METTLE

Quantum Leap
The Vault
Season closed
Reviewed by Samara Purnell 

Before attending Quantum Leap’s “Mettle”, an email with warnings was sent around about the noise, flashing lights, total blackouts, loud industrial sounds and themes and moods that might be unsettling. With earplugs and earmuffs on offer at the door, we were almost expecting to sign a waiver before sitting down! Some seats were labelled “Full Mettle Experience” where the reverb could be felt through your body. It all added to the anticipation as well as serving its OHS purpose.  

Choreographers Quantum Leap director Alice Lee Holland and QL alumnus Jack Ziesing wanted to create a dark, brutalist, full-length work, so the Vault was chosen as the performance space. Their intention was to design a work around sitting with discomfort and tackling challenges whilst maintaining self-care and then to have the 13 dancers, aged between 10 and 20, create the intention and movement from their own exploration of what “mettle” meant to them. 

Aleisa Jelbart’s Y2K meets gorpcore costuming saw the dancers clad in grey and black midriff tops, cropped hoodies, loose pants, cutouts, a glove or sleeve and space buns. The two male dancers wore heavy makeup. Thoughts that the hoods might be cumbersome were allayed as the dancers began to utilise them during the performance, along with face coverings. The dancers would have looked the part in a grungy Melbourne fashion parade. 

The dancers began in silence, with a long, slow walk giving viewers time to get into their heads, or perhaps out of them and lean in to the themes being explored. Each performer was consumed with their own existence, aware of every physical detail. Projected imagery rushed by, flickering subliminally. It called to mind a train speeding through tunnels, and the flashes of light and images in between. 

When the thumping beat started, the reverb rattled the roof and roller doors. Sascha Budimski’s abstract goth-metal soundscape created the intensity required for the performance, as well as providing a challenge for the less experienced dancers to work to. The framework he described of “Late nights and loud noises” was apt. 

Still from Creswick's imagery

Creswick’s visual projections were intended to and succeeded in creating a mood rather than a narrative - to enhance the choreography and dancing rather than overwhelm it. Wavering branches filmed in black and white, like film negatives, sped up and slowed down, as did windswept hair being blown over a dancer’s face. It appeared inspired by old horror movies and recent film noir remakes of Frankenstein and Dracula, complete with red washes. Close ups of skin, eyes and kaleidoscopic imagery covered three walls of the Vault, although tiered seating on three sides of the definitive performance space kept the focus primarily on the rear wall. Each artistic element complemented the distinctly dark and gritty aesthetic of the production. 

The dance itself is about mettle - what is it, how do we embody it, has the meaning changed over generations? The dancers had not heard the expression “testing your mettle” so were starting from scratch in finding what that meaning was to them and depicted having their mettle tested against various processes - birth, the act of being, each other, self and circumstance. 

Dancers wrestled with each other, butting heads like fighting animals - their strength and balance genuinely impressive. From individual and combative movement the dancers eventually found a rhythmic communal and supportive way of moving and interacting. The same poses of combat morphed into yoga warrior poses. A segment invoking stoicism and mindful intention utilised martial arts and tai chi style movement. In the final stages, the ensemble moved around the space, army-like, with a determinism and almost threatening intensity to it, contrasting zen with zombie apocalypse.

Each solo was exemplary and the partnering work was strong and seamless. Charlie Thomson’s flair and ability to push each movement to the limit stood out. There was a degree of violence in the choreographic vocabulary, with combative, jerking movements and a relentless physical pursuit of exhaustion, reflective of the style and stamina in current professional contemporary productions. 

The choreographers and dancers intimate the collective versus the individual, observer and participant, intensity versus respite, sensory deprivation and overstimulation, dissension and assent. 

This highly collaborative work achieved an impressively cohesive and balanced performance across the age, experience and skill of the dancers, (all current or previous dance students), where most of them were on stage for the majority of the industry standard 60 minute, uninterrupted work. No concessions were given to the younger dancers and they rose to the challenge. 

