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KaBooM: Stories From Distant Frontlines is a highly visual performance work based on real stories of refugees who fought on various battle frontlines and arrived to build new lives in Australia. In the work they are welcomed to this country by Sylvia Purrurle Neale, an indigenous Arrernte woman, who watches each tale unfold. Whilst witnessing their plight, Sylvia also tells her own story of struggle and ‘war’; and in response to their collective hardship she opens her heart and invites them to share the ‘spirits’ of the land:
"Reach out feel our spirits. Come sit with us, learn our ways. This Country, anytime anywhere we are here." KaBooM positions the audience, as witness, into the midst of the performance arena. They are placed in a metaphorical field of war, populated with visual imagery and the debris of battle. Spectators are moved through discrete performance areas. There is no fourth wall – the sense of involvement and engagement is direct. PROCESS Each of the tales serves as a basis for leading theatre practitioners to create, in collaboration with performance maker/director Deborah Leiser-Moore, a theatrical response. They engage an arsenal of contemporary theatrical weapons- projections, aerial work, and elements – hay, water, clay – to create a series of interlocking performance vignettes. Each story has a very specific and individual aesthetic to it reflecting the individuality of each of the men and their experiences. The entire work is united by a pulsing sound track from Spanish composer, Bigtoxic and an overall theatrical vision and visceral aesthetic is realised by Leiser-Moore. The national and international collaborators for KaBooM are Deborah Leiser-Moore, Adriano Cortese (Ranters Theatre), Regina Heilmann (PACT and Bundanon), Younes Bachir (Barcelona), Gail Kelly (ACAPTA), Lech Mackiewicz (Poland) and Bagryana Popov(Bulgaria and Australia) and Sylvia Purrurle Neale. Each of them has a long and diverse theatrical background. |
Performed at:
2018 George Town Festival, Penang Malaysia 2015 Alice Desert Festival Alice Springs 2014 fortyfivedownstairs Melbourne 2013 Undone at the Meat Market (excerpts) Development: Residency at Bundanon(NSW) Culturelab Development at the Meat Market (Arts House) Melbourne Artist in Residence Kinitiras Studio(Athens, Greece) |
KaBooM Trailer from Deborah Leiser-Moore on Vimeo.