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The Sydney Morning Herald smh.com.au Weekend Edition January 12-13, 2008 17

Arts&EntertainmentLiedtke’s final work built to last

Paul White and Kristina Chan are given a leg up by Alessandra Mattana. Photo: Edwina Pickles

■ DANCE

CONSTRUCTPlayhouse, Sydney OperaHouse, January 10Until tomorrowReviewed by Jill Sykes● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

TANJA LIEDTKE’S last work,construct, is a funny, sad, wittyessay on the world around her.She expressed her ideas throughthe simplest metaphor of makinga building and giving her cast ofthree a movement languagebased on their construction tasksyet rich in resonances, that go asfar as the viewer’s imaginationcares to take them.

The piece begins hilariouslywith Paul White in the role of abuilder trying to set in place acouple of planks – played byKristina Chan and AlessandraMattana in rigid stance, crashingto the floor the moment he letsgo of one or the other.

This is the kind of classiccomedy routine that you mightsee on an old film where theyhad a chance to cut and pasteany aberrations. Here it is liveand impeccably timed to have theaudience roaring with laughter inanticipation of the action as wellas the jumbled human jigsawsthat result.

By the end of this sequence, thebodies of Chan and Mattana havebeen stretched and pulled in alldirections. They are bothphenomenally flexible butstrikingly different in height andphysique, a factor that contributesto the visual variation Liedtkeachieves with so few performers

in such a basic set. An open stageis bordered by some carpentrytools – a ladder, a sawhorse, anelectric drill and so on – plusdecorative elements such as fairylights and a bold red cord thatbriefly frames the action. Lightingby Ben Cobham and GeoffCobham, including a silhouettesequence, and the diverse elec-tronic soundtrack designed byDJ TRIP add to the variety.

But it is essentially theperformers who create thechanging moods and convey theideas. Their choreography isbased on everyday movementthat is moulded, amplified andstylised into a form of theatrical

expression powered by thethoughtful intelligence behind it.

As they work with their lengthsof wood, window and doorframes, the dancers createvignettes that touch on relation-ships, families, buildings as shelteror symbols of wealth, newnessand decay – amusing and poign-ant aspects of human existence.

Everything happens at a crack-ing pace, occasionally slowedlong enough to allow full play toLiedtke’s subtle sense of humour.The quickest and funniest sexualcoupling I have seen on stage isinstantly followed by the arrivalof a fully fledged toddler in thebody of the crouching Mattana,

who grows slowly and cleverlythrough gangling puberty to herfull, elegant height.

This is the Australian premiereof construct, which was firstshown in London last May, threemonths before a tragic accidentended Liedtke’s life and herimmediate future as artisticdirector of the Sydney DanceCompany. There are plans torevive Twelfth Floor, a moreambitious and complex piecewhich won her a 2006 AustralianDance Award. Watch out for it –meanwhile, see this one.

Construct is at the Riverside Theatres,Parramatta, from January 16-19.

From little things, an emotional tribute■ MUSIC

CANNOT BUYMY SOULState Theatre, January 10Reviewed by Bruce Elder● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

I HAD been forewarned. ‘‘Hopeyou’ve brought your tissues withyou,’’ a couple of people who hadseen the rehearsals remarked.

‘‘I know Kev Carmody’s songs,’’I replied. ‘‘They’re powerful.They’re political. They’re sensi-tive and intelligent. They speakwith great clarity and integrityabout the modern Aboriginalexperience. But they are nottearjerkers.’’

What I had not taken intoaccount was the finale –Carmody’s and Paul Kelly’s greatland rights anthem From LittleThings Big Things Grow. Sungagainst a backdrop of images ofthe dullard aristocrat Lord Vestey,

the courageous Wave Hill mobled by Vincent Lingiari and thatunforgettable moment whenGough Whitlam poured sand intoLingiari’s hand, it was impossiblenot to reach for the tissues.

It was an emotion-chargedculmination to an evening thatwas more a musical biographythan a collection of songs.

On stage were all the concert’ssingers and performers: DanKelly, Tex Perkins, the LastKinection, Missy Higgins, theChurch’s Steve Kilbey, membersof the Drones and the Herd, SaraStorer, Clare Bowditch, DanSultan and Glenn Richards –with Carmody, Paul Kelly andBroome’s Steve and Alan Pigramall joyfully singing the song’s lyri-cal and triumphant chorus.

This was a concert that toldthe sad and complex history ofAboriginal Australia through 14songs that Carmody wrote.

