By Nick Schlieper
Bangarra’s latest work “Wudjang: Not The Past” has special significance in a number of ways.
It’s the largest work the company has produced, with a cast of 27 performers.
Its mix of live song, live music and text with dance, marks a significant departure in form from previous Bangarra works.
It’s Stephen Page’s last work as Artistic Director of the company, after an astonishingly productive 31-year stewardship.
For all of these reasons, making Wudjang felt somewhat different to making a “normal” Bangarra show. The stakes felt a bit higher and the rehearsal period was a bit shorter. Throw in a few mini-waves of Covid, which saw a number of performers missing rehearsal while in isolation (and also my programmer!) and you have a heady mix of factors.
On the plus side, this is the first show in a long time that hasn’t started its life in the Drama Theatre at the Opera House. While we obviously always design with the whole capital city tour in mind, I’ve found that psychologically, starting in a space as limited and eccentric in size and shape as the Drama Theatre, does sometimes have the effect of constraining our ambition and scope from the outset. In this case, the considerably larger and much more technically efficient Sydney Theatre enabled us to think bigger from the outset. Ironically, as I write this, we’re working out how to shoehorn the show into the Theatre Royal in Hobart, but this initial freedom will stand us in good stead when it then moves to the Festival Theatre in Adelaide!
The hybrid nature of its form made Wudjang a fascinating thing to light. As a descriptor, I think Stephen’s “Contemporary Ceremony” subtitle is perfect.
Stylistically, do you approach it more like a musical, more like an opera, or just like any other Bangarra work? While these distinctions are fairly specious, they can nonetheless have an unconscious effect on an audience’s perception. On the one hand, I wanted them to feel they were experiencing something more than other Bangarra shows, but not at the cost of it no longer “feeling like” a Bangarra show. And what exactly is this “something more”? Is it simply a question of scale or grandeur? Or is it more to do with the nature of the work feeling different – perhaps broader and more encompassing? Emotionally, the show ranges from the epically tragic, to the intimately moving and (via some fairly silly comedy) to the hope-infused positive. How to do justice to all of the above, while “presenting” the work as a stylistically cohesive entity was a fabulous challenge.
Ultimately, as ever, you assess each moment on its strengths and play to those. Support the moments that work and try to help those that are less successful to come across better. But does Wudjang end up looking significantly different? I suspect that while certain moments do, the overall effect is pretty similar – though I can’t say that for sure until I go back and see it with some “critical distance”. What I can say however is – I suggest you try and see it before it leaves town!
For those that like to know these things, the rig consists of:
2 x VL3500 Wash
6 x Martin MAC Viper Performance
2 x ETC Source 4 Revolution
116 x conventional Source 4s
32 x 2K Fresnels
52 x PAR 64 of various varieties and 40 x Scrollers (I know!)
The Cyc is top and bottom is lit with Iris 4s and Orions and there are ten ShowPRO Collider Strobes doing the middle.
The extras are all supplied by Chameleon, who continue to stalwartly (and generously!) support Bangarra along with many other subsidised, low-rent companies where I tend to work.
Finally, a special, huge thank you to Andrew Tompkins and his brilliant crew, who continue to make the Sydney Theatre my all-time favourite venue!
Photos: Daniel Boud & Bangarra Dance Theatre
