What is Redmoon up to these days?

I just got back from a fascinating screening of a review film (that's my term, I mean a compiled film of a live event) that captures a show that Redmoon artistic director Jim Lasko collaborated 'ensemble' to create with several Australian folks (tech design, artistic direction and they had a fabulous musical designer who seemed to have some stand-alone direction, Basil Hodges).

The overall concepts fit with Redmoon themes and style from the past. What really caught my attention was how successful they were (with the addition of really choice music from the 17th/18th century British Isles traditions - brought to America/Australia - work songs, minstrelsy, vaudeville traditions, plus didgery do, some intriguing drumming, etc. all set out in a through-composed format) in making a documentary that gave at least a strong taste of the live production.

At the q&a session following the viewing, Jim was quick to say that film does not serve the live medium - agreed. But they did have some gains. The ability to show details of face, interior space, 3-dimensional stuff that can be lost to an outdoor audience was impressive.

Mst of all I was captivated by the organic creativity used, with some linear plotting, references to many cultures (really all continents except for Africa and perhaps Antarctica), the story visited timelines in multiple directions. The beginning references the end, the middle; other sections of the piece do likewise. In discussions of the limits of linear approaches this piece makes good use of linearism, but is not bounded by it.

What I really liked about the piece (probably more readily available to the live audience, but glimpsed in the film version) was the marrying of social consciousness-driven thinking, art for art's sake, risk (by designers, but much more by those suspended in the rigging), cohesion through music design, questions viewed multiple times in different media (live actors, puppets, lighting as artistic voice, minstrelsy and circus arts, song-enactment, and from the film perspective--use of close up/full screen cinematic perspective).

Bravo, Jim and Co!