In 1884, George Seurat made a science of art, striving to transform the way we understand colour and light. In 1984, another (fictional) artist named George unveiled his seventh Chromolume, and grappled with the challenge of breaking through to something new. And in 2019, Dean Drieberg and I found ourselves in precisely the same position, presenting Sondheim and Lapine’s Pulitzer, Tony and Olivier award-winning musical, Sunday in the Park with George to audiences across Melbourne and Victoria. The work is a masterpiece in its own right, but we had no interest in simply remounting it; we wanted it to resonate for an intersectional, twenty-first century audience. 

The vagaries of representation – who is included, distorted or entirely erased from the canvas (screen/ stage) – as well the diametrically opposed notions of eternity/ legacy that are explored in the work via the characters of George and Dot were rich starting points for us. Children and art are the key ideas that intersect over and over; the respective axis ascribed to each make sense of the musical's diptych structure and the final moments or ‘eternal present’ of its resolution. Now when I think of Sunday, our darling friend Ange Lumicisi is eternally suspended there: her soaring voice, her laughter as well as the tears of happiness she shed at our first company sing through.

Presented by Watch This; Co-director, Dean Drieberg; Musical Direction, Ned Wright-Smith; Choreography; Zoee Marsh; Set Design, Sarah Tulloch; Costume Design, Rhiannon Irving; Lighting Design, Rob Sowinski; AV Design, Milked Studios & Dean Drieberg. Sound Design, Marcello Lo Ricco; Photography, Jodie Hutchinson.