The production style and length of Mettle was likely the most physically taxing undertaking of these dancers, who noted how much their strength, focus and endurance, work ethic and collaboration skills grew during the seven month rehearsal period and the pleasure in finding their own movement repertoire within the theme. 

Every person involved brought a super impressive standard of production, choreography, execution and team work - and a steely resolve in creating and presenting Mettle. 

Images of dress rehearsal by Olivia Wikner 

insta:ojwikner_photography

Canberra Contemporary Photographic Prize 2026

Visual Art Exhibition Review | Brian Rope

Canberra Contemporary Photographic Prize 2026 I Various Artists

Photo Access I 16 July – 15 August 2026

The Canberra Contemporary Photographic Prize is an annual competition event conducted by Photo Access which results in an exhibition celebrating both emerging and established talents in photo media. Open to photographers worldwide, regardless of experience level, it showcases new perspectives in contemporary photography, offering a kaleidoscopic view of photographic art.

Forty finalists’ artworks are on display. The winning piece this year is 엄마의 초상화 (Portrait of My Mother), 2026 by Estelle Yoon. At the opening, after this was announced, I was one of many people who went in to check it out and overheard several of them querying how it could possibly be a portrait of the artist’s mother - given that there was no physical person in the image. Rather it is a photograph of an empty chair at the edge of an otherwise empty structure overlooking a frozen lake with part of a bridge in the background. So the questions in the viewers minds were fair enough.

Estelle Yoon - 엄마의 초상화 (Portrait of My Mother), 2026, glass, 35mm photograph, 43 x 28 cm

(image courtesy photo access)

However, referral to the artist’s statement answers everything. The location is the artist’s late mother’s childhood home. She imagined her mother sitting there. The print is on glass, thus mirroring the fragile nature of our memories. The portrait attempts to hold on to what is gone. So, in my view, this artwork is a worthy choice by the judges.

There are, inevitably, numerous other works that might be selected as the best by different viewers. But that’s the way it always is with competitions. From the forty works selected as finalists, I felt that a large number of them would have been serious contenders and I’m glad I didn’t have to make the choice. I don’t have room to discuss all of them, but here are my comments about a small selection of the others.

Lisa Jayne Cramer’s work is also about a mother, but a very different one. Hidden Mother I-III, 2026 is a triptych which tells a powerful story about the artist’s desire to be a mother which never eventuated despite years of persistence. Her dream, her hoped for role as a mother, sadly evaporated leaving her to grieve, to let go, to care for herself rather than the child she wanted. As a person who adopted children because we couldn’t produce our own, this work spoke loudly to me.

Lisa Jayne Cramer - Hidden Mother I-III, 2026, archival pigment print, 41.2 × 97.6 cm
(image courtesy photo access)

Danica Chappell’s Kaleidoscope series, 2025 is another delightful triptych. I think this is the first time I have seen an albumen work that is hand-coloured on vintage typewriter paper. I love the fact that the artist has flouted the long-held “rule” that light-sensitive paper or film should never be touched. That was drummed into my head years ago, along with the need to ensure our workspaces in darkrooms and water used in processing were all clean. Experimentation is how, as artists, people learn and develop new skills – and produce this type of most interesting work.

Danica Chappell - Kaleidoscope series, 2025, albumen,
hand coloured on vintage typewriter paper, 41.5 x 97.8 cm
(image courtesy photo access)

It is partly for the same reason that I enjoyed Resurfacing Roots, 2025 by Anna Kiparis. She used Maribyrnong River mud water to submerge her analogue film photographs of the landscape to mirror and commemorate the impacts of the 2022 Maribyrnong River flood. The resultant artwork shown in this exhibition speaks clearly to us.

Anna Kiparis - Resurfacing Roots, 2025, Maribyrnong River mud water,
pigment ink on cotton rag, 80 x 55 cm
(image courtesy photo access)

Josh Hughes has produced a most interesting video work titled How do you move?, 2026. It focusses exclusively on isolated body parts (the hands, feet, and mouth). It pushes and pulls, pitting ‘opposing actions’ against each other and revealing a grey area in between. It is well worth spending 4 minutes 38 seconds to view and listen to it all.

