Are You Scared Of Me?

a musical by Sean Curham Entertainment. Ghosting Part 6.

A psychic, a dancer and a choir

A documentary, a musical, an adventure

What do a 200kg psychic named Maureen, a Touch Compass dancer, and a Sweet Adelines chorus have in common?

A choreographer. Sean Curham; who likes a beer, his border collie cross, a good days surf at Karekare, Piha, or Bethells (depends of the break), and who has a twenty year friendship with the people of the Auckland Old Folk's Association. In other words a man who epitomises what this show is all about – the quirks, oddities, and joys of what we call community.

 Sean Curham's work (including Greenland, Bedrock, Speedy Horse and Boxed Spring Picture) is always unexpected. Previous shows have featured 20 cubic metres of cotton wool, two tonnes of icing sugar and salt, and a Cook Strait swim in a paddling pool. He is generally viewed by the arts community as well-kept secret (if a little odd).

 Are You Scared Of Me? combines a car, exploding balloon, a doll called 'Sally Happy Talk', a mihi to Jonathan Richman, and a few divine prophecies from 'Maureen' the 200kg psychic medium.

A special feature of the show is the remarkable musicality of the Greater Auckland Chorus, an eighty strong chorus of Sweet Adelines singing unaccompanied Barbershop style four-part harmonies, who add a strong does of musical showmanship and theatricality to the evening.

 “The audience sits within the chorus for this show – they're surrounded by the singers, giving them a glimpse of the technical virtuosity of this group. You get to see the individuals who make up this unified whole and experience the intensity of their sound.” says Sean.

 Joining these artists is Suzanne Cowan (Touch Compass), a dancer who gives the work a focus around disability – not as a category, but as a singular and unique experience of being in the world. Suzanne says, “We need to start to think about difference in all its messy, generous, and skewy incarnations. We're not all the same and we don't need to be.” It's this complexity, this uniqueness that cannot be shared, that lies at the heart of Are You Scared Of Me?

Maureen, the divine guide, is the 'art figure' in the work – she’s the one exploring the shady limits of experience with a loving and slightly contradictory authority. She’ll show you that which you cannot see yet ensure that you leave feeling comforted and reassured.

"Maureen the psychic is a being from another world, precise, honest and totally in tune with her audience. She could convert the pope". Edinburgh.

 Are You Scared Of Me? is part of Curham's Ghosting Series with support from CNZ, NICAI, Selwyn Foundation, Auckland Old Folks Assoc, Outloud Theatre, MEBA, Creative Communities and Auckland City. Curham, who recently completed a thesis called 'Performing Event in the Everyday: regeneration as art' (Masters in Performance) has no illusions about what he does. "Making art is not accumulative. You don't get any better. It's just a format for participation. It's really my way of joining in. The Ghosting Series is a performance across a huge array of performance situations from virtuosic kids to senior cits sharing stories, scones and tea...”