NEVER DID ME ANY HARM Produced by Force Majeure and Sydney Theatre Company Devised by Force Majeure Photo Credit (Lisa Tomasetti) Fromaward winningaustraliandirectorandchoreographerkatechampionanddancetheatre companyforcemajeurecomesarivetingdissectionofwhatitmeanstobeaparentinaustraliatoday. Featuringamixedcastofactorsanddancers,Never Did Me Any Harm isapowerfulmeldingoftheatre andmovement.
ABOUT THE SHOW Overthepastfewdecadestheword parenting hascreptinsidiously,almostimperceptibly,intoour vernacularbringingwithitincreasinganxietyaroundissuesofraisingchildren.isthepressuretogetit rightoverwhelmingus?andwhatis goodparenting anyway?arechildrentodaygiventoomuch choice?toofewboundaries?lesschancetotakerisks?aretheyprotectedfromnotionsoffailure? Sexualisedtooyoung? DrawinginspirationfromChristosTsiolkas best sellingnovelthe Slap,ForceMajeure sartisticdirector KateChampionandthecompanyinterviewedpeopleofallagesandbackgroundstogarnertheirviews onthesubjectofparenting.inafamiliaraussiebackyardsevenactorsanddancerscreateamyriadof familiarcharactersfromtheverbatimtextthattheycollected. Never Did Me Any Harmisacaptivatingworkthathasattractedravereviewswithitspower,poignancy anddistinctivelyaustralianhumour. Never Did Me Any Harm makes you laugh, cringe and possibly even cry."sydneymorningherald Go to be thrilled, entertained and emotionally engaged and you won t be disappointed. StageNoise Candid, controversial and very clever theatre. ConcretePlayground CREATIVE TEAM Director KateChampion Set&LightingDesigner GeoffCobham Composer&SoundDesigner MaxLyandvert Dramaturg AndrewUpton AssociateDirector RozHervey AssistantDirector GeordieBrookman AV&AssistantLightingDesigner ChrisPetridis Choreography TheCompany TOURING HISTORY January2012 Premiere SydneyFestival,Sydney March2012 AdelaideFestival,Adelaide October2012 MelbourneFestival,Melbourne
ABOUT FORCE MAJEURE LedbyArtisticDirectorKateChampion,ForceMajeureproducescriticallyacclaimeddancetheatre works. Establishedin2002,theCompanyisbasedaroundacollectiveofartistsfromvaryingdisciplineswho arecommittedtocreatingstimulatingmovement basedtheatre.artistsincludedancers,actors, writers,visualartists,composersandfilmmakers. Since2002,ForceMajeurehascreatedfivemajorworks,twocollaborativeworks,ashortfilmseries, andhasreceivedfivemajornationalawards.thisyearthecompanyhasjoinedforceswithsydney TheatreCompanytoproduceNever Did Me Any Harm,aswellasworkingonFood,aco production withbelvoir. ForceMajeureproduceschallengingandrelevantworkthatreflectsoncontemporarylife,breaking downboundariesbetweenartforms.whetheritsworkisdefinedasdance,theatreorperformanceis secondarytoitsrelevanceandimpact. ForceMajeureisalsocommittedtosupportingthedevelopmentofdancetheatreinAustralia. forcemajeure.com.au @majeurenews
STAGE NOISE REVIEW DianaSimmonds,15January2012 AshowthatisdevisedandstagedbyKateChampion'sForceMajeurephysicaltheatrecompanyis prettymuchguaranteedtodemandthatyouexpecttheunexpectedandcheckyourown preconceptionsatthedoor.withlong timecollaborators,setandlightingdesignergeoffcobhamand co creatorrozhervey,championhasgivenus mostrecently thememorablenot In A Million Years andthe Age I'm InandthequalityandvarietyoftheirworkgoesbacktoSame, Sam But Differentand altogethertheyplacethecompanyinauniqueandhugelyadmiredplaceinaustralianperformance. TheleastlikelyandobliquesourcestendtolaunchChampion'simaginativeleapsandNever Did Me Any HarmwassparkedbyChristosTsolkas'sThe Slap.It'smerelythespark,however,andthecreativeheat causedbyithasfashionedsomethingelseentirely.overthepastcoupleofyears,theforcemajeure crewhasconductedsome60hoursofinterviewswithpeoplewhohavesharedtheirthoughtsand beliefsonkids,parenthood,corporalpunishment,discipline(notablyitsabsence),breastfeeding, disabilityandsoon.fragmentsoftheserecordingsbegintheevening,anchoringitintheplaceof"real" and"ordinary"fromwhichthetheatreandspectaclethentakeoff. Typically,Championhaschosenacompanyofactorsanddancerswhosedistincttalentsandabilities aremelded,apparentlyeffortlessly,intoacoherentwhole.it'sdeceptive,ofcourse.theeasethat flowsintheexchangesbetween,forinstance,actormartadusseldorpanddancersarahjaynehoward, istheoutcomeofwillingnessonthepartofbothtoleavetheirownassumptionsandcomfortzones behind;inventivemindsandbloodyhardwork. Similarlythefusionofaudio,breathtakinglightingplotsandtheperformersismadetoappearsimple andeasywhenitisnot.textandgesture,lightandsoundcombinetomakepoetryofthehumanbody andrhythmsofeverydayspeech.therestofthecast KristinaChan,VincentCrowley,AlanFlower, KirstieMcCracken,HeatherMitchellandJoshMu assumevariousroles:fatherandson,lonelykids, bullyingkids,asnippymiddleclassmatron,lovers,mothers,friends,enemies.allhaveadiscrete