Josh Hughes - How do you move?, 2026, single-channel digital video, sound, 00:04:38
installation dimensions variable
(image courtesy photo access)

The final artwork I will specifically mention is Together/Apart, 2025 by Ryan Dandelion. It is simply a contact silver gelatin print of a dry glass plate negative which cracked as he removed it from the holder to tray develop. The crack passed through the stone of a ring upon a pair of crossed hands. That simple mishap spoke to the artist, saying “Together yet forever apart.”

Ryan Dandelion - Together/Apart, 2025, silver gelatin print, 25.4 x 20.3 cm
(image courtesy photo access)

There is so much of interest amongst the forty works on display. The exhibition is well worth a visit, but if you are not able to get there you can (at the time of my writing this) see all the actual works (not installation views of them) and read the artist statements here.

This review is also available on the author's blog.

METTLE - Quantum Leap Australia - The Vault - Canberra.

 

Chloe Curtis - Charlie Thomson - Una Miletic - Ahlia Jesu-Koehler and dancers in "METTLE"

Directed by Alice Lee Holland – Choreographed by Alice Lee Holland and Jack Ziesing.

Sound Design: Sasha Budimski – Visual Design: Creswick

Costume Design: Aleisa Jelbart

Performed by Paige Caddaye – Mieke Clode – Chloe Curtis – Maya Farrall - Juliette Feerick – Maya Hughes Brownell – Ahlia Jesu-Koehler – Jahna Lugnan – Anna Maksimova – Una Miletic – Reuben Reynolds - Charlie Thomson – Delphi Uzubalis

Presented by Quantum Leap Australia – The Vault - Canberra – July 24^th to 26^th, 2026

Matinee Performance on July 25^th reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

The raw industrial vibe of the vast metal and concrete structure known as The Vault in the Dairy Road Precinct is fast becoming embraced by dance makers and visual artists as a source of inspiration and challenge.

The latest creative to be inspired by the opportunities offered by The Vault is Alice Lee Holland, who chose The Vault as central to her inspiration for “Mettle”, her second major dance work since taking over as Artistic Director for Quantum Leap Australia.

To create “Mettle”, Holland built her work on an ensemble cast of 12 young dancers of widely ranging skills and experience. Their ages ranged through ages 10 to 17 years and were described in the printed program as Cast and Co-creators. In addition, included in the cast was an older, experienced dancer described as Cast and Artistic Associate.

Delphi Uzubalis - Chloe Curtis - Reuben Reynolds - Jahna Lugnan in METTLE

Leading the team of professional creatives, consisting of Jack Ziesing, with whom she shared choreographic duties, Aleisa Jelbart (Costume Design, Creswick (Visual Design), Sascha Budimski (Sound design), Ninian Donald (Production Manager) and Jahna Lugnan (Dancer and Artistic Associate), she tasked all of them to consider not only the venue but also the many permeations of the word, mettle, when working together on the creation of “Mettle”.

As the lights came up on the finished work, which began in darkness, a post-apocalyptic aesthetic was quickly established.  The dancers were lined up against the back wall, their faces expressionless, and each wearing a costume which appeared to have been made from discarded clothing.

As “Mettled” continued it became obvious that while this was indeed the case, each garment was a cleverly designed, individual construction, cleverly layered to move beautifully and each accessorised with an individual grunge hairstyle.

Slowly the line began to move forward, zombie-like, until one-by-one, single dancers broke away to writhe or collapse unsettlingly. Some began to push and shove the person nearest them and two boys began to challenge each other with experimental fisticuffs.

Reuben Reynolds - Charlie Thomson - Paige Caddaye and dancers in METTLE

As the work continued, the ensemble formed groups and performed abstract solos, inspired by 10 scene titles - Descent – Overwhelm – Pushed – Buried- The Cave – Forming – Discipline – Drive – Mettle.

