Matthew Prest
SHAMMGODS
Support Material
Reference images
Nitin Vengurlekar
Malcolm Whittaker
Matthew Prest
Shot from 'Dream Shake' (another work in development) which involves Malcolm, Nitin and Matt. The banners in the background are another indication of the visual palette and tone for Shammgods.
God Shammgod
The Korg Microsynth
Relevant previous work
WHELPING BOX - Created by Matt Prest, Branch Nebula, Clare Britton 2012-14
WINNER of Helpmann Award 2014 Best Visual/Physical Theatre Production and Green Room Award 2014 Outstanding Contemporary Performance. Presented at Performance Space 2012 and ArtsHouse 2013.
ABOUT: 'Whelping Box' used a style of task-based performance and questioned masculine identities in an absurd and playful way. The 'on-the-floor' devising process, used of physical tasks, imagery and 'non-dance' choreography are elements that will be pursued in 'Shammgods'.
"In its celebration of masculine physicality, Whelping Box breathtakingly delineates the pleasures, pain and contradictions of play, initiation, bonding, competition, risk and self-mythologising. Within a carefully choreographed framework, Wilson and Prest repeatedly push themselves to the limit, testing their bodies in sustained acts of endurance, living out the very condition they have committed to celebrate and critique." Keith Gallasch, Realtime, Dec 2012.
SILO - Directed and Devised by Matt Prest, 2016.
ABOUT: SILO was an original work devised with 3rd Year Acting students, when Matt was invited as Theatre Fellow at University of Wollongong.
This ensemble piece looked at how power shifts within a group, particularly when there is no clearly defined leader or hierarchical power structure. Our influences included self-help groups (like EST from the 1970s), The Living Theatre, cults, hippy communes, and new age mysticism.
The work combined task-based performance similar to that in WHELPING BOX, with a non-narrative exploration of character. Again, the physical approach to devising tasks and the refined, playful visual aesthetic are all elements that will be integral to Shammgods.
BELOW: Images from SILO, May, 2016.