languageofmovementandvoice;forthedanceinclinedthereareslypasdedeux,triosandfractured ensembles.butnever Did Me Any Harmisimpossibletopigeonhole. GeoffCobham'shyper realisticsetofasuburbanbackyardwithaneatlymownlawn,herbaceous border,atreeandashedisbothreassuringandunsettlingasit'swashedinthealreadymentioned lightplaysandmaxlyandvert'srichsoundscape.dogsbark,childrenlaughandplayinanearby swimmingpoolandplayground,birdssing,cicadastrill.it'sallsonormal average andyet,asweall know,someofthemostferociouslyuncompromisingculturalandideologicalbattlesarefoughtoutin theprivacyofnormal,averagehomesandbackyards. KateChampion'sForceMajeureisneverlessthanmadlyinteresting;mostoftentheyhaveprofound, amusingandmovingthingstoshowandtell.inthisinstance,anticipationisrewardedinspades. Warning:don'tgoexpectingrunofthemillcontemporarydance,orperformanceartortheatre.Dogo tobethrilled,entertainedandemotionallyengagedandyouwon'tbedisappointed. TECNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ThefollowinginformationsetsoutthetechnicalrequirementsandsupporttobeprovidedtoForce MajeurebythePresenter.
TOURING TEAM 13 PERSONNEL 7 x Performers 6 x Production / Creatives RUNNING TIME 65 minutes, no interval STAGING NB: a fly tower is not required. Set: The set is made to look like a typical Australian backyard. The floor is fake grass, secured with double sided tape. A fence is erected around 2 sides of the space supported by short booms stood in bases and French braces. A shed stands in the upstage right corner. In the opposite corner, there is a tree standing 4m high. The main structure of the tree is a 2m stick of tri truss and a base plate. We will bolt the base plate to the floor
Masking: Presenter to Provide 1x flat black smother rigged upstage of the fence (position determined by venue size, minimum is 1m). This will be a projection surface so needs to be flat, stretched and weighted at the bottom. It should be at least 12m wide and be as high as the grid. Side masking will depend on the venue. We ll either need a set of legs one side or panorama masking with an entrance upstage and downstage. The upstage entrance around the shed may need some small single flats. Props: Presenter to Provide 1 bin bag of dead ivy or similar creeper to be supplied to attach to our fence and shed. If not dead it could be live sections that will die over the season. In the past we have sprayed these with flame retardant. AUDIO VISUAL Projectors: Presenter to Provide 2x Projection Design F30 SX+ Lenses to suit (venue specific) Rigging brackets to suit. Control: Company to Provide 1x Mac Pro running Catalyst Media Server controlled via Artnet 2x DVI Matrox TripleHead2Go 1x 8 port Gigabit switch
Cat6networkconnectiontoJandsVistaandCatalyst Cat6cableandwithKramerDVItoCat6Balunstoallprojectors 3shortthrowprojectorsforbehindfence LIGHTING Control: Presenter to Provide AnexperiencedLightingOperatorforshowplaybackonly DMXsignaltoallnecessarylightingfixturesfromourtwouniversesofdeskoutput. o 1UniverseforVenueDimmers o 1UniverseforMovingLights Cat6signaltoDT3000 Company to Provide WetouraPClaptopwithaDMXconverterboxrunningJandsVista,thismachinealsocontrolsthe AV. Atmosphere: Presenter to Provide 1xMDGAtmosphere Pleaseensurethatsparejuice+CO2isavailable RequiresDMXinterfacetoLightingsystem MovingLights: Presenter to Provide 1xVL3500QSpot 2xVL1000TS(Thesesitonfloorandmustbescrewedtothefloor) 1xRobeDigitalSpot3000DT DMXcable ConventionalLights: Presenter to Provide SeeLXPlan Redturning(spotting)lightlocatedatcentrerearofauditorium
SOUND Thesoundforshowconsistsofcomposedandsourced,recordedmusicwithsomelivespeech. OperationPosition: StageManagertooperatesoundfromrearofauditorium.Iftheoppositionisinarearbooth,please canthewindowbeopen. Control: Presenter to Provide DigitalMixerwithaminimumof14inputs(10frommotuand4forradiomics),preferreddesk wouldbedm1000buthappytousevenue sequivalent.themixerwillneedtobedigitalasitwill performautomaticscenechangesviamidi.patchcablesformotuandradiomicstothedesk:13 x1/4inchjacks Appropriateampsandcrossovers. Company to Provide Qlabwithmaclaptop Motusoundcard Speakers: Presenter to Provide FOHPA:leftandrightappropriatetovenue. FOHSurround:appropriatetovenue. SUBS. 2xspeakersforbehindfence. 1xsmallspeaker(MM4orcontrol1)forinsideshed. CastMicrophones: Presenter to Provide 4xDPA4061beigemiccapsulesforourSennheisermicpacks. DualbandthirdoctavegraphicEQ. Company to Provide 4SennheiserEW112G2RadioMicspacks. Micfrequenciescurrentlyinuse(Sydneyseason). o 661.950 o 786.000 o 787.050 o 788.500 4adaptorsformicpacks(toconnectDPA stosennheiserpacks).
