A tram ride through fear, memory and survival: VIGIL arrives at Arts House this April

This April, Melbourne audiences will have the chance to step inside a powerful new work that transforms one of the city’s most familiar spaces into something far more unsettling.

Premiering at Arts House from April 22 to May 3, VIGIL is a bold new production by Outer Urban Projects that explores what safety really means and who gets to feel it.

Set aboard a tram moving through the city, the work follows a group of passengers whose lives and experiences collide in unexpected ways. Some carry memories of war, exile and political upheaval, while others are simply heading out for a night in town. As their journeys unfold, the tram becomes a space charged with tension, grief, memory and uneasy coexistence.

At its core, VIGIL asks urgent questions about violence, belonging and whose lives are protected, or ignored, in public space.

Described as a large-scale multidisciplinary theatre work, the production brings together performance, movement, music and community storytelling to examine the fault lines of race, gender, fear and everyday life in the city.

The project features a major creative team, with writing by Bryan Andy, Kush Kuiy, Sahra Davoudi, Samah Sabawi and Patricia Cornelius, and is led by director and composer Irine Vela, with choreography by Tara Jade Samaya.

The production also includes an ensemble of actors, dancers, musicians and designers, alongside the El Amal Arabic-speaking women’s ensemble from Banksia Gardens Community Services, grounding the work in lived experience and collective memory.

Many of the artists involved bring personal and cultural histories to the production, with the work shaped by stories connected to South Sudan, Iran and Palestine, while also acknowledging the truths of First Nations Australia.

Outer Urban Projects artistic director Irine Vela said the work was intended as both a tribute and a provocation.

VIGIL is a collective homage to real acts of loss, of protest and our impulse to honour lives that have been forgotten, she said.

For Arts House, the production continues a strong focus on socially engaged and politically resonant contemporary performance.

Arts House head of programming Naomi Velaphi described VIGIL as an ambitious work that stretches beyond traditional theatre.

“VIGIL is an expansive and courageous project that bridges film, performance and community practice,” she said.

“It invites audiences to think about safety, risk, empathy and complicity in ways that resonate far beyond the theatre.”

Alongside the live performance, audiences can also experience a free film installation of the award-winning short dance film VIGIL, running from April 9 to May 1 at Arts House.

Directed by Pippa and Tara Jade Samaya, known as the Samaya Wives, and featuring an original score by Irine Vela, the film explores the ripple effects of gender-based violence through immersive movement, sound and image.

It also offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the ideas and creative process behind the wider project.

With its tram setting, community collaboration and urgent political themes, VIGIL shapes as one of the more thought-provoking additions to Melbourne’s autumn arts calendar.

VIGIL runs at Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall, from April 22 to May 3, with the film installation on display from April 9 to May 1. Tickets are on sale now via Arts House. •