ICARUS Comes to The Blue Room Theatre Summer Nights as Part of Fringe World

The Blue Room Theatre Summer Nights and Bare Witness Theatre Company present Icarus.

It was a chance discovery of a bizarre news story that set performer Christopher Samuel Carroll on an artistic quest. "I was training in Paris at the time, and I remember coming across this news article about a frozen body of an unidentified man found one morning in the middle of a suburban London housing estate. It seemed like a bizarre murder-mystery premise, but as the story developed and subsequent reports emerged, I found the background even more compelling than the original mystery."

It was the story of José Matada, a stowaway who had hidden in the wheel-well of an aircraft in Angola in an attempt to reach the UK. His body fell from the wheels as the plane made its descent to Heathrow. "I became aware that this was not an isolated incident: hundreds of people all over the world, driven by the desperate situations in their own countries, have tried to escape in the wheel mechanism of planes, and more often than not, tragically perished. These stories stayed with me over the years, and became the seed for Icarus."

But Icarus is not all tragedy. Carroll draws on the playful techniques of mime to create a world of clownesque absurdity. "It's imaginative, silly, whimsical, as well as tragic," says Carroll, "The people who find themselves in these situations are no different from the rest of us - unprepared for these extreme events, trying to find their way through the nonsensical and chaotic situations that life throws at us - which for me is the essence of clown. Sometimes the most serious stories need to be told with the lightest touch."

Paired with an evocative soundscape by award-winning sound artist Kimmo Vennonen, Icarus will have its world premiere at The Blue Room Theatre for their Summer Nights FRINGE WORLD season, before a season at The Street Theatre in Canberra.

Supported by The Street Theatre, Belconnen Arts Centre, artsACT, and Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres through the Ralph Indie Development Program.

Tickets are $21 - $26 at fringeworld.com.au.

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