Presented by Adelaide Festival Centre
Reviewed 25 September 2013
Some shows, or more to the point, some theatre experiences are hard to review because they are difficult to classify and to find words to describe them. Super Everything almost fits into this category. It can be classified: it is a live audio-visual performance. But words seem inadequate to describe its rare beauty.
Created by one of the United Kingdom’s leading audio-visual production companies, The Light Surgeons (in particular, Christopher Thomas Allen and Tim Cowie), and in conjunction with Malaysian composer Ng Chor Guan and the musical groups Rhythm In Bronze and HANDS Percussion, Super Everything is supremely visually and aurally stunning.
Be warned – this is not a travelogue of Malaysia, but a study of civilised societies using the well-established Asian country as a model. The presentation’s over-riding mantra is simple (and true) – we must know who we are and where we have come from before we can know where we are going.
Using two screens and the latest Twenty First Century technology, the filmic portions show us images representing birth (amoebic and embryonic), industrialisation, consumerism, religion, and modern social media technology – and although using Malaysia and its music, Super Everything removes all barriers and cultural confines to deliver a universal message. This IS OzAsia!
The one drawback to this excellent presentation is that, even at only an hour, it is too long. It is all very mesmerising, but with percussion and constant images flickering at one in a dark room, it becomes too hypnotic.
However, Super Everything is everything super when it comes to modern, technically brilliant theatre performance.
Reviewed by Brian Godfrey
List of links:
Venue: Space Theatre Adelaide Festival Centre
Season: 25-28 September 2013
Duration: 1 hour (no interval)
Tickets: $20.00 – $100.00 (Family)
Bookings: Book at BASS
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