City of Shadows
A Song Cycle of Murder, Misfortune and Forensics
By Rachael Dease
Performers: Rachael
Dease, Brian Kruger, Hayley-Jane Ayres, Aaron Wyatt and Tristen Parr.
For Helium - Malthouse
The tower - September 21 to October 5 - 2013
The accumulative effect of City of Shadows is atmospheric, mystifying and fascinatingly
haunting. It is something of a shared
guilty pleasure to clinically contemplate projected forensic photographic
records of disarmingly frank images of faces of the ‘wicked’ caught in that
Grand Old Dame and ‘City of Sin’ – Sydney.
The photographs are generally from the 1920s an era with its
evocative sense of romance still to this day intrinsically deeply embedded in the
character and feel of Sydney.
Short and crisp and very effecting the rich music fills the
space between the viewer and projected photos of criminals and crime scenes with
live voice (Rachael Dease) and strings (Brian Kruger, Hayley-Jane Ayres, Aaron
Wyatt and Tristen Parr), underpinned by recorded keyboard backing. It allows time and space for contemplation
and a chance to interrogate ones own response to the all too human subjects and,
at the same time, has a hypnotic engulfing effect.
The songs and compositions are not literal responses to the
photographs as subject matter but complex soulful crafted responses from
musicians, most particularly composer Rachael Dease. And in turn the evening feels like it could
be used as a springboard for further creative responses to their moving
offering.
The work gives the viewer a chance to wonder what sets us
apart from these villains of the past, other than years of time. What it is that causes some to offend. What is evident is a very obvious link with
poverty. The faces are disarming in
their frank expressions. The basic black
and white of the photography of the time is translucent in that is seems to let
the viewer into the heart and souls of the subject matter.
Fifty minutes well spent for twenty-five dollars.
Suzanne Sandow
(For Stage Whispers)
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