[THEATRE REVIEW] THE CHRONICLES @ The Arts Centre Melbourne Review (2025)

There is a reason that Stephanie Lake is my favourite choreographer.

 In short, she is eternally creative in the work she produces. Her striking visual aesthetic elevates the art form.

Fluid body movement is just the starting point.

Beyond that, the key is the combination of formations she can extract from her dancers.

 That, together with the potent sound that accompanies her endeavours.

 Inevitably, the result is moving and magical.

 We – the audience – are transported and transfixed by what she achieves.

 So, it is with her newest piece, which takes us from the womb to the tomb.

It is a chronicle of life.

To gentle sounds and creaks, against a darkened stage, with little but highly focused light (Bosco Shaw is the lighting designer), The Chronicles starts with the emergence of a human.

She is curled up on the floor in a foetal position.

Her body stretches and contorts.

 Slowly, the dancer finds her feet, before being joined by 10 others, who move rhythmically back and forth across the stage. There is an urgency about them.

 The sound becomes louder. Thumping. Machine like. Alarming even, before trailing off.

Robin Fox’s electro-acoustic score is diverse, dynamic and masterful.

 The key to the success of The Chronicles rests with constant movement.

 There is lifting and carrying and crawling and running – a showcase of strength, precision and dexterity. Nothing out of place.

 And then, suddenly, we change tone, with the emergence of an ethereal children’s choir, The Yarra Voices, directed by Renee Heron.

 Numbering 28, they appear against tussocks of grass above the stage (set design is by Charles Davis).

 Below them, the performers, single file, embrace and cradle one another, before moving silently to the back of the line to do so again and again.

 One even glides across the others’ shoulders before alighting.

 Members of the choir – in flowing robes (costume design is by Harriet Oxley) and carrying lanterns – move down to the stage.

There, they watch one of the dancers, before others take over.

 I am hearing squelching and bird sounds.

The dancers break off into two groups with the children, talking with them, before the youngsters depart.

 And on it goes, the shifts in tone, in light and sound are evident throughout.

At one point, I swear I could even hear what appear to be whispered Gollum-like (think The Lord of the Rings) noises.

 Then, the sound transforms again – gun blasts ring out as performers appear hit and fall.

But the high point of the work is yet to come, namely what these remarkable dancers can achieve when the stage is strewn with straw.

 I found it joyous, playful and, at one point, smothering.

 The finish is just as compelling and coincides with the appearance of a single baritone.

 Above the stage, Oliver Mann chants the hauntingly beautiful song Forever Young.

 With its mastery of the craft, Stephanie Lake’s The Chronicles is thrilling and enthralling, undoubtedly a highlight of the 2025 RISING festival.

It is on Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne, until 15th June, 2025. 

To find out more and to buy tickets, go to https://2025.rising.melbourne/program/the-chronicles

Review by Alex First. Photography by Daniel Boud.