BRIEF SYNOPSIS

YES! WE  MET OUR TARGET!!                                                                                                                                  Lost for more words of gratitude to the many friends who supported us.

BUT YOU CAN STILL CONTRIBUTE TOWARD THE PROJECT, ENABLING EVEN MORE VALUABLE REHEARSAL TIME WITH EXCEPTIONAL ARTISTS.

SIMPLY EMAIL NIGEL () FOR DIRECTIONS.

The opera Project assaults the art forms and genres we love but must not let rest … (an) esoteric vision - musically scholarly, literary, in love with the cut and paste of building idiosyncratic works out of others’ classics … a modus operandi which faces the inevitability of likewise becoming itself ‘classical’.  Keith Gallasch, RealTime

Nigel Kellaway and The opera Project have an exciting new work on the boil, and need your support. 

Entitled “BRIEF SYNOPSIS: a beautiful naked woman ‘of a certain age’ brutally stabs a young man to death”, it pulls together rich elements of music, physical space, visual arts, text and movement.  It contemplates violence, without relying on sensational anecdote.  We explore issues in more abstract ways, creating something at once funny, scary, sumptuous, provocative … “baroque, intelligent pleasure”.

In 2013 Performance Space is celebrating its 30th year as one of Australia’s most respected venues/supporters/initiators of contemporary performance.  In recognition of the role Nigel has played there since 1983 (46 full-length staged works plus numerous producing roles) they have invited The opera Project to present BRIEF SYNOPSIS as part of their celebrations in the gigantic Bay 17 of Carriageworks, 27-29 November 2013.  This is the ideal venue and circumstance in which to create this work.

THE CREATIVE TEAM

BRIEF SYNOPSIS brings together director and composer Nigel Kellaway with long-time fellow performer Katia Molino, acclaimed photographer Heidrun Löhr and lighting designer Neil Simpson.  Nigel has been drafting this music and scenography over the past year.  His perennial concerns are in physical drama, spatial design and contemporary notions of how to “musicalize” theatre and “theatricalize” music.  The live band of 3 ‘cellos, double bass and piano are exceptional musicians experienced in the challenges of our work and eager to ‘let their hair down’.

Thousands of Heidrun’s photographs of the performers in motion will be digitally condensed into an animation projected on the venue’s walls, creating a vivid narrative dialogue with the live action and music.  Nigel and Katia are respected and highly trained physical performers, having worked across theatre, dance, opera and contemporary performance genres over decades.

This virtuosic framework embraces photography, classical and contemporary musical traditions, 20th century theatre and performance texts, scenic design, physical languages and video technologies.  A dense tapestry accessible through many familiar “doorways”.

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP

Performance Space and other supporters have committed substantial resources and hard cash to present this new work.  The opera Project has now to fund the creative and pre-production process: its rehearsal period (artist fees and venues) and film components.  Without these budget points the project cannot be realised.

We’ve set our Sponsume campaign at raising $11,000 because we believe this is an achievable minimum target.  OF COURSE WE'D LOVE TO RAISE MUCH MORE.  ALL DONATIONS WILL GO DIRECTLY TOWARD THE PROJECT.  EVERY ADDITIONAL $1000 WILL AFFORD ANOTHER 6 HOURS' HIGH-POWERED REHEARSAL WITH THE 8 PERFORMERS.  For 30 years Nigel has carefully managed dozens of budgets.  He ‘cuts the cloth’ he is given … and it’s finely ‘tailored’.

The opera Project …  creates stronger artistic statements than  productions on 10 times the budget.  Always, it leaves me with the same questions … Is the truth revealed or the truth unmasked?        Peter McCallum, Sydney Morning Herald

WHY CROWDFUNDING?

We work as freelance artists reliant on casual funding for each new endeavour.  We have been supported by government funding bodies over many years, though unfortunately not for this project.  So we’re appealing to our audiences. This is our first experiment with crowd funding, which we see as an opportunity to directly involve the people who care about this kind of practice – a chance to empower the project and augment its possibilities.

Please join us to help create BRIEF SYNOPSIS – a new work that substantially extends the visions of The opera Project.

All donations over $2 are TAX DEDUCTIBLE (receipts will be issued after March 1st, 2013)

ANY QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS?  Email Nigel Kellaway directly on:  

MORE INFO:

Nigel Kellaway and The opera Project Inc.    +61 (0)2 9516 3762         www.nigelkellaway.com

Bec Dean and Jeff Kahn, co-directors Performance Space  +61 (0)2 8571 9111  www.performancespace.com.au

Also supported by the Bundanon Trust through its 2013 residency program and the University of Wollongong

THE PRINCIPAL ARTISTS

NIGEL KELLAWAY (actor, director, composer) Nigel’s initial tertiary performance training was in music, majoring in piano and composition.  He was then the first Australian actor to train in Japan with Tadashi Suzuki and his Suzuki Company Of Toga.  Over 35 years he has created more than 60 full-length theatre, dance and music works, in Australia and internationally.  In 1997 he co-founded The opera Project Inc., a loose ensemble of actors, musicians and physical performers dedicated to reassessing "opera" as a contemporary performance practice.  In 2004 he was awarded a senior artist’s Fellowship by the Theatre Board of the Australia Council to enable his continuing research into theatrical, operatic and contemporary performance practices.  Nigel is Artistic Director of The opera Project, and also works widely as a director, performer and mentor.                                                     (view a more extensive profile at the top of the right hand column)

KATIA MOLINO (actor) Katia’s tertiary studies were in theatre and movement.  She has worked as a freelance performer with many companies, and studied extensively in corporeal mime, Suzuki Actor Training and aerial skills.  Katia has a 20 year professional relationship with Nigel Kellaway. For The opera Project, she has performed in EL INOCENTE and THE AUDIENCE AND OTHER PSYCHOPATHS.  Katia has performed in small intimate spaces and the great windswept outdoors, touring nationally and internationally.

HEIDRUN LÖHR (photographer) graduated from the Institute of Photography in Munich, Germany, working as a freelance photographer in theatre and film before moving to Australia in 1984.  Over the past 20 years she has photographed the productions of major theatre and dance companies in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra including all the work of Nigel Kellaway since 1991.  She collaborates extensively with independent artists, dancers and performers, creating diverse performance works.  Recently, as an Australia Council Fellow, she has digitally archived her vast photographic collection, highlighting the achievements and artistry of a prolific and innovative performance community within Australia.  Heidrun also exhibits widely in galleries.

NEIL SIMPSON (lighting designer) has been working as a freelance designer and production manager for over thirty-five years, with long and substantial relationships with Sydney’s major theatre companies.   As a producer he is presently part of the team that produces the PARRAMASALA FESTIVAL of South Asian Arts in Parramatta, where he produces, directs and designs the outdoor program. He has collaborated with Nigel Kellaway on six large-scale productions since 1990.