Each scene was differentiated by striking visuals projected onto three of the four surrounding walls and enhanced by a compelling soundscape which echoed the mood.

For the final section the whole ensemble was involved in executing an exhilarating extended sequence of demanding choreographic movements.

For this section, any attempt at polished unison movement was dispensed in favour of each member completing each movement to the best of their own individual ability.

It was impossible not to be impressed by the potential, concentration, commitment and stamina of the whole ensemble as it worked its way through the testing material to create this highly individual original work.

                                 Photos by Olivia Wikner - O&J Wikner Photography

                        This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW.

     

 

THE EDGE - The Training Ground - Erindale Theatre

 

Emily McCoy (c) and the ensemble in The Training Ground production of "The Edge"

THE EDGE – The Training Ground – Erindale Theatre

Produced – Directed – Choreographed – Costume Design – Lighting Design – Music Editing:  by Bonnie Neate & Suzi Piani.

Lighting Design Associate & Special Effects: Alex Clifford

Music Editing Associate: Rob Aspinall.

Videography, Short Films & 3D Animation – Trent Houssenloge & Chris Curran

 Aerial Rigging: Jack Costigan – Audio & Digital Surround Sound: Ben Novak

Presented by The Training Ground – Erindale Theatre July 24^th & 25^th 2026.

Opening night performance on July 24^th reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

Emily McCoy in "The Edge"

Established by dance educators and choreographers, Bonnie Neate and Suzy Piani, The Training Ground is a six-month intensive pre-professional contemporary dance program.

Designed specifically for exceptional contemporary dancers across the ACT and neighbouring regions, the program is designed as a pathway between studio-based training and essential preparation for those pursuing tertiary education or professional dance opportunities. 

The culmination of the program each year is a professionally produced original dance work which has become one of the highlights of the Canberra dance calendar.

The production this year was entitled “The Edge”, an abstract loss-of-innocence work in two-acts which traces the experiences of a starry-eyed young employee who becomes caught up in corporate power struggles which threaten to crush her ambitions and her mental health.

An ensemble work performed by an all-female cast of fourteen dancers, “The Edge” features exemplary, meticulously rehearsed, unison movement, demanding floorwork and strikingly choreographed solos and duets, supporting four principal dancers around whom the storyline revolves.

McCoy (Employee A) - Stella Woods (The Conscience) in "The Edge".

As Employee A, the ambitious young employee, Emily McCoy, costumed in a smart grey office uniform, commences the work, alone in a spotlight. Her solo suggests her optimism and enthusiasm for her new job.

Her new colleagues join her, all costumed the same as Employee A but in black and appearing rather less enthusiastic as they arrive for work.  All crowd into a lift which transports them to the work floor, where desks descend simultaneously from the ceiling and they begin unison repetitive tasks.

 

McCoy, who has already been offered a place in New York’s Joffery Ballet School’s 2026/2027 Summer School Intensives, in both the Contemporary and Classical ballet programs, as well as a scholarship for the Classical Ballet program, gives a captivating performance.

Already a superb dancer, she is also a gifted actor, capable of interpreting her character’s journey through youthful enthusiasm and growing disillusionment, before finally rebelling against the crushing of her ambitions.

McCoy is well matched by the three other dancers who play the characters influencing Employee A’s journey. Emma Prail plays the Office Manager who recognises Employee A’s potential and encourages her. Stella Woods is her conscience, who mirrors and questions Employee A’s decisions as she climbs the corporate ladder.

Tia Neate (The Upstairs) - Emma Prail (Office Manager) in "The Edge"

Tia Neate exhibits a remarkable dramatic presence as the powerful corporate boss known simply as The Upstairs, who attempts to force Employee A into the mould she has created for all her employees.

The storyline for “The Edge” is complex, often surreal, with demanding, abstract choreography by Neate and Piani, supported by extraordinary production values, brilliantly executed lighting and extraordinary projections and special effects, impeccable costuming and music choices. It also offers challenges for individual interpretation by its audience.

Emily McCoy (Employee A) and ensemble in "The Edge".

