Route Dash Niner: Part 1

“We have received a promising signal from the corner of the universe that demands investigation. We have formed an elite team of explorers who have volunteered to make the dangerous journey to the furthest depths of the galaxy in order to answer the signal’s call. We do not know what we will find, only that we must find it.”

Re:group performance collective present a sci-fi performance epic in two parts. Coming to Sydney for one night only, Route Dash Niner: Part 1 premiered earlier this year at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre.

This unorthodox production sees us join the crew and the M.A.R.K unit at the first conference for mission R-9, an unprecedented venture into deep space. This “ticketed media event” will commemorate the lives of those astronauts bound to leave, before concluding in a ceremonial farewell and celebration of the launch.

“We wanted to make a science-fiction film live on stage, with all the on-set tricks laid bare. Performers jerking in their seats as their ship enters an asteroid belt, putting wire in our hair as we enter zero gravity, that sort of thing,” explains Jackson Davis, performer and devisor from re:group. “And any truly important interstellar mission needs a launch, to explain the journey’s motivations, and commemorate the lives of those brave enough to go out there.”

Re:group themselves are an emerging group of artists and University of Wollongong graduates who explore and create new works from scratch. In the creation and performance of this show Davis is joined by James Harding, Mark Rogers, Steve Wilson-Alexander and Carly Young.

Route Dash Niner will be their first performance presented in two parts, and this Sydney showing will be the final presentation of the ‘launch that stopped a nation’ before Part 2 comes to the public some six months from now. (AM)

Dec 13, 8pm. Giant Dwarf Theatre, 199 Cleveland Street, Redfern. $15-$25. Tickets: www.giantdwarf.com.au Info: www.regroupperformancecollective.org