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Collaboration the Project: Yours Truly -
Theatreworks, 11 July -
Yours Truly is the first full length collaboration in two years from very talented Australian choreographers Paul Malek and Kim Adam, and will be the last Collaboration the Project performance to grace the Theatreworks stage.
The contemporary performance begins with a crackly recording of Sir Robert Menzies's 1939 announcement that Australia is at war with Germany, and then for 45 minutes explores the repercussions of this announcement through the depiction of three young couples separated by war.
The ensemble piece features Lauree Malek, Ashleigh Kiven and Lucy Doherty as the wives left at home, and Jayden Hicks, Andrew Liu and James Smart as their men at the front. The interaction between the men and women is minimal, but when it does occur, it's absolutely beautiful. The men's movements are very grounded and heavy, lots of crouched positions and banging of fists on the stage. The slow motion backbend is used over and over as if to pre-empt the inevitable gunshot scene, and the way in which the men dance close to the ground really does seem as if they're in the trenches. In contrast, the women move with lightness and speed, with plenty of quick hand and foot movements, and are very buoyant in their execution. They are a joy to watch.
The performance is extremely emotive, not least in part due to the wonderful soundtrack by Anthony and the Johnsons. The dancers' movements often echo the lyrics. The set is perfect; the women elevated on three rostra in homely, 1940s settings, the men on the ground in front. The lighting is superb. The dancers are beautiful, the stories are moving and engaging, and at the conclusion there were many tear-streaked faces in the audience, such was the profound effect the performance had.
- ASTRID LAWTON