Arts House Spectacular


Arts House Spectacular
SpectacularForced Entertainment (UK)

Thu 6 - Sat 8 August

Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall

Arts House present acclaimed UK theatre ensemble Forced Entertainments provocative new work Spectacular.

Spectacular is about death, playing dead and about the strange contact between two performers on-stage and an audience caught between what they arewatching and what they are being told.

A lone performer takes to the stage, explaining that the show were watching is somehow different tonight.The atmosphere is different, his entrance was off, the lights are wrong, some scenery is missing, and someperformers are absent. The tone is wrong. Things are somehow falling to pieces, or maybe things are justnow falling into place. The audience reaction, our protagonist says, is not quite what he expected, not quitewhat he's used to. Perhaps the fact he is dressed as a skeleton has something to do with it.

Celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2009, Forced Entertainment has been hailed as Britains most brilliantexperimental theatre company and their work has been presented the world over. This season ofSpectacular at Arts House represents their first return to Melbourne since the Australian premiere of BloodyMess at the 2005 Melbourne Festival.

Conceived and devised by the company
Performers: Robin Arthur and Claire Marshall
Direction: Tim Etchells
Text: Tim Etchells, Robin Arthur and Forced Entertainment. Design: Richard Lowdon. Lighting Design: Nigel Edwards. Production: Ray Rennie and Francis Stevenson
Co-production Partners: BIT Teatergarasgen (Bergen), Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), PACT Zollverein (Essen),Les Spectaclesvivants - Centre Pompidou (Paris), Theatre Garonne (Toulouse), Tramway (Glasgow).
'A fascinating, haunting piece of work' **** The Guardian

'Spectacular strips the flesh off theatre and gets right down to the bone' **** Time Out

Venue: Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall
Address: 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
Dates: Thu 6 - Sat 8 August
Times: Thu, Fri & Sun 7.45pm, Sat 3pm & 7.45pm
Tickets: Full $35/ Conc $28
Bookings: call 03 9639 0096 or visit www.artshouse.com.au

75 minutes, no interval




Image: Hugo Glendinning

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