Contemporary Australian Gothic Theatre Sound Miles Henry O'neil
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Contemporary Australian Gothic Theatre Sound Miles Henry O’Neil ORCID ID: 0000-0003-0192-7783 Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2018 Faculty of Victorian College of the Arts & Melbourne Conservatorium of Music University of Melbourne Abstract This practice-based research analyses the significance of sonic dramaturgies in the development and proliferation of contemporary Australian Gothic theatre. Taking an acoustemological approach, I consider the dramaturgical role of sound and argue that it is imperative to the construction and understanding of contemporary Gothic theatre and that academic criticism is emergent in its understanding. By analysing companies and practitioners of contemporary Australian Gothic theatre, I identify and articulate their innovative contributions towards what has been called “the Sonic Turn”. My case studies include Black Lung Theatre and Whaling Firm and practitioner Tamara Saulwick. I argue that the state of Victoria has a particular place in the development of contemporary Gothic theatre and highlight the importance of the influences of Gothic Rock, rock band aesthetics, Nick Cave, and the Gothic myths and legends and specific landscapes of Victoria. I identify dramaturgical languages that describe the function of sound in the work of these practitioners and the crucial emergence of sound as a dominant affective device and its use in representing imagined landscapes of post-colonial Australia. I also analyse sound in relation to concepts of horror and trauma. I position my practice and my work as co-artistic director of the Suitcase Royale within the Sonic Turn and in relation to other Gothic theatre companies and practitioners. Drawing on theories of spectrality and presence, I formulate a theoretical language of the Sonic Gothic as it relates to contemporary Australian theatre. I contend that contemporary Australian Gothic theatre is culturally unique in its preoccupation with sound and that sonic experiments in the Gothic are creating new understandings of the use of sound in theatre. My creative work, a soundscape for theatre entitled Disappearing into Darkness, is submitted as a high- quality Mp3 file accompanying the written dissertation. It was created as an alternative text and will be used as the foundational material for the development of a new work of Australian Gothic dance theatre. ii Declaration I, Miles Henry O’Neil, declare that: i. this thesis comprises only my original work towards the degree of Doctor of Philosphy, except where indicated; ii. due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used; and iii. the thesis is under the maximum word limit in length, exclusive of bibliographies and appendices. Signed: Miles Henry O’Neil March 2018 iii Preface This research has been undertaken with the support of: The Australian Postgraduate Award (2014-2017). I am extremely grateful for this provision and the research opportunities it has afforded me during my candidature. iv Acknowledgements Firstly, I cannot write another word without thanking my principle supervisor Professor Mary Luckhurst. I would have been lost at sea without Mary, who took it upon herself to guide and teach me through my writing. Mary took a genuine interest in what I was writing about and in doing so, has help shape my capacity to think. For this friendship and guidance, and the many cups of coffee, I am forever grateful. I would also like to say a heartfelt thanks to my co-supervisor A/Prof Alyson Campbell, and past co-supervisors A/Prof Matthew Delbridge and Richard Murphett, and also to Rinske Ginsberg. Your insights and enthusiasm have been invaluable, and it has been a genuine privilege to work with you all. I would also like to thank the further guidance and kindness I received from Dr Yoni Prior (DU), Dr Louise Morris (DU). I am so grateful Tamara Saulwick, Peter Knight, Thomas Henning, Thomas Wright, Liam Barton, and David Franzke for being so generous in with their time and answers during my interviews. This research would not have been possible without you. I would like to give a big thanks to my mates and co- artistic directors of the Suitcase Royale Glen Walton and Joseph O’Farrell for casting anchor and navigating the wild seas of making independent theatre, touring, and playing in a band for the past 15 years, and to Tom Salisbury who jumped aboard along the way and helped keep the wind in the sails. I would like to say thanks to all the friends and family who asked me over dinner or at a party how I was going and then smiled encouragingly and let me rattle on. Your kind eyes, beers, and pats on the back sustained me. I want to deeply and senceirly thank my parents, Peggy and John, and my sisters, Lil and Rosie, for their endless support and encouragement. Finally, to Clancy, who, at the end of this project, pulled me from my desk and led me to the sea. v Table of Contents Abstract ii Declaration iii Preface iv Acknowledgements v Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Aims and