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10-11 September, 2015
The Mauricio Kagel Project brought together International composer Gao Ping, renowned New Zealand conductor Hamish McKeich - whom Free Theatre collaborated with on Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale, a CSO production for the 2013 Christchurch Arts Festival - and Christchurch artists of experimental performance.
Directed by Peter Falkenberg, the work-in-development was presented in September at Free Theatre’s home in The Arts Centre -- The Gym -- as part of the company's innovative New Works Programme, which was launched in 2014 with the critically acclaimed Kafka's Amerika. The development of this project was made possible by the generous support of Creative New Zealand, the Asia NZ Foundation and the Christchurch Arts Festival. Filmmaker Shirley Horrocks is documenting the project and we are making plans to present a full production of the work. |
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What I’m trying to do is something that I love, what I like, and think I need. In that moment, you have to be very honest... If you try to be honest with yourself, and write what you think you need, not what you think other people need, or music critics, or colleagues, you will then be trying to communicate your truth. If it has that truth, then it will be interesting. 
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The Mauricio Kagel Project - a film by Shirley Horrocks (Point of View Productions)
Influenced by John Cage and the Dada cabarets, Kagel created and developed a new music-theatre genre, where music-making itself becomes theatre as a comic, absurd and above all joyously playful activity |
Watch their Beat Ubu Night performance of Cage's 4'33''.
Music has also been a scenic event for a long time. In the nineteenth century people still enjoyed music also with their eyes, with all their senses. Only with the increasing dominance of the mechanic reproduction of music, through broadcasting and records, was this reduced to the purely acoustic dimension. What I want is to bring the audience back to an enjoyment of music with all senses. That’s why my music is a direct, exaggerated protest against the mechanical reproduction of music. My goal: a rehumanization of music-making! |
I witnessed the results of the Kagel project, and was impressed by the dedication and skill exhibited by all of the participants. True collaboration of any sort is not an easy task. Successful cross-cultural mixing is exponentially more difficult. But I feel that the skill and commitment of Gao Ping and those involved with the Free Theatre, provide a unique opportunity to move forward into new and invigorating creative territory. 
Reviews and Publicity"Commitment , skill and creative high jinks"
Lin Clark, Theatreview, 11 September 2015 "Blurring musical boundaries"
Dione Joseph, The Big Idea, 9 September 2015 "Free Theatre pushing boundaries"
Scoop, Thursday 13 August 2015 Free Theatre's quirky international project
The Press, Aug 11, 2015 
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