whether sexual identity is even important.”

Kellaway said this was the first piece he was aware of that was written by women writers for a solo male performer.

“When asked why female writers, I glibly said I didn’t want to talk about my dick. With male writers it’s going to go below the waist. Particularly in questions about identity, sexuality identity will come up,” he said.

Kellaway said he approached his work as more than just a play, using his decades of experience in a variety of creative outlets to create a cross-art form.

“It’s got dance, it’s got theatre, certainly music. It’s a fun night at the theatre.”

Sleepers Wake! Wachet Auf! plays 7-9, 13-16 June at Performance Space, Eveleigh. Bookings through Moshtix on 9209 4614 or moshtix.com.au.