“Chaos” hits the stage at VCA with possible next big musical hit

“I heard music from another room.”

This music is the force that compels A Little Touch of Chaos’ central protaganist Arthur, played by VCA student Alex Gibson-Giorgio, to leave his life within an exclusive religious sect.

Being pulled in another direction by an undeniable force is the central premise behind A Little Touch of Chaos, where Arthur swaps his life of strict religion for a world where curiosity, the idea of freedom and self-discovery pulled stronger than the familial and religious ties that bind. 

The piece is a contemporary tale exploring themes of identity, familial bonds, inherited ideologies and smashing the ties that bind. It was launched at the newly refurbished Grant Street Theatre at the VCA in July, with Victorian Minister for the Arts Heidi Victoria in attendance.

With dedicated funding from the State Government through Arts Victoria, A Little Touch of Chaos writer James Millar and composer Peter Rutherford extensively workshopped the piece to create a strong, new, Australian voice in music theatre of a modern, urbane Australian identity. 

Chaos writer Millar was motivated to tell a loosely autobiographical story on how events and experiences between parents and their children manifest and evolve in the next generation. 

“This work will appeal to anyone who has felt that they’ve inherited something through time from a parent. The idea of smashing the ties that bind and discovering yourself is where the heart of the piece lies,” he says.

Mr Millar says director Iain Sinclair’s priority was to express the tough Australian character in the face of adversity encouraging the cast of VCA music theatre students to make a new creation, rather than a remodelling of international music theatre influences.

Minister Heidi Victoria says the Government was proud to support the project as part of an ongoing commitment to fostering new talent and new works across the state. 

“Melbourne is Australia’s epicentre for music theatre and the VCA our breeding ground for emerging talent. The New Music Theatre project has supported collaborations between our freshest new voices and professional directors, composers and musicians.

“Over the past two years they’ve taken this work from the page to the stage, and I can’t wait to see where the production goes from here,” Minister Victoria says.

Industry consultant and music theatre lecturer Martin Croft says A Little Touch of Chaos is the culmination of a two-year creative process and demonstrated the VCA’s ongoing commitment to supporting emerging talent in the arts. 

“Today we celebrate the continuing partnership with the State Government of Victoria whose ongoing funding support has strengthened the VCA’s profile as a hub for young artists to develop their new work in an environment where new voices are workshopped and encouraged,” Mr Croft says.

The project is the perfect platform for the cast of final year VCA Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre) students to launch their careers and receive rare industry experience to workshop a piece over an extensive period of time. 

Third Year student and cast member Michaela Powell plays the feisty character of Maxine. Ms Powell says the piece’s naturalistic writing captures the Australian sense of humour in an honest and refreshing way. It documents the “everyday fight, which I think is very Australian,” she says. 

Mr Gibson-Giorgio says was it was exciting to work on a new piece of Australian musical theatre with the writer and composer in the rehearsal room.

“It’s really wonderful to be working on a new piece of Australian theatre and a musical. We often look to other cultures in music theatre so its nice to search within our own culture and be characters that we know and have seen and to originate roles…to bring so much of yourself to a part that is not defined by someone else’s performance,” he says. 

In short, it’s an original touch of chaos. 

www.vca-mcm.unimelb.edu.au