Inhabiting our parents idiocentric traits We think we know our parents and we sense their presence inside us. At times we’re even shocked to hear their voices come out of our own mouths.
Devised and performed by acclaimed director/performer Brian Lipson and choreographer/director Gideon Obarzanek, Two Jews walk into a theatre… sees these artists present themselves as their fathers on stage. It’s probably a good thing that Zenek Obarzanek and Laurence Lipson never met in real life, but the fictional meeting of these two irascible old men makes for entertaining and provocative theatre – their disagreements and affinities are intense.
Directed by choreographer Lucy Guerin, Two Jews walk into a theatre… is a challenging departure for three of Melbourne’s most adventurous and experienced performance makers. Deceptively simple, subtly affecting and packed with surprise, this new work portrays two fathers with all the intimacy, understanding and horror that only a son can supply – it’s funny, poignant and alarming.
Brian Lipson is an actor, director, designer, writer and teacher. He has been working in theatre for more than 40 years. Brian grew up in London but has been living in Melbourne for the last eighteen years. He has acted with nearly all the major theatre companies in Australia – from state theatres to the most adventurous independent companies. His work includes: A Large Attendance in the Antechamber and EDMUND. THE BEGINNING.
Lucy Guerin is an award-winning dancer and choreographer whose work has toured extensively in Europe, Asia and North America as well as to most of Australia’s major festivals and venues. She has been commissioned by Chunky Move, Dance Works Rotterdam, Ricochet (UK ), Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project (USA), Lyon Opera Ballet (France) among many others. In 2002 she established Lucy Guerin Inc to support the development, creation and touring of new works with a focus on challenging and extending the concepts and practice of contemporary dance.
Gideon Obarzanek is an award-winning director, choreographer and performing arts curator. He is the former Artistic Director of Chunky Move, a company he founded in 1995. His works have been diverse in form and content – stage productions, installations, site-specific works and film – and have been performed in many festivals and theatres around the world in the U.K, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Gideon is currently Artistic Associate with the Melbourne Festival, co-curator for the inaugural Asian Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts and Chair of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Two Jews walk into a theatre…
Arts House – North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne
Season: 24 – 28 August 2016
Information and Bookings: www.artshouse.com.au
Image: Brian Lipson and Gideon Obarzanek feature in Two Jews walk into a theatre… – photo by Sarah Walker