Devised by Rawcus with musicians from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Hunger was inspired by our experiences of love – whether lived, longed for, dreamed about, fabricated, suffered or rejoiced in. In developing the work, performers mined their personal experiences offering text, movement, images and music. Hunger is a collation of these responses. This project brought together two companies from vastly different performance traditions and rehearsal processes. It was a remarkable and surprising collaboration marked by the generosity, faith, sense of humour and skill of the musicians as they collided with the honesty, rawness and unpredictability of Rawcus.
NTRO Output Category
- Original Creative Work : Other
Place
Melbourne, AustraliaVenue
Arts House, Meat MarketNTRO Publisher
Rawcus in collaboration with Melbourne Symphony OrchestraMedium
Theatre, co-created and devised by the performers and creative teamResearch Statement
In the field of contemporary creative arts performance , Hunger was an innovative collaboration between a company of performers with and without disability and a symphony orchestra. It explored the physical performance possibilities of sound-making, physical theatre, movement and improvisation.
Hunger pushed the performance parameters for both companies. It created duets between classical musicians and performers with disability, interwoven with large ensemble scenes and immersive sound design. Musicians accustomed to scored music improvised and responded to the rawness of unpredictability of the Rawcus performers. Instruments became characters and interlocutors.
This project brought together two companies from vastly different performance traditions and rehearsal processes. It was selected for inclusion in the Melbourne International Arts Festival 2007. The critic from The Age said, "Hunger is a triumph, a theatrical work of courage and vision. And between sound designer Jethro Woodward and the six participants from the MSO, it has music to match.” It received three Green Room nominations (2007) and was part of a suite of MSO projects awarded an Australian Art Music Award (2008).Size or Duration of Work
60 minutes, live performance work, 5 performances, Melbourne International Arts Festival, 2007
