DreamSong

Glory be to the Father, the Son and to the holy…. DreamSong?

Navigating towards the seats, we were ambushed by a clan of double-denim wearing eccentric individuals. Youth pastors a.k.a. the Dream Team, were busy preparing, distributing hymn books and showering us intensely with excited greetings and praise such as  ‘Welcome to Church!’, ‘Great to see you!’, ‘You’re going to LOVE this!’, ‘Did you bring your wallet?’. The energy was palpable and the monumental LED crucifix was centre stage – the service was about to begin!

Enlightenment, revelations, healings, impressive lighting effects, catchy contemporary Christian pop rock and a tonne of dancing is what Pastor Richard Sunday and his wife, Whitney Sunday –  Australia’s leading Christian Pop Artist – are serving the congregants of the newly formed Mega-Church DreamSong. However, times are tough for the church. Recession has hit. Donations are drying up and people are losing faith. Teaming up with the excruciatingly egotistical Australian Prime Minister, Darren Cunningham, to stage a phoney resurrection may be the church’s only hope. 

DreamSong is presented by the fresh, up-and-coming theatre company EbbFlow whose aim is to create theatre that is alive and moving, theatre that reacts to the world around it, theatre that challenges, teaches and entertains. DreamSong is an original Australian production written by Hugo Chiarella with music by Robert Tripolino. Chiarella states that when devising the show, ‘we were responding to a particular trend that was becoming apparent in the world … we wanted to explore the intersection of faith, politics and media, and how our innate human desire for assurance, leadership and certainty, leaves us vulnerable to the most insidious forms of corruption and manipulation’.

The show was first workshopped and developed in 2010 with the support and assistance of the Victorian College of Arts’ Bachelor of Music Theatre and The Ron and Margaret Dobell Foundation. In 2011, DreamSong made its debut as one of VCA Music Theatre’s graduating productions. The show has undergone significant reworks over the years with its latest edition being performed at one of Melbourne’s most stunning venues, The Alex Theatre in St Kilda.

Nelson Gardner (Ned – A New Australian Musical, The Ghetto Cabaret, The Dressmaker – A Musical Adaption) reprised his role as Pastor Richard Sunday, of which he played in the first-ever staging of DreamSong. Throughout ancient myths and legends, one would often hear of an enchanter who could enslave people with one glance. Gardner is eerily capable of this throughout his performances: ‘There is nobody who understands the DNA of this character in quite the way Nelson does’. 

The show also stars Hugo Chiarella (Book Writer and Lyricist) Annie Aitken (Muriels Wedding, Thoroughly Modern Millie, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) who played the ‘devoted’ Whitney Sunday, was beyond exceptional in her role. Aitken’s Soprano voice came alive and her ability to embody her character.

DreamSong is an audacious comedy that asks deep questions about faith and spirituality through its wickedly satirical depiction of evangelical populist religion, politics and popular culture – and how all of these interweave.

DreamSong
Performed at Alex Theatre, 1/135 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda
ebbflowtheatre.com/dreamsong