Leading South Australian theatre company Brink Productions will take the Adelaide Fringe into the heart of Norwood when it premieres its new work, Skip Miller’s Hit Songs, at the Odeon Theatre.

Written by South Australian playwright Sean Riley and directed by Chris Drummond, this multi-narrative ensemble work is an intimate, honest and open-hearted exploration of lives caught between two worlds.

Chris Drummond said, “Skip Miller’s Hit Songs has been developed from a rich pool of theatrical images and stories drawn from the people of Burundi, Liberia, South Africa, Senegal and Australia. On a simple set – a rammed earth floor, a mud wall, a line of wooden chairs – the stories of Skip Miller’s Hit Songs traverse two continents and five countries, crossing deserts and beaches, apartments and galleries, hospitals and marketplaces. Photographic images, both still and moving, evoke landscapes, ghosts, memories and moments frozen in time, all in support of an actor-driven, low-fi, unadorned aesthetic”.

Skip Miller, a celebrated Australian photojournalist, returns home after years spent documenting the war
zones of Africa and the faces of the dispossessed. His endless search for the next best shot has taken its toll and Skip’s personal relationships are tested. Skip’s story interweaves threads of intimate narratives about his lover, his brother and three African nationals.

Stylistically the writing is inspired by playwright Wole Soyinka, whose mix of Nigerian story-telling, European theatre traditions, song and dance echoes Brechtian theatre.

“It’s colloquial and intimate, an interplay of music, story-telling and drama that touches on displacement, assimilation, invisibility and difference”, said playwright Sean Riley.

Skip Miller’s Hit Songs features a stellar line-up of Adelaide-based actors including Lizzy Falkland, Chris Pitman and Rory Walker with Mondli Makhoba, Adolphus Waylee and, making her acting debut, Assina Ntawumenya.

The work will also feature live music that underscores and at times drives the action. Long-time Brink collaborator Quentin Grant is joined by Lamine Nanky and Jerome Lyons playing an array of percussion and string instruments including the djembe, kora, guitar and thumb piano.

Collaborating with Brink for the first time is filmmaker James Kalisch who brings a strong visual sensibility to the work, integrating film into the live performance that references Skip’s work in Africa. Kalisch has a bag of experimental short films to his name which have screened in Sao Paulo, Osaka, Manheim and Melbourne.

He has crewed on vampire films, animal films and big Muppet films shot in Australia and has collaborated with visual artists, composers, dancers and actors to produce gallery and installation work.

Wendy Todd as set and costume designer, Geoff Cobham as lighting designer and Kay Jamieson as producer complete the team.

Teachers Notes can be found at the Brink Website

AND according to the Brink team there has been a great schools response to the show, plenty of bookings!

Skip Miller’s Hit Songs will open on February 16, 2011 and play until March 5 at the Odeon Theatre, Norwood as part of Adelaide Fringe 2011. Previews start February 12.

Tickets are available through both FringeTIX on 1300 FRINGE or Fringe website and BASS on 131 246 or via Bass website.