Malmö is the world premier of Torque Show, a brand new company of dramatic Australia visionaries committed to creating dramaturgically focused physical theatre
Malmö is the world premier of Torque Show, a brand new company of dramatic Australia visionaries committed to creating dramaturgically focused physical theatre. Malmö tells the story of a couple falling apart as they struggle to create the perfect visual representation of their relationship, the renovations of their unfinished, half-built home.We spoke to Ingrid Weisfelt, co-creator and female lead of Malmö about the project’s initial fairytale inspirations and the challenges of bringing Torque’s visionary conceptforward in a believable way.
Weisfelt and her partner, co-creator and male lead of Malmö, Vincent Crowley both made the decision to push themselves creatively for the project. “Vince and I come from a physical dance background but we wanted to really push ourselves into the theatre realm. A lot of dance doesn’t tell story, it just stays in an abstract realm – most of the time, it’s great because [dance] goes where text can’t. But narrative is something that really interests us” says Weisfelt.
It’s been a strange journey for Malmö as a project. What originally begun over three years ago as a reimagining of the fairytale Rapunzel soon took a sharp turn into IKEA showroom before gaining the quite strange description of “Dogville meets The Block”. These elements may just sound downright wacky to some, but to Weisfelt, the heart of the story is the reflection on relationships and the family construct.
“Vince and I have been inspired by all of our friends and peers who seem to be at the same point in their lives as us, where they’ve either had their children or bought their house and they are renovating and all the stress that puts on the relationship. All of this societal pressure to build your house into a visual representation of who you are as a couple – that’s where the initial IKEA branding idea came from,” she muses.
Despite drawing from the mundane mid-life crisis malaise, Weisfelt is quick to downplay any journalistic angling towards her and Crowley’s personal life spilling onto the stage. “Oh no, Vince and I are quite stable!” she laughs. “It’s really more of a conglomeration of the people around us and their ups and downs. I guess there are some aspects from our personal life in there, like the other day, I came up with this soliloquy for this part in the play where I get really angry with Vincent and start abusing him about having really big saggy balls!” she cracks up.
“I had to explain afterwards where I got it from because I didn’t want him to think that’s what I really think. Vince and I have joked before about Nick Nolte, who apparently had a “testicular tuck”. We always joke about having the “Nick Nolte Tuck!” – it’s one of our little private jokes…” Weisfelt clarifies.
Malmö marks the first production Torque Show, something which Weisfelt is very excited about. “It’s really been satisfying, especially after working as a professional artist for over 20 years. It’s been great to challenge ourselves and our art practise” she says. However, she also admits “there’s something really frightening about presenting your own work. You have to perform to a much higher level because you are directly responsible if people like it or don’t like it.”
She credits director Ross Ganf as the instigation and number one supporter of Torque’s cross-form approach. “Despite his straight theatre background, Ross has always been interested in cross-forms of theatre; he’s worked with all kinds of artists and performers, integrating those aspects into his work.”
Weisfelt is looking forward to the challenge of merging the physicality of dancing and the acting edge of theatre. “There’s this whole premise that dancers just shouldn’t talk because they don’t do it well. That’s something I’ve rallied against, because I want people to come away from the performance thinking “Wow, these people are great storytellers and multi-skilled”, not just “There’s the actor and there’s the dancer”. It’s about finding a way to carry the characters and the physicality in a smooth way that makes sense and not just making it into an obligatory high energy dance piece.”
The world premiere of Torque Show’s Malmö happens at The Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall from Wednesday April 13 – Sunday April 17. It’s $30 or $25 concession from artshouse.com.au or 9322 3713. Times vary so check the website fr details.
