In Conversation with Tammy Brennan, creator of //TRANSCRIPT//
Under the setting sun as the colour drains from the sky, we settle into The Amphitheatre at Seven Hills Hub. Before us, three screens, pools of light glowing, and a myriad of percussion instruments and hand built and circuit bent electronics are arranged. Then, the flames ignite.
//TRANSCRIPT// is a process-devised video sound art opera produced and directed by librettist Tammy Brennan with composers and musicians Vanessa Tomlinson, Timothy Tate and Leah Barclay. The artists teeter between recorded, improvised, composed music and performance in a strong and a deeply immersive listening and viewing experience.
//TRANSCRIPT// is the third in a canon of work exploring systems oppression, gender violence and resistance, featuring a pre-recorded fragmented text experience of extracted testimony from a court transcript, the libretto extrapolates the problematic nature of truth, recollection and memory.
Featuring fire stunt performance video art performed by Tammy Brennan and movement artist Anton filmed by the incredible Aleksei Vanamois under a strict fire stunt environment with Legs On The Wall, //TRANSCRIPT// promises to transport viewers through a visceral soundscape and video exploring justice against tyrannical systems of oppression.
We discussed this new work with creator, Tammy Brennan, to find out more…
What do people think when you say Australian Opera, and how does //Transcript// fit into or break that expectation?
That is a great question! I would say people's minds jump to the status quo of opera, such as mainstream opera, such as Opera Australia. However, for those that follow the contemporary development of the form, Chamber Made, Sydney Chamber Opera are fantastic companies doing exciting new Australian Opera. I believe that //transcript// falls into the latter. The work of //transcript// is experimental, and opera is a form that is exciting for pushing boundaries. It is also traditionally a form that has always held the epic narratives of the times. //transcript// is an exemplar of how the form is changing, and what that means to the artists working with the form, at this time.
The score is part composed, part improvised - how did you go about creating this with the performers?
The score is at large a devised sound work. The sound world is devised by Vanessa Tomlinson, with contributions from Timothy Tate and Leah Barclay. The libretto is written by me. In the instance of this work, the musicians took an exploratory approach to the devising, and then after some experimentation, a working structure that became the score is what you are experiencing as the sound environment for this season.
You’re one of the performers on fire in the video work, tell me about that experience…
Yes ! what an incredible experience. Myself and movement artist Anton (Sydney), both worked with Ray Anthony and his stunt crew to film the stunts. It was a relatively straight forward process, under a very strict stunt controlled environment with a crew of 8. It involved a lot of fire resistant gel and layers of wet suits, and nomex suits. Each burn lasted about 1 min in total. Anton and I did two burns each, with a film crew of 6. This part of the work was devised at Legs on the Wall Sydney. I guess when you attempt a stunt like this you need to trust your stunt team implicitly, listen and do everything they say. Do that, and it is as safe as it can be, playing with fire.
What surprised you about making //transcript//?
It has been a work in development since 2019. With a very early stage development at a standing stone circle in regional NSW, supported by Cementa Festival. What has surprised me about the leap in the work, to where it is now, is the amazing symbiosis of the current creative team. It has just worked fabulously, in terms of creative minds, openness and generosity. It has been such a pleasure to bring it to an audience at Backbone. For this I am very grateful, so thank you for believing in us, and supporting us.
Did The Amphitheater have any influence on how you constructed the work?
For this live performance yes. And the architecture of the space each time informs the next step of a work. I can already see scenographic elements I would recreate, as the spatialisation of the amphitheatre has been wonderful. Particularly with the outdoor environment also becoming a very live and integrated part of the work.
Who is the perfect audience member for //transcript// ?
I think anyone is the perfect audience for //transcript// - opera (traditionally) and as it should always be, is for the people.