(left) Photo - Maggie Soladay. (cover) Photo - Laurie AndersonLaurie Anderson’s Homeland is a revelation. As a performer Laurie Anderson has worked in many mediums as a visual artist, composer, poet, filmmaker, vocalist and instrumentalist. Therefore to categorise Homeland is not easy task, it isn’t a concert or a theatrical performance, though it has elements of both. Perhaps the most apt description is that it is a work of art that breathes, providing all of the visual stimulation of any artwork with the additional physicality of performers onstage.
If this description sounds too intellectual, perhaps it’s because Anderson’s work forces you to think. Homeland encourages you to evaluate and experience what is taking place in the concert hall and develop a personal opinion as it unfolds. So the typical classical concert-goer intending to catch up on their sleep during the performance, may find themselves riveted to their seat; an experience that seems all too rare in the concert hall these days.
Many of Anderson’s works have focussed on the enigma of the United States and Homeland is no different. Homeland is a journey across post-September 11 America and it exposes the absurdity of that world as it stands. There is a very clear visual image (in this reviewer’s mind at least) of a road-trip exploring the lost highways of the United States, highlighting the hidden humanity within day-to-day life that has become lost in political rhetoric and the US’s need to remain a superpower.
Homeland also conveys the sense of something decaying; the music capturing something that is in the process of dying, but something that will eventually be renewed not only during the performance but hopefully out in the broader world. If there is a word to describe Homeland it is transient, there is a strong sense of transience during the performance as though it will disappear, never to be seen or heard again. For this reviewer there was a strong desire at the end of the performance to listen to it again, to rewind the performance and re-live it (perhaps this is subtle way of asking Ms. Anderson when a record of the performance will be available?).
Laurie Anderson is a strong, charismatic performer and Hamer Hall’s acoustics serve her work well, with the music hanging beautifully in the space. It is a rare opportunity to see Anderson perform and kudos must go to the Melbourne Festival for organising this event, because Homeland is a performance that must not be missed.
Melbourne International Arts Festival presents
Homeland
Laurie Anderson
Venue: the Arts Centre, Hamer Hall
When: Wed 17 – Fri 19 Oct at 8pm
Duration: 1hr 30min no interval
Prices: Premium $84.50 / A Reserve Full $65 / A Reserve Groups (8+) $58.50 / A Reserve Conc $48.75
B Reserve Full $52 / B Reserve Conc $39 / B Reserve Student $22
C Reserve Full $36 / C Reserve Conc $27 / C Reserve Student $22 / School Groups $12
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 136 166 | www.melbournefestival.com.au