THIS SHOW IS ABOUT PEOPLE

About the production

Part theatre. Part music. Part dance.  This Show Is About People is a collaborative undertaking between Shaun Parker and musical directors Mara and Llew Kiek. Through compelling music and movement it investigates the innate need within us all to belong to something. Ten individuals inhabit a common space. They have different lives and different stories. They are people in transit.

The music and songs in This Show Is About People all resonate with the themes of community and belonging. Led by world renowned musicians and vocalists Mara and Llew Kiek, the spine tingling vocal music of Bulgaria collides with songs from medieval Europe, modern gospel, word-art and popular songs of hope. The movement language is informed by highly physical contemporary dance, acrobatic and street dance styles, layered with intricate gesture and manipulative force.

 

CREATIVE TEAM

Director and Choreographer: Shaun Parker
Musical Directors: Mara Kiek & Llew Kiek
Set and Costume Designer: Robert Cousins
Sound Designer: Peter Kennard
Performers: Anton, Matt Cornell, Marnie Palomares, Guy Ryan
Musicians:
 Jarnie Birmingham, Tobias Coles, Silvia Entcheva, Llew Kiek, Mara Kiek, Nick Wales
Lighting Designer: Niklas Pajanti
Dramaturg: Veronica Neave

 

DURATION

70 minutes

 

AWARDS

Winner 2008 Australian Dance Award, Outstanding Achievement in Independent Dance

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Major Festivals Initiative, managed by the Australia Council for the Arts, the Australian Government Arts and Advisory Body, in association with the confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals Inc., Sydney Festival, and Melbourne International Arts Festival.

Critical Reviews

… from the reaction of the audience I would say they certainly felt it was for them… it was a privilege to have experienced what Parker and his collaborators made. Totally full of wit and devastating in its clarity.’

Kristy Edmunds
Artistic Director, Melbourne International Festival 2007

 

This Show is About People by the choreographer and performer Shaun Parker explores transitory lives and the weird and wonderful moments when paths cross, blur and repel. It’s an intricate and expressive work manipulated by music and machinery, and features movements that are both sensuous and hard-edged. When the dancers hurl themselves against the floor or arch their bodies as though lifted by meat hooks, the fluorescent-lit spectacle is dangerous and daring. This Show Is About People is stylistically refreshing in the way it marries humour, lyricism and urban grit to examine themes of isolation and belonging.

Sydney Morning Herald

 

…beautiful and often gesturing toward the profound…Shaun Parker’s This Show is About People is entirely unique and utterly wonderful.

Real Time

 

SHAUN PARKER has a deft, original touch in creating theatre. Along with his love of dance and music, it turns his ideas into something audiences can laugh at, sympathise with, and generally have a good time while they are watching – then leave something for the mental doggie bag to take away and think about afterwards…this is a terrific show about people.

Sydney Morning Herald

 

This Show Is About People plays beautifully with perception. Parker is a master of the art of directing your attention, which can make it seem like magic is happening at the other end of the stage, where things have changed completely while you weren’t looking. The choreography is sharp, witty, precise, full of violence and desire and longing.

Theatre Notes

PREVIOUS TOURS

7:30pm,  Sat 26 January - Sat 26 January 2008 Drama Theatre at Sydney Opera House, Sydney, New South Wales

7:30pm,  Fri 25 January - Fri 25 January 2008 Drama Theatre at Sydney Opera House, Sydney, New South Wales

7:30pm,  Thu 24 January - Thu 24 January 2008 Drama Theatre at Sydney Opera House, Sydney, New South Wales

7:30pm,  Sun 14 October - Sun 14 October 2007 Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria

7:30pm,  Sat 13 October - Sat 13 October 2007 Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria

7:30pm,  Fri 12 October - Fri 12 October 2007 Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria

7:30pm,  Thu 11 October - Thu 11 October 2007 Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria