City of Shadows
Australia will see more of this award winning production in 2013... stay tuned for tour dates...
NEW YORK REVIEWS
"...a fascinating, poignant, and beautiful concerto of crime, if you will.
Dease's voice is gorgeous and haunting, and to hear it makes you feel suddenly
warm and surrounded by beauty and the way her songs cycle through the
photographs, how the pictures speed up and slow down, is nothing short of
mesmerizing.
You are both drawn into the stories of these criminals,
their victims, and also hurt for them, yearning to know what is truly going
through their minds.
This is theatre bravery at some of its finest."
The ArtsWire NYC
"What I was not expecting was a meditative state that sometimes overtook
me—the gorgeous, haunting and sometimes nerve-rattling music at times had a
physical effect on me when paired with the photos
There were moments of true compassion, where my CSI brain
stopped trying to put the pieces of the crimes together and where I genuinely
felt for my fellow human beings from a completely foreign place and time. In
this way, I think Rachel Dease accomplished her mission.
A show like this doesn't come along too often. I would
highly recommend having the experience."
NY Theatre Review
"Rachael Dease is an accomplished artist whose compositions transcend a
label. She is a poet with exceptional depth. Bold, perceptive, and endearing
her hymns deliver the knowledge of awareness and sense of peace.
…And so as this critic’s mind was kissed with the last
projected image, my heart was warmed with a smile of hope and the words of a
stranger. Do not miss the chance to experience the beauty and evocative sounds
of ‘City Of Shadows” at the Robert Moss Theater as part of the NY Fringe
Festival."
Theatre New York
"City of Shadows has no plot and no characters; instead it offers
gorgeous music, a look into the past, and a dark, yet compassionate view of
humanity.
Surely one of the simplest productions at this year’s Fringe,
City of Shadows is also likely to be among the grimmest and the most moving.
Combining photography, video and music, it creates a haunting atmosphere that’s
hard to resist. You may not know exactly what you’re feeling, but you’ll be
feeling something.
Dease’s music is by turns eerie, poignant, and even warm,
and the level of musicianship among the company is excellent.
…City of Shadows is ultimately an enigma, much like the act
of murder itself."
Theatre
Is Easy – NYC
"Hauntingly beautiful...
Dease is a striking presence. Her vocals can be ethereal one
moment, and then shortly afterwards her powerful voice takes on a harsher
quality.
The majority of the music is played live by a terrific
four-piece orchestra: Brian J. Kruger (violin), Hayley-Jane Ayres (violin),
Aaron Wyatt (viola), and Tristen Parr (cello). The sounds they draw from their
instruments go beyond the merely traditional, as they also tap out percussive
beats, pluck their strings, and in one prolonged instrumental section create a
weird, scratchy sound that verges on the atonal but is filled with dramatic
urgency."
TheatreMania New York
"City of Shadows" is an impression of life’s fragility and
preciousness...a unique and compelling work of theater"
Backstage
AUSTRALIAN REVIEWS
"Devastatingly moving and breath-takingly beautiful... deserving of the ovations and the tears" - FRINGEWORLD JUDGES
"The packed houses witnessed a moving 60 minutes of beautiful live vocal and electronic soundscapes.Dease stands demurely to the side of the imagery and lets her voice and the music speak for itself.
Part beautiful noise, part pop song, part film score... at one point reaching a spectacular crescendo of experimental noise... Dease has the unique ability to create something beautiful out of what’s essentially morbid.
City of Shadows left one with a feeling that instead of being depressed about this human event we all have to deal with, it had a cathartic effect...” - THE WEST AUSTRALIAN
Award-winning production City of Shadows heads to New York Fringe in August! Keep up to date with Rachael's current shows here
THE ROBERT MOSS THEATRE
440 LAFAYETTE ST NY,NY
TUE 8/21/ @ 6:45
WED 8/22 @ 7:00
THUR 8/23 @ 9:15
FRI 8/24 @ 6:15
SAT 8/25 @ 4:15
SUN 8/26 @ 4:45
The Story...
In the late 1980's around 4 tonnes of forensic and police photographs were rescued by the Historic Houses Trust from a flooded warehouse in New South Wales. Originating from police investigations, the images focus on the perpetrators, victims and vicinities of (often violent) crimes. The photographers were artists in their own right, documenting reality as a means of employment, and the composition, technique and attention to detail, and most importantly, respect that is found in this collection is astonishing. Each photograph is an intrusion on personal pain, justified only because it may lead to the truth.
The Historic Houses Trust, the caretakers of the Justice and Police Museum, curated an exhibition and adjoining book entitled "City of Shadows". It was a study of calamity, misfortune, injury, death and wickedness.
Stumbling upon this collection in 2009 Dease was immediately taken with the brutal beauty, honesty and the humanity these images portrayed. Fashion and style may have altered, but the haunting faces translate across time and location. Dease set about creating a cycle of songs inspired by the images, and while the lack of information frustrated the researchers and curator of this collection, it also allowed a musicians imagination to replace the long lost police reports and detectives notes. Joining Rachael will be four exquisite string players known for their passion for bringing new works to life. Wailing, screaming bastions of hope surrounding a million dollar voice.
We have certainly not learnt to treat each other any kinder, and we probably never will.
But our vices keep the artists busy.
Visit the Historic Houses Trust here
City of Shadows
