Picture a dreamscape where you are wondering down a turn of the century English pier…
Picture a dreamscape where you are wondering down a turn of the century English pier, the bright lights of the fun-fair draw you in, you play the games, stare at the side shows and laugh at the freaks, when you are hit on the head; your money and watch stolen and you are dumped over the rail into the sea. Welcome to Finucane & Smith’s Carnival of Mysteries , the Melbourne Festival experience like nothing else you have seen, or in this case entered.
“One of my most favorite places in the whole world is The Palace Pier in Brighton, England, and it really is a great inspiration for this work,” explains co-creator and performer Moira Finucane. “The contained, carnival atmosphere that is on the end of those piers is really incredible. You’re out there at midnight, the ocean is whispering, surround by beautiful old carousels as well as shonky charlatans: it’s magic, an amazing combination. The Carnival of Mysteries was inspired by a number of things but one was the Coliseum in Rome. We stumbled upon an exhibition of ancient mysteries and it said the original meaning of the word Mystery is “to open the mind and close the mouth, a mystery is unutterable,” and it was that moment that The Carnival of Mysteries was born.”
Moira started out in art performance in the late ‘80s in Perth, shaved head in an avant garde fashion show Doc Martins, tutu, dancing around to punk music– you get the idea. She is now one of Australia’s most extraordinary performance artists. A writer and creator, she teamed up with the award-winning theatre creator and director Jackie Smith. Together they are Finucane & Smith. Their work is eclectically described as: intimate, cabaret, fairy tale, the gothic, variety and burlesque, work around themes of humanity, freedom, power and desire. “My work is indescribable,”
Moira unabashedly says. “Lately people have been calling me ‘The Queen of Provocative Variety And Intimate Spectacle’ and I’ll take that on. I am kind of a curator, I guess what Jackie and I do is we create worlds.” And what a world she has created for The Melbourne Festival. “The Carnival of Mysteries will be freakishly beautiful, seductive and surreal,” Moira enthuses. “We hope it will be like walking into a dark and extraordinarily rich Faberge Egg… a rambunctious, playful, innocent, sinister, pleasurable and moving exploration of some of the mysteries of innocence, mercy, forgiveness, passion and love.”
It isn’t a “show” show: it’s not a passive experience, it is what is says on the label – a carnival, populated by the fevered mind of Moira and her hand selected cohorts, like wondering onto the set of a Tim Burton movie. “We have nine wild little hand-hewn pavilions,” Moira describes. “From a library full of horror, romance and anatomically correct erotica through to a Shrine of Mysteries with only a grand piano and an exceptional pianist, and hundreds of Carnival Goers’ wishing cards suspended from the ceiling; to The Pleasure Gardens where Parlour Games and intimate dances can be bought, refreshments sampled, spectacles marvelled at, to the jewel in The Carnival Crown, our hand-painted Tent of Miracles, [with] each panel painted by a different artist in response to the Carnival themes and the inside billowing in 70 meters of midnight blue silver spotted silk velvet while overhead, The Snow Queen’s shattered mirror – the mirror of truth – suspends, and then, into the hand-painted, incredibly-intricate, you-will-want-to-lick-it-it’s-so-luscious sideshow, being painted right now by the yes-they-really-are-sisters The Sisters Hayes.”
In each performance of this show there are 40 artists within the carnival ready to astound and puzzle the punter. It is an art gallery come to life for you to explore and discover. Each person will have a different experience – one can’t possibly see it all. “Every work we do both cherishes and challenges the audience,” Moira says. “When you go to a Finucane & Smith show, you will be entertained and you will see something you have never seen before in your life. And both those things will be true.”
Finucane & Smith’s Carnival of Mysteries features the work of David Anderson, Doyle Barrow, Jeanne Brown, Rachel Burke, Catherine Carmody, Shirley Cattunar, Julian Chapple, Carolyn Connors, Yvette Coppersmith, Paul Cordeiro, Maude Davey, Margaret Dobson, Cathy Drummond, Holly Durant, Madeline Farrugia, Christopher Green, Ben Harmer, Monique Harvey, The Sisters Hayes (Christina, Esther & Rebecca), Derek Ives, Caroline Lee, Toni Lamond, Heidrun Lohr, Brian Lucas, Lois Olney, Peta Murray, Marko Respondeck, Lily Paskas, Jess Perry, Harriet Ritchie, Betty Siemers, Anne Marie Storm, Lin Tobias, Yumi Umiumare, Azaria Universe, Timothy Webb, Darrin Verhagen, Sosina Wogayehu and happens at FortyFiveDownstairs from Friday October 8 until Saturday October 30 at various times (check the MIAF website).
Each session is open for two hours and you should book online at melbournefestival.com.au.
