Category: DV8

Sydney Opera House presents SPRING DANCE 2011, DV8-Physical Theatre in CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS ? at the Drama Theatre at the Sydney Opera House. CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS ? is the new work from DV8 , a physical theatre company led by Lloyd Newson. “The motivation behind the making of CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS? arose during the research of DV8’s last work TO BE STRAIGHT WITH YOU  (Seen at the Adelaide Arts Festival -2008), a verbatim dance production about religious attitudes towards homosexuality. When we interviewed gay Muslims many spoke about the appalling treatment they received, particularly…

  First up in May is Dean Walsh’s BACK FROM FRONT at the Performance Space at Carriageworks. BACK FROM FRONT began as a short solo work called EX-SERVICED in 2002. It was according to Mr Walsh “a personal response to my grandfather’s disclosure of some very disturbing circumstances he experienced “ in the Second World War. This work has now grown to cover a much larger canvass of interest. “a poetic reflection on the cycles of violence from a global perspective to domestic and individual unrest”. Other reflections are “on the loss of innocence” and “about deep hope – a…

I traveled to Adelaide for part of its International Arts Festival. Two works stood out for me. TO BE STRAIGHT WITH YOU, a production by DV8 Physical Theatre, led BY Lloyd Newson from Great Britain. On every level from the verbatim text, the politics, the skills of the performers (especially in their clarity of storytelling whilst dancing or moving even skipping), the video artists and the exhilarating technology that supported it all, this was great theatre.  I often lament that the theatre is too tame and all too often a bourgeois comfort of sedation. It was thrilling to be stirred…