WORLD PREMIERE Season
THEATRE
DANCE
Force Majeure (Australia)
Never Did
Me any Harm
“The performers’ physical
exuberance, along
with the confessional
recordings, some
hysterical, others sad
and sobering, makes for
incredible entertainment.”
The Daily Telegraph
Presented by Melbourne Festival,
Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival and
Sydney Theatre Company
Dance and theatre collide in this
timely dispatch from the frontlines
of modern parenthood, inspired by
the themes of Christos Tsiolkas’s
flashpoint novel, The Slap.
In a time when the act of raising children is
scrutinised more than ever before, we seem to be
paralysed by an excess of knowledge and selfawareness. Will we repeat our parents’ mistakes?
Are our children too coddled? Do we give them too
much freedom? Will they truly make us happy?
From award-winning Australian director and
choreographer Kate Champion and dance
theatre company Force Majeure comes a riveting
dissection of what it means to be a parent in
today’s Australia. Featuring a mixed cast of actors
and dancers, Never Did Me Any Harm is a powerful
melding of theatre and movement, a compelling
work that speaks to our everyday anxieties
and concerns.
On a stage recreating that most familiar of
locales, a suburban Australian backyard, seven
performers transition from parent to child and
back again in a series of challenging vignettes
incorporating monologues and playful dance
interludes, woven through with inspired digital
projection work and audio of real-life interviews
with parents and children.
A captivating work that has attracted rave reviews
with its power, poignancy and distinctively
Australian humour, Never Did Me Any Harm is
a lovingly crafted gem from one of our nation’s
most compelling and innovative dance theatre
companies.
Warning Adult themes, coarse language,
haze effects, loud music, strobe effects
Produced by Force Majeure and Sydney
Theatre Company
Devised by Force Majeure
Director Kate Champion
Set & Lighting Design Geoff Cobham
Composer & Sound Design Max Lyandvert
Dramaturg Andrew Upton
Associate Director Roz Hervey
Assistant Director Geordie Brookman
Audio Visual & Assistant Lighting Design
Chris Petridis
Choreography The Company
Event Information
The MTC Theatre, Sumner
Tue 9 – Sat 13 Oct at 7pm
Thu 11 & Sat 13 Oct at 1.30pm
1hr 5min no interval
$70 / $52.50 / Grp $63 / Snr $59.50 / Student $25
Transaction & booking fees may apply
The MTC Theatre (03) 8688 0800
mtc.com.au
Ticketmaster 136 100
melbournefestival.com.au
Photo Lisa Tomasetti
This project has been assisted by the Australian government
through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and
advisory body, and by the Australian government’s Major Festivals
Initiative, managed by the Australia Council in association with
the Confederation of Australian International Arts Festivals, Sydney
Festival, Adelaide Festival and Melbourne Festival. Force Majeure is
assisted by the Australian government through the Australia Council
and Arts NSW.
Sponsored by
Supported by
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