structure and sadness, 2006

Byron Perry and Kirstie McCracken, Structure and Sadness, Lucy Guerin Inc photo Jeff Busby

The collapse of the West Gate Bridge in 1970 is an event that remains imbedded in the public psyche of Melbourne. Thirty-five men lost their lives when a span came down during its construction. Structure and Sadness examines the bridge as a supporting and connecting structure. Its concrete and definable form contrasts with the unknowable grief and chaos brought about by its failure. On stage, the performers construct a precarious world teetering on the point of collapse. The work shifts between practical building of supportive structures and the impressionistic portrayal of disintegration and sorrow. Structure and Sadness is a complex dance work, which examines the impressionable human body contending with the unyielding inanimate world that surrounds it. It explores an event in recent history not as a factual narrative, but through physical, emotional and visual responses to a devastating accident. [Text courtesy of Lucy Guerin Inc.]

Antony Hamilton, Structure and Sadness, Lucy Guerin Inc photo Jeff Busby

credits: director Lucy Guerin, choreographer Lucy Guerin with dancers from the premiere production: Fiona Cameron, Antony Hamilton, Lina Limosani, Alisdair Macindoe, Kirstie McCracken, Byron Perry, composer Gerald Mair, motion graphics Michaela French, set, lighting designers Bluebottle: Ben Cobham and Andrew Livingston, costume designer Paula Levis, dramaturg Maryanne Lynch, producer Michaela Coventry

performances: ppremiere Melbourne International Arts Festival, Malthouse Theatre, October 2006; Sydney Festival, January 2007; Perth International Arts Festival, February 2008; Dublin Dance Festival, Ireland, May 2009; Schloss Festspiele, Ludwigsberg, Germany, June 2009; Kunstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany, June 2009; Dance Theatre Workshop, New York, September-October 2009; Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, November 2009; Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, Becket, US, August 2010

Alisdair Macindoe, Kirstie McCracken, Antony Hamilton, Byron Perry, Structure and Sadness, Lucy Guerin Inc photo Jeff Busby

related articles in realtime

risky business adds aesthetic value
philippa rothfield: lucy guerin inc, structure and sadness, realtime 76, december 2006-january 2007

all in good time
keith gallasch & virginia baxter, realtime 77, february-march 2007

video resources

take it to the bridge
john bailey, the age, october 8, 2006

structure and sadness, lucy guerin inc
mark tregonning, pretend paper, october 20, 2006

structure & sadness, lucy guerin inc
diana simmonds, stage noise, january 10, 2007

a return to a deadly bridge collapse
roslyn sulcas, new york times, october 3, 2009

down under goes over well
quinn batson, offoffoff, october 5, 2009

Kirstie McCracken, Alisdair Macindoe, Lina Limosani and Byron Perry, Structure and Sadness, Lucy Guerin Inc photo Jeff Busby

impressions of lucy guerin inc
christine jowers, the dance enthusiast, october 21, 2009

lucy guerin inc, structure and sadness
grace edwards, trespass magazine, november 29, 2009

structure and sadness, lucy guerin
stephanie glickman, australian stage, november 29, 2009

structure and sadness: melancholy and modernity
alison croggon, theatre notes, december 1, 2009

making structure and sadness
lucy guerin, no date

structure and sadness
john bailey, no date

www.lucyguerininc.com

RealTime issue #0 pg. web

© RealTime ; for permission to reproduce apply to [email protected]

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