If you had the ability to travel back in time and correct your past mistakes, would you? Forming part of the September season of UnWrapped at the Sydney Opera House, AUTO-TUNE examines how life-altering our choices can be.
Set in Wagga Wagga in the early 2000s, the performance follows Michael (Mark Rogers), a young Silverchair fan, his best mate Andy (Liam ‘Snowy’ Halliwell) and the girl he has a crush on Brooke Torinni (Ashley Bundang). It’s a story about friendship, about that time in your life where responsibilities are low and starting a band with your mates is the norm.
Presented by re:group performance collective, the show takes the form of a rock concert, or ‘gig-theatre’ where the story is told through 17 tracks. It is during a performance at school assembly that Michael realises he has a strange superpower – the ability to auto-tune his life and correct past mistakes via a portal. The song which specifically references this portal is a particular highlight.
Also referred to as an ‘auto-tune opera’, AUTO-TUNE transported me back to the awkwardness of my adolescence. Despite being set in the early 2000s, the performance touched on numerous 90s references, such as Silverchair and Limp Bizkit, but it was the song about Healthy Harold which tugged on the nostalgic heartstrings.
Directed and designed by Solomon Thomas, the audio-visual element was an hilarious touch. It was reminiscent of watching Video Hits on a Saturday morning and seeing your favourite bands music video, but with the addition of live captions.
Written and performed by Mark Rogers, his ease on stage and comedic timing is impeccable. There was an interesting balance between the serious and the frivolous which gave the impression that underneath the humour, the cultural nostalgia and the wolf mask, a more serious message was hiding. When we look back at our lives, would we make the same mistakes? Is there value in our mistakes? What would correcting them mean for the life we lead now?
Having already hinted that I was a teenager in the 90s, I wonder if it comes as any surprise that my middle age ears recoiled at the sheer volume of the music played. Appreciating the performance is designed to be loud, that it suits the overall atmosphere being created, it became almost uncomfortable. The show is definitely targeting a niche – if you’re in that group, it’ll feel like coming home – if not, well, maybe take some earplugs.
AUTO-TUNE was like a fever dream, a complete mess, a catastrophe of sounds and sights, of laughs and lows, a riotous party full of cultural cliches and rock anthems. And I would 100% see it again.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
AUTO-TUNE will play at the Sydney Opera House until 7 September 2024. For more information and to buy tickets head to the Sydney Opera House website.
Reviewer attended on 4 September 2024.
Photos: Ravyna Jassani
