Super Night Shot


Ranked in the top ten best Berlin shows in 2003, Super Night Shot, produced by Gob Squad (UK/Germany) was worth a look in this year’s WTF – World Theatre Festival at the Brisbane Powerhouse.


 Presented by: GOB Squad (UK/Germany) and the World Theatre FestivalVenue: Brisbane Powerhouse (Brisbane) 
Saturday, February 12, 2011  Ranked in the top ten best Berlin shows in 2003, Super Night Shot, produced by Gob Squad (UK/Germany) was worth a look in this year’s WTF – World Theatre Festival at the Brisbane Powerhouse. Filmed one hour before the performance screening, 4 actors take on Fortitude Valley and New Farm, each armed with syncronised watches and a video camera, recording both themselves and their adventures in one long shot – uncut.  The synopsis was simple – four characters (a casting-agent, a promoter, the hero, and a location-scout), each had a mission which culminated in finding a leading lady (or man) willing to partake in the end scene of their film and be back in time for their heroes welcome from the audience (which was also filmed).  The resulting performance was a large multi-screen viewing with all four camera feeds rolling at the same time. A fifth member of the team was the video/audio editor who expertly mixed the four audio feeds in real-time giving focus to a particular camera’s events. Adding to the atmosphere was a perfectly mixed soundtrack, which helped move the story through its un-edited scenes. The concept and resulting technical execution was quite brilliant and engaging to watch unfold, and perhaps was more the point of this piece rather than the story itself. More interesting is the subtle social commentary as each fresh live performance documents the culture of the city in which it is filmed. The experimental and cross-media production of Super Night Shot definitely earned its place in the festival program, but I do have to ask the question… was it really theatre? Would it be better placed in a film festival? But then again, how would a film festival classify this piece? The World Theatre Festival aims to provoke discourse on this very question – WTF is theatre? So in itself it has fulfilled the brief, but even more importantly to me as an audience member, it was an entertaining performance worth going to see. Until 20th February 2011  Booking Information: Ph: (07) 3358 8600 or visit www.brisbanepowerhouse.org 

Anne-Marie Peard

Anne-Marie spent many years working with amazing artists at arts festivals all over Australia. She's been a freelance arts writer for the last 10 years and teaches journalism at Monash University.

Anne-Marie Peard

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