THE LEGEND OF QUEEN KONG - EPISODE II: QUEEN KONG IN OUTER SPACE - ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE

Arts Centre Melbourne in association with Briefs Factory and Auspicious Projects
                                        presents

T H E L E G E N D O F Q U E E N KO N G
E p I S O D E I I : Q U E E N KO N G I N O U T E R S PAC E

      I N F O . D ATA . W H AT ’ S W H AT. L O W - D O W N .

Queen Kong and the HOMOsapiens would
like to acknowledge the traditional owners of
the land. We pay respect to their elders past,
present and emerging. We acknowledge that
 sovereignty was never ceded. We celebrate
         their strong ongoing culture.

   THE OLDEST LIVING CULTURE ON
          PLANET EARTH.

Welcome to The Legend Of Queen Kong Episode II:
Queen Kong In Outer Space. This queer, sci-fi, rock
concert is the second part of a trilogy of work that tells
the story of an immortal being, part-rock and part-ape,
who journeys through time and space to discover what
it means to be human. It is a modern mythology, a queer
tale, an abstract adventure. If any of our audience who are
deaf or hard of hearing find themselves lost or confused
over the duration of the show, don’t worry, nobody else
understands what is happening either.

This show features a large projector screen and colourful
images will be projected onto this throughout the show.

Auslan is integrated into the performance. On the projector
screen, you will see deaf performer Asphyxia playing the
role of the Motherboard. She will be signing in Auslan and
voiced by Ilana Charnelle Gelbart. Also on stage is Auslan
interpreter Kirri Dangerfield, she will interpret all the live
spoken text.

The entire show will be captioned.

MUSIC & VOLUME
This is a rock show designed with specific consideration for
deaf and hard of hearing audiences. Therefore, it will be
loud and bass-heavy. This means the sound can be heard
and felt through vibrations.

Some hearing audiences may wish to wear earplugs or
sound-cancelling headphones. Earplugs will be available in
the theatre foyer, please ask our ushers for a pair.

LIGHTING & VISUALS
There is no strobe in this show but some songs have fast
moving lights. Lighting is used to indicate the pulse and
mood of the songs.

NG
TH E G EN ES IS O F Q U EE N KO

A long time ago in a galaxy far,
far too close to home was a planet
A planet called Earth
The third planet from the sun
in a solar system catalogued as
PIA01341
This side of the Milky Way galaxy
Which is a very small chocolate
bar

Upon this planet was a geological
phenomenon
A unique life force within a rock
This rock incubated for millions
of years

Then one morning
25 million years ago
A great ape fell upon this rock
and died
Over the ages the ape was
fossilised within
They became one

Eventually in an explosive act
of creation
Known as a volcanic eruption
The Earth gave birth

And a Legend was born
Part Rock
Part Ape
She was immortal
She was Queen Kong

RELAXED PERFORMANCE
Saturday 19th January 4pm

The Relaxed Performance of The Legend of Queen Kong
Episode II: Queen Kong in Outer Space is designed to
particularly welcome audiences with disability or sensory
sensitivities, their friends and families.

During this Relaxed Performance, house lights will be at a low
level throughout the show, there will be no strobe lighting and
doors will stay open for people to come and go as they wish.
The theatre doors open early and the performance is General
Admission, meaning you can choose where you would like to sit.

There will be a designated quiet area for people to relax in,
before or during the show. Trained ushers are available to offer
assistance and earplugs will be available in the foyer. Noise and
movement during the performance is welcome.

You are welcome to bring in any item that will help make you feel
comfortable in the theatre – headphones, fidget toys etc. On the
following pages you will find some general information about the
music, volume, visuals, lighting and songs to help you prepare for
the experience.

If you would like any additional information in the lead-up to your
visit, please contact community@artscentremelbourne.com.au

Previously in Episode I

When I, Queen Kong, was born
I witnessed the evolution of
life on Earth
From dinosaurs
To the Great Apes
And the age of the Homosapien
As I was immortal, humans
worshiped me as a god
Being placed on a pedestal was
lonely
I sank into a deep-water
depression
There I lay dormant in the
abysmal plane
The pressure was so immense
my body was squeezed and
lengthened
When I awoke
I emerged from the water a
giant
My size caused panic and chaos
I became known as an
accidental terrorist
Locked in a cell, upon an
island, I waited for humans to
process me
Alone. Friendless. I called on
rock to save me.

What Is A Wormhole?
A passage through space-time that could
create shortcuts for long journeys across
the universe. Some objects allergic to
the radiation can go through a series of
unfortunate or fortunate changes known as
transmutations.

Note: Queen Kong enters a wormhole during
her journey through space and for a time
becomes a series of French desserts.

SET LIST – a list of the songs in order

PRE-SHOW
There will be a pre-show playlist of space and monkey themed
music at low volume.

OPENING: QUEEN KONG’S BACKSTORY
The show commences with a black-out on stage. There will be
no performers on stage, just the projector screen. There are
projected images of lightning and volcanic eruptions. The sounds
accompanying this include a volcanic eruption and soft steady
siren-like tones.

