Ensemble Offspring
Melbourne Festival: The Secret Noise
- This event has passed.
January 1, 2016 | 8:00pm
There are sounds that exist on the other side of silence: music that has been deliberately kept from public ears. From forbidden airs to censored songs, retracted tunes and intimate odes intended for just one listener, the history of music is haunted by these secret compositions.
Ensemble Offspring invite you to embark on a multi-sensory exploration of sacrosanct sounds, charting your own path through a catacomb of music, performance and installation. Studded with hidden messages and aural mysteries, this descent into the underworld of music-making is a rare chance to uncover curiosities you were never supposed to know existed.
If anyone asks, you didn’t hear nothin’.
Performances
North Melbourne Arts House, 14th October 7:30pm; 15th October 2:00pm and 7:30pm, 2016.
Program
Damien Ricketson – The Secret Noise
Performers
Concept and Composition: Damien Ricketson
Director: Carlos Gomes
Devising Performers:
Narelle Benjamin (dancer)
Katherine Cogill (dancer)
Katia Molino (actor)
Jason Noble (clarinet)
Claire Edwardes (percussion)
Bree van Reyk (percussion)
Fausto Brusamolino (lighting design)
Media & Acclaim
“…the intimacy and strangeness of these inexplicable rituals was, at times, spell-binding.”
“…some beautifully crafted moments – all of the musicians are the real deal, and use their instruments with a conscious, bodily presence; and performers Narelle Benjamin, Katherine Cogill and Katia Molino were hypnotic.”
Georgia Symons – ArtsHub
“Strong fluid and flexible contemporary dancers integrate the interesting sounds and music to bring the whole thing together. Their incredible strength, technique and stamina captivates us.”
“The Secret Noise is defying genres and discovering magical creative gems for audiences of all ages to share and enjoy.”
Joanna Simmons – Theatre Press
“…the most engrossing passage of play came in a solo from Edwardes on keyed percussion: not over-complex, shaped with clear-speaking artistry…”
Clive O’Connell – The Age
“…an insightful and highly visceral evening..”
“Ricketson is a composer whose skill lies in his unique control of sonority.”
“Any change in the established norm must be led by trail-blazers willing to buck the trend and take a risk. Ensemble Offspring are pioneers and with this production they have left the first footprints in the sand of an exciting new territory for Australian performance.”
Full review
Maxim Boon, Limelight (The Secret Noise)
“It was the sort of music Dickens’ Miss Haversham might have listened to in her wedding dress every night of her life.”
“…composer Damien Ricketson, director Carlos Gomes, Ensemble Offspring (Claire Edwardes, Jason Noble, Bree van Reyk) dancers Narelle Benjamin, Kathy Cogill, and performer Katia Molino have created a playful and original exploration of gesture, sounds and the ghosts of machines that produce them.”
Full review
Peter McCallum, SMH (The Secret Noise)
“Well, it’s an installation, really. Well, no, it’s more dance theatre. Well, it’s both. And a concert, or recital. With a little bit of circus sideshow. It’s all of these things. And more.”
“Edgy isn’t always assimilable, but the virtuosity of Ensemble Offspring and its esteemed partners, their collective sense of genre-defying adventure, commitment and striving for excellence distinguishes this work as truly cutting-edge.”
“It’s, at once, very now, with more than a hint of tomorrow.”
Full review