October 18, 1977 (ways to change the world) takes as its starting point an Artist (Gerhard Richter) and his struggle to create a suite of works that mourn the death of four German terrorists - the leaders of the so-called Baader-Meinhof Gang.
The gang committed suicide while in prison in the 1970s. Three of the gang members died on October 18, 1977 and that date provides the title to the series of 15 Richter paintings depicting scenes from the deaths of the gang members. The paintings now hang in the Museum of Modern Art (NY).
The work explores the nature and limits of representation and the relationship between idealism and ideology. In the course of an imagined day with Richter, the audience is taken to scenes from the life of terrorist Ulrike Meinhof, whilst also dwelling in Richter's head as he recalls interviews with critics and journalists, ponders the nature of being an artist, and rages against the state of the world, while trying to work out a role for the artist in the absence of Utopia.
October 18, 1977 (ways to change the world) is conceived as an opera or song cycle however, the themes of the work are elaborated less through dramatic narrative than through a set of reflective passages set into a highly abstract and powerful soundscape that envelops both performers and the audience. Accompanied by electric guitar onstage, the resulting soundworld takes us into the interior and exterior spaces inhabited by both Artist/Richter and Terrorist/Meinhof.
A multi-disciplinary work, the design elements of October 18, 1977 (ways to change the world) are conceived as equally crucial in developing the meanings of the work as the music, text and physical performance.
Produced by Keep Breathing, October 18, 1977 (ways to change the world) commenced development in 2006 with the support of The Arts Centre (Victoria) and has since undergone further development with the support of the Australia Council and Arts Victoria. The producers hope to premiere the work in 2009.
The Company
David Chesworth's (Composer/Soundscape Designer) works include: Opera Australia's Cosmonaut (with Tony MacGregor, Melbourne Festival 2004); Chambermade Opera's Recital, The Two Executioners and Lacuna; MTC's Life After George (2001 Green Room Award). Awards include: 'Instrumental Work of the Year' APRA 2006 Classical Music Awards for Panopticon by David Chesworth Ensemble; a Prix Ars Electronica Honorable Mention for Southgate; and Sabat-Jesus (Melbourne Festival) selection for Paris International Rostrum of Composers.
Tony MacGregor (Writer) has been Producer at ABC Radio National since 1996. He was librettist and co-devisor for Cosmonaut. His multimedia installation with Dennis Del Favero about the Balkan wars, Requiem was commissioned by Neue Gallerie in Austria 1999, and featured as part of the Open Art season at Kunstbunker in Munich in 2001.
Bagryana Popov (Director/Dramaturg) is an actor, director and choreographer. She was a founding member of Hildegard, directed The House of Bernarda Alba 2004 (winning 4 Canberra Regional Theatre Awards), physical theatre work Subclass 26A, and dance works No Words and Studies in Being Human. Paula Levis (Designer) has designed for Victorian Opera, Danceworks, Dancehouse, DanceNorth, Chunky Move (Glow, Singularity, I Want to Dance Better at Parties), Lucy Guerin (Structure & Sadness, Aether, Lost Air), Rebecca Hilton (Historia), and KAGE (Headlock, Nowhere Man, World Expo, Japan).
Contact:
Jennifer Barry
Keep Breathing
PO Box 5
Flemington VIC 3031
Tel +61 3 9329 4044
Fax +61 3 9329 4022
Mob 0411 126 355
jennifer@keepbreathing.com.au www.keepbreathing.com.au
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