Asking the questions
Force Majeure had a vision. The production company imagined a show entwining elements of various communications media which would reveal the answers to hard-hitting questions.
The result is a fascinating production called The Age I’m In. The show fuses a distinctive dance-theatre language with innovative audio-visual technology that draws on the experiences of a cross-section of Australians through over 80 recorded interviews.
As the title suggests, it portrays the perspective of various ages and how they view the here and now from the age they’re in, artistic director Kate Champion told Sydney Star Observer.
We’ve conducted over 80 hours of interviews with a wide range of Australians aged nine to 80, and have condensed their opinions to use as the driving soundtrack of the piece. Questions we asked encompass attitudes to politics, drugs, religion, obesity, disability, and sex.
We developed a new hand-held video screen technology that has not been seen on stage before this production premiered. This enables the performers to become other people, to seemingly reveal their naked bodies and to interact with custom-made animation.
In their premiere season, Champion had her heart in her mouth during every show, wondering whether the screens would work.
The technology definitely created the greatest challenge -” the development of which spanned two and a half years -” but at the same time it has given the piece a unique and original aesthetic, she said.
It was also difficult to choose which aspects of people’s opinions to deal with, as the subject matter is so enormous. In the end I chose the voices and characters that had the strongest theatrical appeal, rather than attempting an all-encompassing approach.
The work of Force Majeure is committed to a multi-formed theatrical experience. Their work is always initially driven by physicality. The company believes this way of working provides more inroads for the audiences to access and understand the pieces.
In the interview process it was very important not to preempt the answers I was seeking. I tried to be as objective as possible and let the voices of the interviewees speak for themselves. Therefore the messages are contradictory but honest, Champion said.
There is no one message, but my directorial choices were driven by my response and reaction to the way the characters expressed themselves as much as to what they were saying. The set emphasises the individual performers, consisting mainly of furniture and specific lighting which occasionally delineates rooms.
info: The Age I’m In runs from Wednesday 26 November until Saturday 6 December. Tickets start at $15. Bookings on www.carriageworks.com.au or call 1300 723 038.
Australians view the here and now from the age they’re in.
