OzAsia Festival: SuperEverything

SuperEverything is true to its name in that it is a multi-media event. Described as “live cinema” the show is oddly reminiscent of the silent film era.

The audience is greeted with a scrim front of stage, behind which there are musicians sitting at computers in an office environment; there is also a backdrop, which gives the pre-recorded videos a 3D effect at times.

Audience members in the know entertained themselves, and others, by tweeting live onto the scrim before the show started.

One problem, which presented itself immediately, was the placement of the main projector – its light glared into the eyes of many audience members causing an unwelcome hindrance to the visuals.

[pull_left]The show tries to stimulate all your senses and wants to touch every part of your body, but ultimately, while it might make its audience feel good it doesn’t provide a climax.[/pull_left]

The live music and real sound effects (dripping water, a bicycle and a shopping trolley et al.) provided the outstanding feature of this show. Ng Chor Guan, Rhythm in Bronze and HANDS percussion combined to compliment the show and each other with some delightful aural sculpting.

Malaysia; it’s people, its cities, its countryside, its environment and its politics played the central role in some universal themes of philosophy, culture and religion.

The talking heads expressing opinions were simply banal. Some very insular people might be impressed or provoked by questions and answers like “Is there an internet God?” or “People need to convince themselves of something, that ‘something’ doesn’t need to be true.” but the rest of us were looking for something deeper that never appeared.

There are times when everything comes together, making a jumbled type of sense that is both enjoyable and entertaining but SuperEverything lacks a sense of shock and awe – if it were a song it would be missing a ‘hook’. The show tries to stimulate all your senses and wants to touch every part of your body, but ultimately, while it might make its audience feel good it doesn’t provide a climax.