After an amusing litany of disembodied voiceover descriptors, Mistress of Ceremonies Libby O'Donovan, soared into the third and final night of Gorge '09 with Quando Quando Quando. The quaffing of an audience member's beer joke from previous nights was taken to new levels when Libby produced a replacement bottle from the depths of...well... from a place unmentionable in this blog. Undeterred by the fact it wasn't a screwtop she invited said audience member to plunge her hand into Libby's bosom to find - ta da - a small bottle opener!
Daisy and Chris reiterated the genesis, rules and process of Gorge for those who could be described as Gorge virgins. Happily there were a number of people who had attended all three nights and some who had been there the previous night.
The third and final writer, Nicki Bloom was introduced and initially showed a degree of nervousness during her interview on the red couch with Daisy. But after her Gorge '09 commissioned work, Footsoldiers, was read by Brendan Rock and Rory Walker she blossomed as she spoke about her work and process.
After the interval Footsoldiers was interpreted by Real Time Collaborators and Stone/Castro.
Real Time Collaborators performed in front of a curtain made of newspaper and cleverly used 4 actors in their interpretation, focussing on the absurdist elements of the script. Two females played the protagonist soldiers and the two males provided a kind of Greek chorus and onstage sound fx. When the newspaper was pulled down it revealed a pile of 300+ pairs of black and white thongs - at which an understanding aaaah ran thru the audience, all of whom had been somewhat mystified at the thongs stashed in odd places, high and low, in the Space Theatre foyer, toilets and approaches to the theatre.
Stone/Castro's piece was directed by Paulo Castro and was influenced by the notions of war and its psychological impact. Paulo told the audience in the forum that followed that, even before reading the script, he had a vision of a red cloth being slowly revealed and playing a prominent part in the interpretation, in the creation of its world. And so was delighted when he read the script and was able to incorporate it strikingly into his interpretation.
The two interpretations - vastly different - gave a good basis for discussion in the forum that followed. Though one audience member appeared to fixate on the fact that Stone/Castro's interpretation had included a gun which was not mentioned in the script and questioned - several times - if such an action was against the Gorge rules and whether it was right to add an element not prescribed by the playwright.. Most of the audience were somewhat bemused that, even though RTC had used 4 actors to interpret the same script, this appeared not to cause the audience member the same concern.
Nicky reiterated how, in her writing, she uses minimal stage directions which allows a greater freedom of interpretation. She also revealed that she doesn't visualise her writing on stage, she leaves that to the director, designer and actors. She went on to say she sees her writing in landscapes and colours and can see when there is something wrong with the landscape.
It was a great finish to a fabulous 3 nights - and congrats should be made to Daisy and Chris for their eloquent and engaging hosting of Gorge '09 as an event. And to Francoise and her team for their able and generous support to everyone involved. Special mention should be made of design associate, Wendy Todd, whose 1st half set/decor added a GORGEous element!
Indeed the credit roll in the program listed nearly everyone who was engaged directly with making Gorge '09 the event it was - entertaining, energising, educative and excellent. More than 60 people were involved one way or another.
A student from UNI SA is conducting research on Gorge '09 as part of her Masters, including holding interviews and focus groups. And, as part of that research, asked audience to participate in a survey. Which they did as willingly and enthusiastically as they interacted with all elements of Gorge '09. Brava brava - the audience!
You can scroll back through earlier posts and read what each of the writers and most of the companies wrote in to Brink Bits as part of being involved in Gorge '09. And you can read a series of reviews on Brink's website (www.brinkproductions.com) under latest news and reviews.
We at Brink are pleased to have presented Gorge '09, in association with Adelaide Festival Centre's inSPACE program, as a way of giving back to the community of which it is at once part of and supported by.... It was a mini fest of performance and spoken work, it was raw, immediate and unpredictable - and everyone GORGEd on it!
We'll have some photos to share soon.... Big hugs and thanks to everyone involved.
Gorge is an original concept by Daisy Brown [The Misery Children]
