Designing Undertow

As two lifesavers go about their business on an ordinary Australian beach, a small group of sun seekers realises that all is not as tranquil as it seems. A wedding couple, some German tourists, a conservationist in a koala suit, and a well organised young woman find the rising tide pushing them into closer proximity to their neighbours. The thin veneer of beach etiquette begins to crack, stripping away layers of social decorum and exposing a dream-like web of fears and desires.

Undertow was the world premiere of a new work by composer Elena Kats-Chernin, with lyrics by Andrea Rieniets and direction by Juha Vanhakartano. It was performed as part of the 2004 Adelaide International festival of Arts, and in 2005 toured to Budapest for the Ziget Festival and to Helsinki for the National Opera of Finland.

This was a very exciting project for me. I enjoyed designing for opera and the fun, abstract nature of the piece offered some interesting opportunities. At the centre of the work is a beach with a rising tide that gradually forces all the characters into a smaller space. I created the tide with cut out, wave/shark fin shapes that rose through slots in the floor one by one. This was done with a series of pull strings under the stage. Made on a tight budget ($5000 AUD for the set) meant I had to recycle and scrounge much of the building materials and do all the art finishing myself.

Taking the show to Europe was a great experience. It was cheaper to build a new set there rather than take the original. This involved me travelling alone to Hungary ahead of the rest of the company to supervise the build.  The workshop was in a small town called Gyor. I really enjoyed working with the all Hungarian crew even though we had no common language.

Victoria Lamb.