Melbourne Festival artistic director Jonathan
Holloway was in the audience the week that Tree
of Codes enjoyed its world premiere at the 2015
Manchester International Festival.
When the performance came to a triumphant close,
every member of the audience leapt to their feet
to applaud. Every member but one: Holloway, who
was typing on the phone.
Tree of Codes isn’t merely a
remarkable work in its own right,
but is one of the rare events that will
likely go on to influence local artists
for years, perhaps decades to come.
“The person next to me—a septuagenarian from
Wythenshawe—asked me why I wasn’t standing,
didn’t I like it? I said, “I loved it, I’m booking it”. By
the end of the evening we’d all but committed to
bringing this incredible work to Melbourne.”
Holloway doesn’t find it hard to describe the initial
reaction to the production: “I found the work to be
utterly all-consuming, almost overwhelming, a
joyous onslaught of music, imagery and dance.”
If Tree of Codes could only be the result of three
imaginations working in concert, bringing it to
Melbourne required just as much collaboration at
the local level. Melbourne Festival and Arts Centre
Melbourne have always had a close relationship,
but here their partnering was taken to the next
level.
“This is exactly the type of work that can only
be done when two major organisations come
together,” says Holloway.
Arts Centre Melbourne CEO Claire Spencer agrees.
“Arts Centre Melbourne has always played a central
role in helping the Festival present its programs
and the diversity of its spaces means that our
role (to be the perfect host) enriches both our
organisations. I know that international artists
always enjoy working on our stages and for many
of them through the Festival period it is their first
time to experience Australia and our rich cultural
environment. The collaboration with the Festival
provides a double benefit for audiences as we look
to enrich their lives with great artists and new and
engaging performances of the highest quality.”
Spencer describes the union of creative forces
behind the creation of Tree of Codes as a kind of
‘alchemy’ that extends to the viewer themselves:
“It’s all about the alchemy which sees individual
creative minds combine forces and create a
performance that seamlessly melds each of their
talents—in turn each amplifying the other. At its
best, you can see the connection with the various
components on the stage, the joy of the artists as
they move through the work, but simultaneously
they connect with the audience and bring them
along on the journey. The connection between
artists and between artists and audiences is
something that interests us very much.”
Holloway says that the challenge of bringing
Tree of Codes is partly due to the fact that from
a production perspective, it’s one of the largest
It’s that combination of artforms—the physical,
the visual and the sonic—that gives Tree of Codes
its impact. The production is an unprecedented
colla