Cliffhanger – A state of perpetual limbo

by | Oct 18, 2024

Cliffhanger is a multi-disciplinary performance that premieres at Arts House from 13 – 17 November.

Since 2019, writer Holly Childs and choreographer Angela Goh have examined the metaphorical and literal relevance of the cliffhanger concept, including the physical act of suspension and also the storytelling device that keeps an audiences’ attention suspended.

An approach often used in countless television series, the cliffhanger format dates back to the tenth century Arabic classic One Thousand and One Nights.

“In 1,001 nights, Sheharazade uses the cliffhanger as a strategy to save her own life. It mirrors the Netflix binge model, but precedes it by at least 11 centuries,” explain Childs and Goh.

In today’s society, algorithmic social media feeds create perpetual cliffhangers designed to keep people in a state of dissociative suspense.

“We are living in a world where tech entrepreneurs control the information we consume. Doomscrolling is a mood, and that mood is bad,” say Childs and Goh.

“When will it end? Can we use technology to climb out of this hyperconnected disconnection? Is there a way off the metaphorical cliff?” asks Childs and Goh.

Arts House Acting Artistic Director, Olivia Anderson, says that Cliffhanger promises to be remarkable, “For over five years, Holly and Angela have been creating a timely and captivating new work, including residences in Paris and Amsterdam.”

Cliffhanger will be funny, absurd and experimental. It will keep audiences on the edges of their seats,” said Anderson.

Featuring a solo physical performance by Goh, Cliffhanger is interlinked with text and has an original score by Lithuanian artist Gediminas Žygus.

Cliffhanger is analogue, abstract and absurdist – it highlights the state of suspension as an omnipresent facet of contemporary anxiety.

November 13 – 17

artshouse.com.au

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