Fans of art in the Melbourne Southbank area who like to experience unusual events are being invited to join an evening where they can listen in to anonymous real-life voice messages.
The work is created by Bob Scott and Roslyn Oades, plus other collaborators, and is supported by a grant from the City of Melbourne Arts Grants.
The scenario is a darkly lit room full of small tables and chairs. Upon each table is an old-fashioned telephone and a switchboard. Audience members can sit and pick up the telephone, where they can hear anonymous voice messages from emergency workers, insomniacs, shift-workers, pranksters and the like. The switchboard also allows the listener to abandon a call and plug in to another at will.
Example of calls might include laments and anxieties, musical serenades and confessions, to name but a few.
At the end of the experience, it is hoped that the audience will leave in a reflective, pondering mood, having been immersed for a short while at least in a nocturnal world of anonymous messages and communications.
Programmes describing interactive arts-type events like this might be compiled through the help of local printing services.
The Nightline will be available from Thursday, 13 August until Saturday, 29 August, with several showings between 6 pm until 9.45 pm. The location is the Malthouse Theatre, 113 Sturt Street, Melbourne Southbank. Tickets cost from $35.