Background 1 The Sonic Turn 2 Contemporary Australian Gothic Theatre 6 Recent and Current Productions 8 Australian Gothic and Picnic at Hanging Rock 14 The Post-Colonial 16 Picnic at Hanging Rock and the Sonic Turn 22 Independent Gothic Theatre in Victoria 25 Thesis Structure 27 Chapter 2 Black Lung Theatre and Australian Gothic Rock 30 Gothic Rock and Melbourne 37 Shock Aesthetics 42 Transgression and Metatheatrical Tactics 46 Sound and Provocation 49 Conclusion 58 Chapter 3 Tamara Saulwick: Dramaturgies of the Psychic Echo Chamber 60 The Sonic Gothic 61 The Unheimlich 63 Saulwick as Gothic Artist 64 Pin Drop 65 The Sonic Haunted House 68 Darkness 70 Sonic Ghosts 72 The Sonic Grotesque 74 Sustaining Suspense and the Sustained Note of Terror 78 The Psychic Echo Chamber 83 The Multi-Vocal Uncanny 84 Conclusion 89 Chapter 4 Disappearing into Darkness 91 Background: Early Musical influences and the Shipwreck Coast 92 Early Sonic Experiments 96 The Suitcase Royale: Developing a Dramaturgy of Listening 98 The Influence of Australian Gothic Cinema 102 Australian Gothic Cinema Sound: The Proposition 104 Sonic Strategies of Australian Gothic Cinema in the Suitcase Royale 106 My Radio Experiment: Pretty Weird Shit 109 The Beginnings of Disappearing into Darkness: The Performed Ballad 109 Disappearing into Darkness: Composition 111 1. Recorded Environmental Sound 112 A Dramaturgy of Sonic Weird Melancholy 112 Aeolian Recordings 113 Windmills 114 Granular Synthesis: A Dramaturgy of Defamilarisation 116 Gothic Drones: Creating Sonic Entrapment 117 vi Defamilarising the Bush 118 Recording the Ironbark Basin 119 A Dramaturgy of Sonic Pursuit: Getting the Listener Lost 121 Dramaturgies of the Sonic Grotesque: Birds 122 Gothic Rock and the Cockatoo Screech 123 Kookaburras and Crows: Semi-Human Laughter 124 Cockatoo Tritons 124 The Ocean: A Dramaturgy of Sonic Presence 125 2. Voice, Song, and Ballad 127 A Darkness: Ballad One 129 Lost and the Leaving Song: A Dramaturgy of Sonic Exposure 133 3. Musical Compositions 134 A Dramaturgy of Engulfment 135 Future Stagings 139 Conclusion 140 Thesis Conclusion 143 Bibliography 146 Filmography 169 vii Chapter 1 - Introduction Aims and Background This practice-based thesis investigates soundscapes in contemporary Australian Gothic theatre, with a particular emphasis on Victoria. I posit that sound is crucial in the construction and reception of the contemporary Gothic in its endeavours to evoke landscapes, environments, and atmospheres of horror, and I argue that contemporary Gothic theatre practitioners are making significant innovations through their engagement with what has been called “the Sonic Turn” (Curtin 2014, 5). I investigate the strategies of constructing Gothicised soundscapes used by three different companies and I explore my own relation to the contemporary Gothic and the Sonic Turn through my creative submission, a soundscape for theatre entitled Disappearing into Darkness (2018). I approach this research as a practitioner - a musician and theatre-maker - and as a theorist, with the result that the thesis is undertaken and organised as 50% written dissertation and 50% creative work. I am a Melbourne-based actor, writer, musician, sound designer, and co-artistic director of theatre company/band the Suitcase Royale. Since 2006, I have been creating works of Australian Gothic theatre. My work borrows from rock and folk band aesthetics and the visceral ambience of attending a live band event and melds them with theatrical conventions of narrative, stage acting, and character. My work has always incorporated live songs, recorded soundscapes, and the onstage operation of core sound and lighting equipment. The works have received multiple awards and regularly tour nationally in Australia and internationally across Australasia, North America, and Europe1. Suitcase Royale formed as a band in 2003 and has included live music in all theatre productions since 2006. Until undertaking this research, I had not considered the 1 https://thesuitcaseroyale.wordpress.com/about/. Accessed February 7, 2018. 1 direct role sound played in the evocation of stage environments, imagined landscape, and atmospheres of horror in my work. Through my early research, I began to appreciate that sound was crucial to my understanding and creation of contemporary Gothic theatre and that sound-led dramaturgies may be key to understanding how Gothic theatre artists are challenging theatrical form. The creative work, Disappearing into Darkness, is a 40- minute soundscape consisting of three contemporary ballads, processed and manipulated field recordings, and instrumental pieces. The soundscape is an endeavour to evoke the traumatic histories and landscapes on the Shipwreck Coast. My case studies informed my practice, as did my work with Suitcase Royale and solo experiments in the writing and broadcasting of a radio play entitled Pretty Weird Shit (2014). Disappearing into Darkness will be used as an alternative text in the creation of a new work of sound-led Australian Gothic dance theatre currently planned for performance at Dark Mofo Festival in Tasmania in 2019.