The Nightline

The Nightline description

You are ushered into an intimate but unassuming space and shown to a dimly lit table for one. In place of a dinner setting is an old 70’s rotary-dial telephone and a simple switchboard. Gingerly, you lift the receiver and are directly connected to an exclusive club of... the sleepless.

The Nightline is a collection of real-life stories, rants, confessions, inanities, pranks and private thoughts compiled from over 600 anonymous callers left between the hours of midnight and 6am.

Guiltlessly eavesdrop on the voices of lone truckies, bored shift-workers, new parents, security workers, troubled or restless souls, all intertwined with an evocative, enveloping sound score. It’s an unsettling but strangely beautiful experience, unique for the ear of each guest. There are moments when you laugh out loud, others when you’re moved to tears.

Poignant, beautifully judged and profoundly moving.

Tim Byrne, theatre writer for The Guardian

Theatre-maker Roslyn Oades is well known for her non-fiction collage and verbatim-based work. For this, her fifth collaboration with sound artist Bob Scott, she put out the call to night owls via late-night radio and mysterious posters plastered on city walls. From the candid responses, they composed a suite of lonely nocturnes as varied and subtle as Chopin’s.

Hop on the party line and become a very good listener for 40 unforgettable minutes.

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Credits

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Director/Co-Creator Roslyn Oades
Sound Artist/Co-Creator Bob Scott
Lighting Design & Coding Fausto Brusamolino
Site Design Clare Britton
Concierge Katia Molino
Understudy Jacqy Phillips
Switchboard Designer Greg Cameron
Technical Director Keith Tucker, Megafun
Stage Manager & Operator Jem Hoppe-Smith
Producer Michaela Coventry, Sage Arts

Images Sarah Walker 

The Nightline Melbourne was commissioned by RISING and generously assisted by the City of Melbourne and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body. The prototype edition of The Nightline was commissioned by Utp as a part of the inaugural RHRN artist residency, curated by Rosie Dennis.

 

Venue Hire supported by GWB McFarlane Theatres through Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund, an Australian Government Initiative.

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