This February, the Indonesian and Australian creative team of dance-theatre production The Seen and Unseen had critically-acclaimed performances at the Asia TOPA in Melbourne, making a home for themselves at VCA’s Martyn Myer Arena, revelling in post-show compliments and patting kangaroos at the zoo. Weeks later, as Covid-19 rapidly unfurled across the planet, the team were locked down inside their homes and countries, with an uncertain touring future as borders and theatres closed across the world.
The new digital series Asia TOPA Connected gave these artists the opportunity to create a reflection on their theatre-making process and to share insights into their unique intercultural collaboration. The partnerships traverse rice paddies and rehearsal studios of Bali, the digital realm of Zoom creative team meetings, and theatre stages in Jakarta, Singapore and Melbourne. Making this short documentary extended their collaboration whilst in isolation, and enabled them to critically reflect on their own processes creating the show.
