Pierrot Lunaire: Drunk in the Moonlight…

Presented by Forest Collective & Abbotsford Convent

Enter a moonlit world where fragments of Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot universe crash with our digital creations, in a brazen encounter between dance, sound, poetry, video and design. 

O sick nocturnal moon / there on heaven’s black pillow / your immense feverish gaze / enthralls me like strange melody.

Arnold Schönberg’s epoch-defining song cycle Pierrot Lunaire will be reimagined as a fully staged opera-ballet, exploring Pierrot’s cascading episodes of moonstruck ecstasy and violence, blasphemy and belief, exile and haunting guilt.

Following the “captivating” and “extraordinary” success of Orpheus in 2019, Forest Collective artistic director Evan Lawson and choreographer Ashley Dougan will join forces once again for Pierrot. Schönberg’s atonal setting of Albert Giraud’s unnerving and sensuous poetry will be brought to life by the “extraordinary and powerful voice” of Kate Bright, a corps of dancers and a small chamber ensemble directed by Evan Lawson.

Reimagined as a cascading digital experience, Pierrot takes vignettes from the seminal song cycle and transforms them into a unique multidisciplinary digital world, culminating in a new sonic reimagining by DJ Pixlpixi.

A small portion of revenue from ticket sales will be donated to offset the carbon footprint of this event.

Creative Team

Evan J Lawson director 

Arnold Schoenberg composer
Tim Hannah assistant conductor 

Albert Giraud original text
Daniel Szesiong Todd 鄭時雄  translation & writing 

Ashley Dougan choreographer & dancer
Jane Noonan costume & room design
Jasmin Bardel design
Kate Baker photography

Pixlpixi DJ

Chris Bennett – Underground Media video editing and documentation
Dave Wilkinson – Old Skool Audio audio recording

Ensemble

Danae Killian piano
Helen Bower violin & viola
Kate Bright voice
Kim Tan flutes
Rosy Hunt cello
Ryan Lynch clarinets

Convent Live

Convent Live is an exciting, year-round program representative of Australia’s thriving and dynamic arts scene.

Exploring concepts and practices at all intersections of the arts and creative community, Convent Live, shares the best of Melbourne’s genre-pushing and horizon-expanding live experiences for diverse audiences, within the Convent’s unique spaces.

Forest Collective is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and the City of Yarra