Tense Dave 2003

Jul 23

Tense Dave was one man's moment of crisis blown apart like an exploded diagram; each of its components were separated and pushed out to their extremes. A constantly rotating platform was divided into discrete spaces populated by a cast of strange and unsettling characters playing out their obtuse internal dramas. As these figures increasingly refused to remain confined to their own worlds, however, their problems began to bleed into each other's spaces, and Dave found himself taking flight through strange and fractured versions of a recognisable world distorted by fears, paranoias and unfulfilled fantasies. Dark, unpredictable and propelled by a sense of unstoppable motion, Tense Dave was a major feat of both imagination and technical accomplishment.

Creative Team
Choreography & Direction Lucy Guerin, Michael Kantor & Gideon Obarzanek
Dramaturg Tom Wright
Designer Jodie Fried
Composer & Sound Design Franc Tetaz
Lighting Design Niklas Pajanti
Initial Design Collaborators Andrew Livingston & Ben Cobham/Bluebottle

Original Performers Brian Carbee, Michelle Heaven, Stephanie Lake, Brian Lucas, Luke Smiles, Kristy Ayre (Understudy)
Additional Touring Performers Delia Silvan, Kristy Ayre

Artistic Director Gideon Obarzanek
Executive Producer Vivia Hickman
Production Manager Donna Aston
Stage Manager Philip Peck (Frog)
Sound Operator David Franzke

Awards
2005 Bessie Award For Outstanding Choreography/Creation

Partners
Melbourne Festival

World Premiere
October 2003 Melbourne

Touring Seasons
2004 Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Portland
2005 Durham New York, Massachusetts
2007 Adelaide, Melbourne

"The humour ranges from joyfully anarchic to black, interspersed with bleak and poignant moments... it is both entertaining and thought-provoking, blending its themes with that potential ambiguity that has marked the best of Obarzanek's work in the past" The Age.