I've lived in Melbourne for 30 of my 34 years. I've come to know the city quite well in that time with many places serving as a reminder of an experience I've had every time I visit it. But what happens when you can't see that place anymore? Dialogue in the Dark takes us on a simulated tour through some well known Melbourne locations with a twist: the tour is conducted in total darkness. Led by blind guides, we must touch, smell and hear our way around places that were once familiar to us.
Our host provides us with a white cane and we enter the pitch black venue fumbling in the darkness as we slowly making our way to our guide who is calling out to us. She introduces herself as Lauren and she sounds young - or younger than me at least. There's a warmth and confidence in her voice and I start to feel more secure in my surroundings, whatever they may be.
Presented as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, The Human Project's 2.0
| Contact, is an exploration on what touch can be and mean to humans and how life
could be without it. A highly physical experimental piece, it incorporates
martial arts, dancing and some wrestling moments as an "outsider"
dissects and analyses the state of physical touching.
With injury befalling one of the performers, the show has had to be
restructured to work around the three remaining cast (Rosie Osmond, Ashton Sly
and Joseph Lai) and you wouldn't be able to tell as the performance is seamless
and feels like it has been just the three of them rehearsing all this time. This
is a highly demanding show - both physically and mentally - but the training and
effort the three have put in in getting this piece together is evident. With its
minimalist set, staging and costumes there is nothing for the
performers to hide behind and their every move and word is what has all of our
attention.
