In the vast concrete floodway under the red and yellow stick gateway to Melbourne, some rogue occupational health and safety officers are crash testing the great Australian holiday.
An audience is invited to witness: A Car, A Nuclear Family and a Collapsible Picnic Table dropped into the testing ground. A place that is reminiscent of MTV video clips, Hollywood car chases and disaster movies. Many dangers lay along the road: a flat tyre, deadly wildlife, hitchhiking serial killers, domestic disputes and flash floods. Will the family survive this twisted experiment and succumb to the bureaucratic coercion of occupational health and safety manuals, insurance premiums and risk management guidelines?
The solution was simple.
Suddenly high-vis outfits, OH&S choreography and fluoro safety equipment joined forces with Gary Numan and Devo to create the ultimate counter-strike.
Presented by Spilt Second.
Spilt Second: Matthew Kneale, Paul Bongiorno, Reuben Brown, Josh Cassidy, Esther Hayes, Dan Koerner, Haruna Noda, Aaron Orzech, Rob Stewart, Laura Stitzel
About the artist/s:
Spilt Second are a group of artists who create live work that engages with the semantic slips and spillages of everyday language, life and place. Many of its members graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2005 and collectively its individuals have worked with The State Opera Company of South Australia, Australian Dance Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Circus Oz, Platform Youth Theatre, The Border Project and Back to Back.
Spilt Second is made up of Paul Bongiorno, Reuben Brown, Josh Cassidy, Meredith Grey, Esther Hayes, Aaron Orzech, Matthew Kneale, Dan Koerner, Haruna Noda, Rob Stewart and Laura Stitzel)
Paul Bongiorno is a Melbourne performance artist working in circus, theatre, dance and film. Over 2007 he completed projects with VCA Film, RMIT New Media, NICA, and several local dance companies. He is also a freelance writer, project worker and trainer.
Reuben Brown is a performer and dramaturg for Spilt Second. In 2007 he was Assistant Director for The Fireraisers with Max Gillies and Susie Dee and performed in Rageboy. Other performances, with Union House Theatre, include Working (2006), and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change! (2004). Reuben is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts and Music, majoring in voice and history. He has also travelled to Berlin and completed a diploma of German.
Esther Marie Hayes was born in Denver, Colorado, but now lives and works in Melbourne as freelance costume designer. In 2006, Esther graduated with a Bachelor of Dramatic Art majoring in Production from the Victorian College of the Arts, and was awarded the Orloff Family Charitable Trust Scholarship. Since graduating, Esther has worked with Inhouse, Spilt Second, Platform Youth Theatre, The University of Ballarat Arts Academy, the Victorian College of the Arts, Complete Works Theatre Company and Back to Back Theatre.
Matthew Kneale trained as a set and costume designer at the Victorian College of the Arts from where he graduated in 2005. While he is based in Melbourne, the majority of his work has been in Adelaide where he designed for The Border Project, the Australian Dance Theatre’s 2007 Ignition season, The State Opera Company of South Australia’s production of At The Statue of Venus and The Station. He is also proud to have designed the Black Lung Theatre logo and many of their brochures.
Daniel Koerner is a director based in Melbourne. He completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts at Flinders University Drama Centre in South Australia before going on to complete a post graduate diploma in Animateuring at the Victorian College of the Arts. He creates wordless pieces of theatre and film, most notably Kissy Kissy. which toured nationally and attracted two 2007 Green Room Award nominations. He is also a seasonal lecturer in performance at the University of Wollongong, New South Wales.
Aaron Orzech is a performer based in Melbourne.
Haruna Noda studied at Takarazuka Kita high school, Japan, where her training included physical theatre, dramaturgy, classical ballet, modern dance, traditional Japanese dance and Kyogen, traditional Japanese comedy. While undertaking a Bachelor of Urban Planning and Development at Melbourne University, Haruna performed regularly with the University of Melbourne’s Union House Theatre and worked with leading artists such as Susie Dee, Natalie Cursio, Stephanie Lake and Gerard van Dyck. Haruna also trains as a circus artist with Westside Circus and the Women’s Circus.
Rob Stewart graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2005, majoring in Sound Design. He has worked on a number of film projects, most notably The Tragedy of Hamlet – Prince of Denmark directed by Oscar Redding and The Sandcastle directed by Robbie McEwen. For the theatre Rob has worked on Senseless by Olivia Crang; Spring Awakening directed by Simon Stone and Ashes To Ashes directed by Sam Strong.
His installation projects include Contagion by Gina Czarnecki; ...Or Nothing, Top 100, The Wanderer Meets The Pioneer, Return To Point and Universal Language – Alternate Reality by Arlo Mountford. Rob is also a 35mm and digital projectionist.
Laura Stitzel is a performer with a background in dance. After training with a former Young Talent Time choreographer, Laura took what some may call a backwards step into the world of contemporary dance, training with Chunky Move, Becky Hilton, and being highly involved with Melbourne University’s Union House Theatre. Aside from her involvement with Spilt Second, Laura currently performs with Travel Art Dance Company and also creates their multimedia content.
Laura is currently studying animation, pursuing her interest in multimedia in theatre, a passion seconded only by acting like a monkey.
