About the production

KING is a music-dance collaboration between award-winning Australian Director/Choreographer Shaun Parker, internationally renowned Bulgarian-born Vocalist Ivo Dimchev, and our nine outstanding dancers.

Set in a fantastical realm that is part elite cocktail-bar, and part jungle, KING interrogates the power systems that oppress and hinder the natural development of male sexuality and identity in the form of a biting, yet humorous theatrical experience. Parker’s highly physical and articulate choreographic world in KING intertwines with the scorching live sung narration of Dimchev’s deconstructed operatic and cabaret-esque vocals. The key protagonist and archetype in KING is observed as a naked man, and we witness the male body as a commodity for anthropological observation. The juxtaposition of Dimchev’s gloriously sung counter-tenor against the male dominated world created in KING, provides a compelling counterpoint to the notion of the power and brutality found within the context of historic masculinity and socio-sexual-political structures.

As leading arts critic cis-female Maghie Ghali, from the Daily Star in Beirut commented “KING is a stunning canon! Homophobia is interrogated…and the cast reflects Australia’s multicultural heritage, and the dancers are of diverse body types and ethnicities!”

KING is a ‘must-see’ production, and Sydney WorldPride audiences will have the opportunity to witness the relaunch of KING before it heads overseas to festivals across Europe. Running alongside the season is an integrated Queer Mentorship program for emerging artists and producers led by Shaun Parker, developing our next generation of LGBTQIA+ artistic leaders.

Creative Team

Choreographer, Director & Designer: Shaun Parker

Composer & Vocalist: Ivo Dimchev

Orchestration: Duane Morrison

Lighting Designer: Benjamin Brockman

Dramaturge: Veronica Neave, Felicity Nicol

Horticultural Consultant and Jungle Design: Penny Hunstead

Performers: Samuel Beazley, Max Burgess, Imanuel Dado, Toby Derrick, Ivo Dimchev, Joel Fenton, Harrison Hall, Libby Montilla, Robert Tinning, Alex Warren

Original Cast: Samuel Beazley, Imanuel Dado, Toby Derrick, Ivo Dimchev, Joel Fenton, Harrison Hall, Damian Meredith, Libby Montilla, Joshua Mu, Robert Tinning, Alex Warren

Duration

75 minutes

Acknowledgements

With the generous support of the Australia Council for the Arts, the New South Wales Government, Create NSW, City of Sydney and Inner West Council. Thank you also to Seymour Centre and Sydney WorldPride Arts.

AVAILABLE FOR TOURING

Further information and full technical specifications please contact:

admin@shaunparkercompany.com

Press

“If you want to be blown away by a choreographic language as gutsy and heart wrenching as Shakespeare’s poetry, don’t miss KING by Shaun Parker and Company.”

Sydney Arts Guide

“A completely idiosyncratic form and the stage language from Shaun Parker and his already internationally acclaimed Company… Delightful provocation, raging applause!”

Volksblatt, Austria

“The mind boggles at the depth of thought and intellectual process that underlies Shaun Parker’s complex choreography.. this is a dense and richly layered work that keeps you on the edge of your seat to the very end.”

Dance Australia

“It is a timely and original interrogation… Introducing queer perspectives to the cis/het crisis of masculinity, KING entangles itself with the cultural and primal forces that shape and deform identity… the audience burst into furious applause. The darkness lingered. The audience insistently clapped.”

Audrey Journal

“In the current environment of changing patriarchal structures, KING is a must see.”

Fjord Review

“A stunning cannon…the cast reflects Australia’s multicultural heritage and the dancers are of diverse body types and ethnicities. The choreography is brilliant!”

Lebanon Daily Star

“Weaving in and out of the jungle and layers of masculinity, love and control, the dancers’ strong and vulnerable movements, alongside Dimchev’s thoughtful composition, created a performance that beautifully portrayed anxiety and longing, often subsumed under normative masculinity and its focus on desire.”

Backyard Opera

“… a milestone in more than one way, leaving an impact on everyone who has seen it.”

Al-Ayyam, Ramallah

“KING is built on a remarkable dance/music collaboration and a highly theatrical, inventive and expressive choreographic approach.”

Daily Review, Sydney

BOOK TICKETS

2pm, Sat 04 March - Sat 04 March 2023 Seymour Centre, Sydney WorldPride

8pm, Sat 04 March - Sat 04 March 2023 Seymour Centre, Sydney WorldPride

8pm, Fri 03 March - Fri 03 March 2023 Seymour Centre, Sydney WorldPride

8pm, Thu 02 March - Thu 02 March 2023 Seymour Centre, Sydney WorldPride

8pm, Wed 01 March - Wed 01 March 2023 Seymour Centre, Sydney WorldPride

8pm, Tue 28 February - Tue 28 February 2023 Seymour Centre, Sydney WorldPride

BOOK HERE

PREVIOUS TOURS

8pm, Sat 13 April 2019 Posthof (TanzeTage) – Linz, Austria

8:30pm, Tue 09 April 2019 Citerne (BIPOD) – Beirut, Lebanon

8pm, Sun 07 April 2019 Al–Hussein Cultural Centre (ACDF) – Amman, Jordan “Little Big Man” or

7:30pm, Fri 05 April 2019 Municipality Theatre (RCDF) – Ramallah, Palestine “Little Big Man” or

5pm, Sun 24 February 2019 Seymour Centre, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival

7:30pm, Sat 23 February 2019 Seymour Centre, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival

7:30pm, Fri 22 February 2019 Seymour Centre, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival

7:30pm, Thu 21 February 2019 Seymour Centre, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival

7:30pm, Wed 20 February 2019 Seymour Centre, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival