Image: Joshua Morris

The Nightline

Roslyn Oades & Bob Scott

Roslyn Oades is a Naarm-based theatremaker known for her pioneering work in headphone-verbatim and audio-driven performance. She harbours an ongoing fascination with innovative forms of creative-nonfiction storytelling, and in 2019 received a special Green Room Award for Technical Achievement in acknowledgement of her innovative audio-theatre works. Roslyn’s productions have been commissioned by RISING, Malthouse, Sydney Festival, Belvoir, Utp, Windmill, Vitalstatistix, Hothouse and 2018 Commonwealth Games. Original works for stage include: Hello, Goodbye & Happy Birthday, I’m Your Man, Creation Creation, Stories of Love & Hate, Fast Cars & Tractor Engines, Cutaway – A Portrait and the immersive work for children, In A Deep Dark Forest. Her theatrical audio installations include: Cell 26, an audio work for a prison bed, Sea Stories, an audio work for sunrise and The Nightline an underground listening club for insomniacs commissioned by RISING 2021 and presented at Adelaide Festival, Sydney Festival and Bleach Festival in 2022.

Bob Scott is an internationally-awarded audio engineer, music producer and sound designer with over 20 years experience in music production, immersive mixing, theatre sound design, location recording, broadcast, film and audio consultation in Australia, Europe and Asia. He’s collaborated with Roslyn Oades on many projects including Hello, Goodbye & Happy Birthday, I’m Your Man and Stories of Love & Hate. Other recent works include Sound Design for Sydney Chamber Opera’s Howling Girls, Sound Design for Brett Dean’s Hamlet, audio post for Australian Chamber Opera & Jennifer Peedom’s films Mountain and River, and Johnny Greenwood & Australian Chamber Opera’s Water. Bob is a recipient of various ARIA awards, Greenroom Awards, an Art Music award, a Tokyo Festival International Competition for Theatre award and an Australian Sound Guild Award.

    ABOUT THE PROJECT

    Hundreds of voices, recorded under the cover of dark, wait for you in a mysterious listening club… Down a back lane in the heart of the city, a concierge leads you into a rundown venue full of low-lit tables for one. Placed before each guest is an old, rotary-style telephone and switchboard. This is your direct connection to THE NIGHTLINE—a collection of over 1000, real-life, anonymous voice messages left between midnight and 6am. The messages, interwoven with a sound score, are just for you, no two guests will have the same experience.

    THE NIGHTLINE’s special hotline has received messages from lone truckers on the highways, pokie-winners and bored shift workers; as well as insomniacs, night owls and new parents. Musical serenades and poems; angry rants and confessions of love. Find companionship with the sleepless—pick up the handset and let the night speak to you.

    At the heart of THE NIGHTLINE is a creative partnership between award-winning collaborators, documentary theatremaker Roslyn Oades and sound artist Bob Scott, in what is their fifth innovative audio-theatre project. In the spirit of creative non-fiction, THE NIGHTLINE sees them recompose from reality to conjure up an unsettling journey through the night and a temporary community made of those still awake after midnight: the restless, the sleepless, the hosts and the guardians. The work draws on field recordings, phone messages, composition and interactive design to create a highly-crafted and immersive 40minute audio experience. Maximum capacity is 45 guests/session, and the work can run up to 4 times in an evening.

    Session Times
    PROFILE: Here’s What We Made
    Thursday 8 June

    CONTACT

    Roslyn Oades
    roslynoades@gmail.com