SET PIECE

Live performance, 70 minutes

We began Set Piece with a desire to capture the quality of being in relation without the conditions of plot, objectives and dramatic stakes. We worked to find a form that could hold relations as the priority. While still paying tribute to the classical narrative play, we sought alternative temporal structures. We looked to structures connected to the erotic—compulsion, repetition, fumbling, hovering, edging—and to structures in choreography, considering the ways in which emotions and relations are spatialised. In this work, sexuality registers as a set of moves, a spatial orientation, a rhythm.

Core to the making of this work is our interest in the ways in which technologies of magnification (sound and image) can make room for alternative performance styles. While distance is marked on the body in theatrical performance—as the actor extends their performance spatially—performances in the minor give access to closeness. The camera in the theatre allows us to maximise intimacy. The theatre intensifies intimacy through presence, the camera through magnification.

The core and very difficult part of developing this work was the process of de-hierarchisation. We attempted to equalise elements: an ordinary action as significant as a dramatic event, a small gesture as potent as a move across the stage; listening as meaningful as dialogue; the end as important as any other moment.

CREDITS

Co-creators Anna Breckon and Nat Randall
Director Anna Breckon
Writers Anna Breckon and Nat Randall in collaboration with Andrew Brophy
Performers Dina Panozzo, Nat Randall, Carly Sheppard & Anni Finsterer
Set design Genevieve Murray (Future Method Studio)
Choreographer Victoria Hunt
Lighting design Karen Norris
Music Composition Nina Buchanan
Sound Design Daniel Herten
Cinematographer Ross Turley
Lead camera operator EO Gill
Light sculpture Megan Hanson
Video work on TV Matthew Griffin
Camera Operators Lucy Parakhina, Lux Eterna & Jenny Atherton
Vision Mixer Rowena Crowe
Hair and Makeup Design Sophie Roberts
Costume Designer Emma Louise Price/ LUCKY BREAK CREATIVE
Intimacy Choreographer Danielle Micich
Intimacy Consultant Michela Carattini
Dramaturg Miranda Harcourt
Production Manager Dominic Hamra
Stage Manager Ella griffin
Producer and tour manager Fenn Gordon for Tandem

Sections of script devised by Paul Blenheim, Genevieve Giuffre, Sapidah Kian, Peter Paltos and Carly Sheppard.

PRESENTATION HISTORY

2022 Sydney Festival. Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
2022 Rising Festival. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia