A gothic domestic drama in which a ‘live’ mother evokes her hopes and fears for her ‘projected’ child. Manipulated, ripped references to Hollywood films, The Nanny, Village of the Damned, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and Poltergeist pepper this tale of longing and loss.
This twenty-minute live dance and animated video projection performed in a shipping container was produced by Performance Space and Theatre Kantanka as part of The Boxed Set, Live Bait Festival, Bondi, Sydney, January 2004. It was remounted for Sydney Olympic Park Outdoor Festival, October 2004.
| Choreograper/director | Julie-Anne Long |
| Filmmaker | Samuel James |
| ‘Live’ Mother | Julie-Anne Long |
| ‘Projected’ Child | Matilda Idle |
| Music | Delibes Coppelia |
“Julie-Anne Long and Samuel James’s Boxing Baby Jane was a stunning combination of live performer and superb video amplifying the hopes and fears of offspring as mother projected her hopes, but mostly her terrors, onto the pixellated, multiplying fruits of her status-eager loins. All the ripped and manipulated references to old Hollywood films (Bette Davis searching for the gin bottle, the Poltergeist kiddies’ toys turning threateningly mobile amongst them) gave the piece an instant, understood cultural framework, while Long’s performance made the work extraordinary.”
~ Stephen Dunne Sydney Morning Herald January, 2004