STAGE MANAGEMENT StageManager sposition:rearofaudience Presenter to Provide TheStageManagementpositionwillneedthefollowing: Pagingsystemstodressingroom Showrelayindressingrooms Monitorandlowlightcamerawithfullviewofstage Communications: Presenter to Provide 3setstalkback/COMS o SM o LXOperator o RadiocomsBackstageforASMifpossible 2xcuelights o DSOP o USOP DressingRooms: Presenter to Provide 1xdressingroomformaleperformers(mustcomfortablyfit5). 1xdressingroomforfemaleperformers(mustcomfortablyfit4). 1xdressingRoomforStageManagement. Water: Presenter to Provide Pleaseprovideawatercoolerforthecastandcrewsidestage.
WARDROBE Personnel: Presenter to Provide 1xwardrobepersonforwashinganddryingcostumesbeforeeachshow Equipment: Presenter to Provide Roomforwashingandmaintenance 1xindustrialwashingmachine 1xindustrialdryer Ironandironingboard SHOW CREW Pleasenote:Allshowcrewmustremainthesamefrombump intotheendoftheseason. Presenter to Provide - 1xLXOperator o TheLXoperatorwilloperatetheLighting&AVcuesfromourstagemanagerviaour laptoprunningjandsvista - 1xVenueTechnician Willberesponsibleforensuringthestageiscleanforeachperformance,and maintainingthevenuesoundsystem(turningon/off)duringtheseason - 1xWardrobe Responsibleforwashing/dryingandironingcostumesbeforetheshoweachday Company to Provide - 1xStageManager - 1xAssistantStageManager
BUMP-IN CREW AND SCHEDULE Aneight(8)hourpre rigisrequiredpriortothecompanyarrival.duringthissessionalllighting,av, soundandmaskingmustberigged. Pleasenote:bump increwmustremainthesamethroughoutthecourseofthebump in. GenericProductionSchedule (Assuming a pre rig is possible, if not we ll need a 3 day bump in) Day1 9:00am 1:00pm Bump inset 4xMechs Rigtouringlights 4xLX Soundinstall 2xSD Preparecostumes ForceMajeureManagement 1:00pm 2:00pm Soundquiettime 2:00pm 6:00pm focus 4xLX 2xMech 7:00pm 11:00pm Plot&Techwithcast 2xLX 1xSD Day2 9:00am 1:00pm Technicaltime 2xLX 1xSD 1xMech 1xwardrobe 2:00pm 6:00pm Tech/DressRehearsal 1xSD 1xLX 1xwardrobe 8:00pm OpeningPerformance 1xVenueTech,1xLXOp
FRONT OF HOUSE Warnings: - Adultthemes - Coarselanguage - Hazeeffects - Strobe likeeffects - Loudmusic LatecomersPolicy: - 7minutelockoutintoshowonStageManagerscall FREIGHT - Theproductiontravelsina20ftshippingcontainerorequivalent.Ideallythetruckhasataillift. CONTACTS Forinformationpleasecontact: BecAllen Producer,ForceMajeure Email:bec@forcemajeure.com.au Tel:+61285719086 Fax:+61285719089 Mob:+61402136650 ContactList: Set/LightingDesigner GeoffCobham geoff@bluebottle.com.au SoundDesigner MaxLyandvert maxlyandvert@yahoo.com.au AVDesigner ChrisPetridis cpetridis@gmail.com Producer BecAllen bec@forcemajeure.com.au ProductionManager MartyLangthorne martylangthorne@hotmail.com