Summary:
Taboo is a physical theatre show that educates young people about domestic violence in their communities, and encourages them to take a stand against violence towards women. It’s a collaborative project between Amnesty International and QUT Creative Industries, comprised of a collection of scenes based on real life experiences of domestic violence.
–Sarah Winter
Joff’s Notes:
Taboo was a theatre production aimed at addressing the issue of domestic violence. It featured a number of interrelated segments; some scripted and some grown out of improvisation. The challenge was to develop musical versions of developing physical theatrical concepts, and marry it with the musical ideas I had already written.
The score acted as a musical binding to flow through and link the different segments together. This created a stronger sense of structure for the show as a whole. I developed musical representations of various themes the show addressed. For instance, “the cycle of violence” was portrayed by repetitive pulsating swells. “Fragility” was represented with fragile violin harmonics, and “breaking the cycle” was given driving yet simple percussion. I experimented with these ideas in rehearsal to receive feedback from the performers about how the music changed the way they performed – the music was developed simultaneously with the show.