The thesis that underpinnedthe song cycle was the idea that

Carmody’s life – from drover andstation hand in the 1950s and hisforced migration to the darkurban awfulness of Queensland’sLogan City to Sydney where hefound his radical, poetic andmusical voice – encapsulated themodern Aboriginal experience.

Carmody literally andmetaphorically wanderedthrough his songs. He sometimessang (On The Wire saw himaccompanied by a sweet choruscomprising Higgins, Bowditchand Storer), sometimes toldstories about his life and some-times introduced the singers.

At one point he picked up aguitar and sat around a camp-fire with the Pigrams (EulogyFor A Black Man) and he evenbrought his grandchildren ontothe stage and showed themaspects of his life story.

The masterstroke of Paul Kelly,who conceptualised the concert,was to choose singers and groupswho perfectly matched the songs.

The concert opened with songsabout Carmody’s life growing uppoor and black in rural Australia.Dan Kelly sang the acoustic story-song I’ve Been Moved andcountry-music sweetheart Storerfollowed with the romantic idyllMoonstruck.

The rawness of Carmody’sexposure to the mean streets ofLogan City was given powerfulexpression by Perkins’s sparse,spoken interpretation ofDarkside, a tale of suburban teendespair, and the Drones delivereda compelling and intense versionof River Of Tears.

The optimism of From LittleThings Big Things Grow was aperfect finale.

Yes, there were a few minorand irritating technical hitchesbut they did not detract fromthe power and emotional integ-rity of this very personal andunforgettable tribute to one ofAustralia’s greatest singer-songwriters.

A rare, compelling giftfrom Spinifex Country

Cultural translation ... Trevor Jamieson dominates with engaging dance and movement. Photo: Edwina Pickles

SYDNEY FESTIVAL REVIEWS

■ THEATRE

NGAPARTJINGAPARTJISydney Festival/Company B/Big hARTBelvoir St, January 10Until February 10Reviewed by Stephen Dunne● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

THE title, in Pitjantjatjaralanguage, means reciprocity andco-operation; roughly: ‘‘I give yousomething, you give me some-thing.’’ This extraordinary workfrom Big hART and its leadingperformer and co-creator TrevorJamieson is indeed a gift – anemotional, educational, effectiveand deeply affecting experienceof indigenous history as toldthrough Jamieson’s family, fore-bears and cultural traditions.

It ranges from his people’s firstencounter with whites, in the1840s, complete with a mimed,prancing British horse and a mili-tary twit. It includes the religiousmissions, custom, stolen kids andfamily tales. It features varioustraditional and pop songs, all inPitjantjatjara, including BurtBacharach’s This Guy’s In LoveWith You (for the courtship ofJamieson’s parents) and, perhapsmost importantly, Talking Heads’Once In A Lifetime (akaWantiriyalani). While the watermight be flowing underground, isit the same as it ever was? Notquite, as our postwar governmenthanded over Spinifex Country for12 years of British nuclear testingfrom 1953.

As an introduction to lang-uage, we start with a singalong ofHeads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes(here Kata, Alipiri, Muti, Tjina).Only much later, with the bonesof the dead ground up by scien-tists to test levels of strontium 90in the uncounted people dying ontheir land (after being warnedwith signs only in English), doesthe innocent children’s songacquire its gruesome resonance.

Yet the work has a lightness oftouch and supple vitality – after aheart-stabbing account of theblack mist that brought diseaseand death, told with the simpleauthenticity of a woman who wasthere as a girl, it can shift toJamieson’s childhood reading:Winnie The Pooh with that oddKanga, also disconnected fromhis own country.

Jamieson is an extraordinarypresence. Despite the women ofthe Ngapartji Choir, six actors,artist Elton Wirri and AndrewMacGregor on shakuhachi and

Beth Sometimes on guitar,Jamieson dominates with engag-ing dance and movement, whilehis vocal delivery has a warmthand sly wit that effortlessly takesus through this often difficultand sometimes devastating terri-tory. Country is important, even

if due to scattered radioactivity itwon’t be inhabitable for another25,000 years. As he notes: ‘‘Wecan wait ...’’

It’s a discursive, personal storyof national implications, ademand about the importance ofconnection and country and

especially the need to retain andencourage indigenous languages.Despite the enormous skill of theproduction, cast and crew (direc-tor Scott Rankin), it is a work ofappealing, rough simplicity. Arare, compelling and essentialgift indeed.

27 DRESSESSandra Hall’s reviewSpectrum – Page 14

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