Take Over! welcomes a different approach this year, reflecting the fluidity of the current environment we find ourselves in mid-pandemic. A program of 10 fearless and unique artistic explorations will take shape in artists’ homes across Victoria, in the lead up to their presentation at Melbourne Fringe in November 2020.
Spanning dance, theatre, spoken word, music, live art and installation, this bold collection of works brings a breadth of life experience, passion and vulnerability to ignite our imagination; to help us understand more about humanity and the world we are living in.
BRIAN LIPSON AND MARK WILSON
Ponder the implication of Christopher Marlowe's 16th century play about a man who makes a pact with the devil. An intimate and alarming experience for those interested in matters of the soul.
MARCUS IAN McKENZIE
Combining an alchemy of sound, words, sweat and tears. Asking the question - What if a crying room was actually a space dedicated to emotionality? A place not to conceal tears, but to invoke them?
GOVIND PILLAI AND RAINA PETERSON
KARMA DANCE
Visceral, experimental dance explores the truth that for many in this grand metropolitan matrix of streets, suburbs and prejudices, the experience of isolation is nothing new. We've been here before. Maybe you have too?
DAVID WILLIAMS
This is a show about small things. A show about things too small to be seen - about chance, family, history, genetics, biology and destiny.
JOEL BRAY
An installation weaving the dancing body with the digital image, reflecting on the endurance of Country. Giraru Galing Ganhagirri translates to “the wind will bring the rain” in the Wiradjuri language.
JONATHAN HOMSEY
WITH MAGGIE CHEN AND MAGGIE ZHU
An anti-tragedy and participatory biography about resilience and female empowerment. Enter the life of two Maggies, childhood in China and adulthood in Australia. This work embodies the soft power they possess.
MOIRA FINUCANE
Part of Finucane's globally acclaimed Art vs Extinction Suite. An austere and bloody mutant, stitching live exhibition to immersive theatre and a mass-mortality event. Exploring grief, loss, isolation, beauty, time and hope at an epic scale.
SORETI KADIR
A multilingual performance combining theatre, poetry, song and Oromo dance. Exploring what it means to be human in the presence of each other - those who elevate your humanity and those who deny it.
KATE HOOD
In turns hilarious and confronting, this three-act monologue invites you inside the world of a wheelchair user. Esme lives alone, high in a housing-commission estate, with a broken lift, a disability, and trademark Aussie humour and resolve.
CASEY JENKINS (SH)
Casey is a live art, installation and community artist using performance, textiles and intervention to explore intimacy, identity and the interplay between modes of power; individual and institutional, perceived and concrete.
For ongoing and up-to-date information about the artists' work and development, join the Take Over! Facebook group.
From July to September, audiences will be able to share in the creative process through the artists’ digital showings. While we can’t connect physically at this time, online engagement will be crucial to realising the final outcome of each work.
A sneak peek into the development of each work will be livestreamed weekly on Saturday afternoons at 2pm.
Brian Lipson and Mark Wilson: Saturday 25 July
Marcus Ian McKenzie: Saturday 1 August
Karma Dance: Saturday 8 August
David Williams: Saturday 15 August
Joel Bray: Saturday 22 August
Jonathan Homsey: Saturday 29 August
Moira Finucane: Saturday 5 September
Soreti Kadir: Saturday 12 September
Kate Hood: Saturday 19 September
Casey Jenkins: Saturday 26 September
All livestreams are free to attend. Please note that registration is essential.
All commissioned works will be presented together as part of a one-off durational performance event, during Melbourne Fringe at Arts Centre Melbourne in November.
Details to be announced
All online video content across the program will be live captioned.
This project has been generously supported by private donors, Monica Lim and Konfir Kabo as well as Anne Runhardt and Glenn Reindel.
Take Over! is a unique partnership between Arts Centre Melbourne and Melbourne Fringe. The program has commissioned and presented three exciting and ambitious world premieres annually from 2017 to 2019.
Header image of WAISTD 2019 by Sarah Aiken and Rebecca Jensen / Deep Soulful Sweats. Photo: Gregory Lorenzutti.
