With live music set to be the major drawcard for next month's Inland Sea of Sound festival at Wahluu [Mount Panorama], it is worth referring to the event's tagline: 'a major festival of music, arts and culture.'
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The tagline hints that there's more to Inland Sea of Sound than live music, and one such act to prove this promotion correct is Melbourne-based theatre group 5 Angry Men.
5 Angry Men will bring their long-running outdoor production, The Bells, to the festival, in a performance combining music, dance and acrobatics.
"The Bells is a hybrid performance between high-energy physical theatre and music," 5 Angry Men director Steve Phillips said.
"There's a musical element to the show, but it's extremely different from anything else you'd see at a music festival," Mr Phillips said.
The Bells has toured the world over the last three decades and Mr Phillips said the show will provide festival goers with a suspenseful visual spectacle.
"We essentially play a giant musical instrument while flying five metres in the air on bungee ropes," he said.
"While the bells won't be there physically [as real bells are far too heavy to lug around], we have a MIDI [musical instrument digital interface] system in place to sync bell sounds with the ropes."
Mr Phillips said The Bells is a production that roves among the festival atmosphere rather than as a fixed performance on stage.
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"We start the show roving around on vintage bicycles before converging at a nine-metre high bell contraption in the centre of the festival precinct," he said.
"There's a lot of audience interaction involved and, in keeping with the tradition of street theatre, The Bells is a show you can watch for as long as you want."
Mr Phillips said a key artistic charter of the 5 Angry Men is producing public works of theatre focusing on a group completing a task.
"There's no language or clear narrative to follow in The Bells, it's a simple demonstration of a group trying to get a job done," he said.
"Every human being on the planet knows what it's like to have a job in front of them and through this show, we highlight the virtue of working together to accomplish a demanding task."
In addition to the festival, the 5 Angry Men will conduct a series of workshops with relevant local groups, notably the Bathurst Bell Ringers.
"Festivals are a perfect place to experience new things, which is why it's important to have such a diversity of acts," Mr Phillips said.
The 5 Angry Men will perform The Bells at Inland Sea of Sound on Friday, February 28 [6pm] and Saturday, February 29 [1.45pm and 5.30pm].
For more information, visit inlandseaofsound.com.au.
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Sam Bolt
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
"I'm not in the business of telling people what to do. I'm much more in the business of describing things, situations and stuff like that and leaving them out there, and you can make up your minds about them." -Nick Cave
