Told with the gripping intimacy of a tale whispered in your ear, The Confidence Man is a gripping thriller complete with family betrayal, underworld villains and unabated greed.
Peter’s family is poised on the precipice of a deeply sinister and disturbing chain of events when a large sports bag full of cash is brought into his very ordinary home.
The Confidence Man is Dogville meets Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt and a morally complex tale driven by the mechanics of a familiar genre: the thriller.
Reimagining the theatrical space, Side Pony Productions have created a work where the audience observe and create the action of the performance.
Guided by a carefully crafted audio score audiences experience the performance through the eyes of one of the six characters – eavesdropping on their inner most thoughts and experiencing the complex clash of ambition in the binary world of goodies and baddies.
Equipped with a headset and oversized mask representing their character, six invited audience participants create an ordinary suburban environment with a twist – as a deeply sinister and disturbing chain of events unfold.
Through the pre-recorded sound track, narration and dialogue, the participants navigate the marked out performance space as the audio instructs unique movements, gestures and physicality to each individual character.
From the perimeters of the space, the remaining audience listen to the characters’ most private thoughts and conversations via headphones and experience the performance through a totally unique perspective – no one individual will get the full version of the story.
The intimacy of this performance experience coupled with its rich sound score, engaging characters and enthralling plot, creates a fun and witty engagement between audiences and the work.
The Confidence Man is devised by Zoe Pepper and Adriane Daff of award-winning Western Australian company, Side Pony Productions – recipients of the Spirit of the Fringe Award, Perth Fringe World 2013 and Total Theatre Award nomination, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012.
Director: Zoe Pepper Writers: Zoe Pepper and Adriane Daff Composer: Ash Gibson Grieg Mask Designer: Rebecca Baumann Sound Designer: Sam Price Lighting Designer: Lucy Birkinshaw Producer: Gemma Pepper
The Confidence Man
Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall – 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
Season: 28 August – 1 September 2013
Bookings: (03) 9322 3713 or online at: www.artshouse.com.au
For more information, visit: www.artshouse.com.au for details.
Image: Skye Sobejko