 

So while the creative purpose driving each production by The Training Ground, is to test and display the talents of each participating dancer and train each dancer in the skills necessary to adapt their individual talents to the visions of choreographers with whom they will likely work during professional careers, “The Edge” also provides a memorable evening of remarkable dance making.

    

                                           Photos by Eliza Swiderski..ES Fotografi

                     This review also published in AUSTRALIAN DANCE REVIEW.

 

THE GLASS MENAGERIE

 

 The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams.  

Directed by Geoffrey Borny. Designed by Sarea Coates. Costume design by Anna Senior. Brenton Warren Properties. Lighting Design Craig Muller. Sound Design Nev Pye. Stage Manager Julie Barnes and Mae Schembri. Set Coordinator Russell Brown OAM. Accent Coach Tony Turner. Intimacy Coordinator Jill Young. Canberra REP Theatre. Canberra Repertory Society. July 24 – August 8 2026. Bookings 62571950 or 62474222.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Canberra Rep could hope for no better person than Geoffrey Borny to direct Rep’s production of Tennessee Williams’s memory play The Glass Menagerie. Not only does he hold a PhD in Williams’ works but he is also a former head of the now defunct ANU Drama Faculty. What he and his cast and creatives have produced is a perfect homage to Williams’ deeply revelatory insight into the life of the Wingfield family during the time of the Great depression in 1930s St. Louis. At the end of Tom Wingfield’s final regretful and guilt-ridden monologue I am left with a profound sense of loss, of entrapment and life as fragile as Laura Wingfield’s glass menagerie, as neurotic as Amanda Wingfield’s allusion to the gay life of the Southern belle and as suffocating as Tom’s work at the Continental Shoe Warehouse. 

Jamie Johnston as Laura. Rob de Fries as Tom in The Glass Menagerie"

 

The Glass Menagerie is a play about family, based in part on Williams’ own family, his mother the histrionic Edwina, portrayed in the creation of Amanda (Victoria Tyrrell Dixon), his sister Rose who is partially realized in his portrayal of the insecure and shy Laura (Jamie Johnston) and himself as Tom (Rob de Fries). What is captured so powerfully in this production is the character’s urge to escape. Tom escapes to the movies. Laura escapes to her glass menagerie. Amanda escapes to the glamour magazines and a bygone era of carefree Southern gaiety. Even Jim O’ Connor (John Whinfield), the gentleman caller plans to escape to the fledgling world of television. Tom and Laura’s father Cornelius has also escaped to roam the country with a telephone exchange company, never to return. His lit portrait hangs upon the wall as a reminder of the search for something else. For Tom it lies in his future dream to be a writer. For Amanda it is in the past glory of her youth. For Laura it is the vain hope that she may find love with her schoolgirl crush, O’Connor.

Laura (Jamie Johnston) and Amanda (Victoria Tyrrell Dixon)

 

Borny’s direction is meticulous, imbuing the production and the cast with a deep understanding of Williams’s emotional reflections. Nev Pye’s sound design and musical selection guides our response, heightening our reaction to the moment and transporting us to the magical realm of memory. Projected silent movie captions flash images and words upon a screen to remind us that we are witnessing a recollected memory of a family through Tom’s eyes. What we are seeing is Williams’ struggle played out through the actions and motivations of his characters and revealed through Tom’s narration. It is disturbing, moving and a profoundly insightful observation of human nature.

John Whinfield as Jim O'Connor. Jamie Johnston as Laura Wingfield 

 

The Glass Menagerie, like Cat On A Hot Tin Roof or A Streetcar Named Desire are studies in family dynamics. Although Rep’s staging of The Glass Menagerie is an amateur production the casting is crucial and Borny has chosen an excellent cast to capture the spirit and the nature of Williams’s characters and entice understanding and empathy. Tom’s final monologue exposes the regret and remorse at abandoning his sister, but it is left to Laura to blow out the candles and extinguish hope in the play’s final moment. It is a shattering moment that will stay with you long after you have left the theatre. As will Jamie Johnston’s performance of Laura. It is heart wrenching, beautifully understated and exquisitely nuanced. It provides a perfect foil to Whinfield’s confident O’Connor. The long scene in Act Two between Laura and O’Connor is thoroughly engaging, moving and ultimately devastating. It is performed brilliantly by Whinfield and Johnston.

