The Box

Three of Australia’s most innovative arts companies have come together to present a new chamber opera by Switzerland’s Fritz Hauser in collaboration with architect Boa Baumann. With a libretto by Aphids Artistic Director Willoh S Weiland, The Box starts its life as a Living Room Opera in a 1955 Grounds, Romberg & Boyd House overlooking the steep banks of the Yarra River.

Hauser and Baumann’s collaborative partnership has spanned more than 20 years, during which time they have worked together on both performance and architectural projects. These have included SCHALLMACHINE with Aphids and Speak Percussion which took audiences literally underneath Federation Square for the 2006 Melbourne Festival; going on to perform in Basel’s Kaserne in 2007. They have designed houses, vineyards and even castles – Castel Burio in the Piedmont in Italy has been the subject of their architectural experiments since the 1970s. This extraordinary relationship is currently subject of a major retrospective at the Zug Kunsthaus in Switzerland, and is chronicled in an 80 page full colour publication.

“The Box is a work of extreme subtlety that blurs the line between living space and performance space.”

“‘More house party than grand opera, Chamber Made Opera inverts the scale of traditionally large productions and invites audiences to experience ”terrifying experiments” in Melbourne’s private living rooms.”

Awards

Green Room Awards

• Nomination for Outstanding Production
• Nomination for Production in Alternative & Hybrid Performance

Presented by Chamber Made Opera in association with Speak Percussion, Aphids and the New Music Network.