Human Interest Story

World Premiere, July 23 - August 1, 2010 Malthouse Theatre Melbourne

A Malthouse Theatre, Lucy Guerin Inc & Perth International Arts Festival Commission

Choreographer: Lucy Guerin
Set Designer: Gideon Obarzanek
Realising Designer: Anna Cordingley
Costume Designer: Paula Levis
Lighting Designer: Paul Jackson
Composer & Sound Designer: Jethro Woodward

Performed by
Stephanie Lake, Alisdair Macindoe, Talitha Maslin,
Harriet Ritchie, Stuart Shugg & Jessica Wong
Very special newscast by Anton Enus (World News Australia - SBS)

Human Interest Story (excerpts 1) from Sam James on Vimeo.

Using image, sound, language and movement Human Interest Story explores the affects of the news cycle on our psyche and questions our ability to accept the reality of distant tragedy into the daily routine of our lives. Shifting between humour and anxiety it shows our varying responses to the stream of information that reaches into our domestic environments about newsworthy events in other places.

Is the news a consumer product which neutralises our ability to have a genuine reaction to the world’s suffering? Or does it permeate our lives in a deeply affecting way? Human Interest Story attempts to comprehend our responses to current events which range from switching off to heartbreak and how this unending flow of words and images shapes us.

Presented initially as rote text where natural disasters, wars, riots and environmental collapse are interchangeable with celebrity updates, the language of news presentation devolves into a driving utterance which propels movement into a visceral reimagining of the impact of reports from around the globe.


This Project was supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria, Interconnections and New Work For Festivals Initiatives managed By The Australia Council, The Australian Government’s Arts Funding and Advisory Body