John Whinfield (Jim O'Connor), Victoria Tyrrell Dixon (Amanda ) Rob de Fries (Tom)

As Amanda, Tyrrell Dixon bristles with the neurosis of Williams’ female protagonists – Maggie the Cat, Blanche Duboit and Amanda Wingfield. Tyrrell Dixon scales the heights of elation and the depths of anguish in a performance that reveals Williams’ painful memories of a woman, trapped in a life of unrequited hope. Hers is the tragedy of vanquished expectation. Williams’ creation of Tom Wingfield presents a challenge. As the Narrator of the story his reflections with hindsight must contrast with his appearance as the young Tom in the recalled action of the play. As narrator Tom, de Fries effectively captures the wry humour and detached recollection of the older narrator. As the young 23 year old Tom de Fries’ characterization is honest enough, but there is the impetuosity of youth missing in the physicality of his character. I was hoping for greater contrast between the escapee and the entrapped Tom. In 1945 Eddie Dowling was 55 when he played Tom in the original Broadway production. It is a question of differentiating more the younger and the older Tom. de Fries honestly portrays the emotional shift. Physically, there is a youthfulness that is yet to come.

Canberra REP’s production of The Glass Menagerie is a splendid Tennessee Williams showcase performance, directed by a master of playwright’s works and performed by a cast that embrace the essential humanity of the play’s characters. The times change, but Borny’s production of The Glass Menagerie teaches as does any great work of the stage that human nature is not defined by the passing of time but by the actions of humans.

If you are a theatre lover, a student of theatre and acting or a teacher and student of dramatic literature do not miss this opportunity to see a true production of Tennessee Williams’ classic memory play.

Photos by Ross Gould 

 

 

 

 

THE GLASS MENAGERIE

 

Written by Tennessee Williams

Directed by Geoffrey Borny

Canberra REP production

Canberra REP Theatre, Acton to 8 August.

 

Reviewed by Len Power 24 July 2026

 

Originally produced in 1944, this first play by Tennessee Williams has many autobiographical elements. Pressured to remove non-realistic staging devices from that first production, Williams clearly preferred his original version, eventually publishing it in his Collected Works. This new Canberra REP production provides the opportunity to see Williams’ original vision of the play.

During the Depression in the 1930s, Amanda Wingfield lives in a romanticized past. Her son, Tom, yearns for adventure while her shy, slightly handicapped daughter retreats into a comforting world of glass animals. Conflict arises with Amanda’s unrealistic and overbearing dreams for her children. The story is presented as emotionally charged memories by Tom, who warns the audience at the outset that it is “not realistic”.

John Whinfield (Jim), Victoria Tyrell Dixon (Amanda) and Rob de Fries (Tom)

A strong cast of four bring Williams’ characters triumphantly to life. As Amanda, Victoria Tyrell Dixon gives a touching portrait of this fading Southern belle. Yearning for an era that will never return, she achieves the unique style of this woman through a believable delivery of her dialogue and portrayal of her physical attitudes. Her Jonquils soliloquy is particularly memorable.

John Whinfield (Jim) and Jamie Johnston (Laura)

As the son, Tom Wingfield, Rob de Fries shows a deep and appealing understanding of this dreamer remembering his past. Jamie Johnston gives a sweetly touching performance as the fragile daughter, Laura, and John Whinfield is cooly confident as the Gentleman Caller, Jim O’Connor.

The meticulous direction by Geoffrey Borny has achieved a fine level of realistic performances from his cast. His use of lighting and sound to enforce the memory aspects of the play is particularly successful. Anna Senior’s fine period costumes help to bring the characters to life.

 

Photos by Ross Gould

 

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.