GORILLA GORILLA
This is a full-bodied rock anthem with pop-folk bridges. This
song comes in suddenly and surprisingly at a loud volume with
large flashes of lights. In between each verse are lots of flashing,
moving coloured lights.

CALLING ON ROCK
Slow, broody rock. This starts soft and builds in intensity. In the
chorus there is a slow, low intensity flash every time Queen
Kong sings “Rock”. In the third and final chorus these are slightly
quicker and more intense.

NOMO FOMO
Upbeat, rock-pop featuring congas and acoustic guitar. During
this song there is pulsing and gentle sweeping in the lights.

What Is A Black Hole?

A black hole is a dark star, an
invisible nothing, a prison of
light. There is no
solid surface beyond,
just a bottomless
gravitational whirlpool
so strong that it sucks
everything - even light
- relentlessly inward.
Oblivion awaits at the
centre in the form of
the Singularity.

What Is Spaghettification?

Spaghettification is a scientific term.
It’s the vertical stretching and
horizontal compression of objects into
long thin shapes, rather like spaghetti.
The stretching is so powerful that no
object can withstand it. You will die a
stretchy death!

ROCKS OF THE UNIVERSE
Art Pop. The lighting is still in the verses and slow and
sweeping in the choruses.

O MADRE
Operatic singing accompanied by harpsichord and
tremolo guitar. Musically sparse with dramatic vocals.
The lighting is still throughout and most of the stage
will be dark.

EARTH 2
Alternative, electro-pop. Near the end there is a
dramatic vocal build which climaxes to loud scratchy
vocal tones; almost a scream. There are two gentle
flashes in the final section of the song.

IN THE BEGINNING
A rock ballad with a heavy rock chorus and a lengthy,
meaty guitar solo with a long build. During the song,
you will see a moving light that throws a pattern and
sweeping lights.

TRUCK STOP
Driving surf-pop with a funk groove chorus and Loony
Bop B-section. There are slow moving, slow flashing
coloured lights in the verses, sweeping lights in the
choruses and low intensity flashing coloured lights in
the spoken word B section.

HEYMAN
Beat poetry set to the sounds of an audience at a jazz club.
There are a lot of incidental sounds and background noises
with sound effects.

I’M A BLANCMANGE
This has a loud, neo-punk-pop chorus with spoken verses.
When Queen Kong joins the band the lights begin to flash
quickly. These will stop flashing during each spoken word
section. The flashing will last for 20 seconds each time. The
song concludes with seven big flashes followed by a shorter
sequence of smaller fast moving flashes and a blackout.

SURRENDER
This song is a rock ballad. The chorus is sudden, loud,
full-bodied and angst-driven. There is rhythmic, white noise,
electronic percussion in the verses.

WOODSTOCK
This song is written by Joni Mitchell. It’s gentle with no big
dynamic shifts. The lighting is mostly still throughout. Gentle
sweeping lights, a mirror ball and lights reflecting off a mirrored
costume are added towards the end of the song.

CREDITS
At the end of the show, we will perform an instrumental reprise
of Truckstop over a projected credit sequence. This song is
loud and driving and shifts in genre throughout. There are very
slow, gentle flashes of light throughout this sequence

NOTE
There will be low volume underscores accompanying some of
the spoken text between songs.

There is an old Latin proverb
‘A monkey is not to be caught in
           a trap’.

       Or as I like to say

  ‘The monkey who throws poo in
the morning, has a smelly hand by
             night’

Appearing On Stage
and Screen

Queen Kong: A part-rock, part-ape,
immortal, mythological being. The
protagonist. Played by Sarah Ward.

The HOMOsapiens: All queer, all
gender-diverse rock band led by
Musical Director and drummer Bec
Matthews with Gen Bernstein on
lead guitar, Jo Franklin on Rhythm
Guitar and Cerise Howard on Bass.

Motherboard: A conduit of
communication, the central
processor. She holds information
and allows for communication
between all systems and life-forms.
Played by Asphyxia.

The Voice of the Motherboard:
Ilana Charnelle Gelbart.              Great Ape: Played by Anni Davey.

Interpreter: Signing in Auslan all    Creative Team: At the end of
live text is Kirri Dangerfield.       the show there is a video credit
                                      sequence; you will see the
Un-named Alien: Played by Bec         creative team behind this work
Matthews. Queen Kong meets this       and a list of those that helped us
Alien at a truckstop in space.        create it.

Cover photo by Elleni Toumpas   Illustrations by Finn Scholes   Design by Manouri Peiris

What’s so kind about mankind?
Human nature is a boy band
Genes are denim pants
Social is a dance
DNA the other way
Spells AND
Queen Kong

If you are interested in learning Auslan we
recommend the Magic Hands beginner course. Like
them on Facebook to get updates on when their
courses are happening, or go to the School House
Studios website and search for Magic Hands.
Also the website Sign Bank is a great resource
for learning specific signs and furthering your
knowledge of Auslan.

The Future is Accessible