Saturday, February 19, 2011

RRAMP it up

A solo spotlight shines on well known Brisbane identity Christine Johnston standing center stage in a long dark dress holding a red guitar, her majestic presence filling the large space of the Powerhouse Theatre. Rramp also featuring Lisa O'Neill and Peter Nelson is part of the World Theatre Festival's Scratch Works program showing new works in various stages of progress.

Described in the program as 'An experiment in development', the performers use various art forms of music, dance movements, video and song in this 20min theatrical piece that takes the audience on a journey back in time. It's about memories from childhood and the things of importance that a child might collect, it's about family, school and relationships formed with people and pets. The naive artwork that was shown on the screen throughout the performance was expressive and engaging.

I have followed Christine Johnston's work for many years and have an expectation that it will be unusual and a little quirky and this performance did not disappoint. Her amazing voice range and musical capabilities including saw playing are impressive. Lisa O'Neill showed amazing stamina with her dance movement piece on tippy toes wearing ballet shoes which added another layer to this performance. Rramp is the perfect piece to showcase as part of the Scratch Works program and I look forward to seeing it develop into a full production.

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