O,D,E by Sage J Harlow - a fundraiser

To raise money for the upcoming season of O,D,E at The Blue Room Theatre, we’re throwing a fundraiser concert & hang.

O,D,E is an experimental opera composed and written by mainstay of the Boorloo experimental music scene, Sage J Harlow. It combines weird improvised music, trans & gender theory, black metal, meditation, occultism, magick, and opera, in a way only Sage could!

Come down from 6:30 to hear one of Sage Harlow’s rare and heralded DJ sets, wherein she’ll play Siberian avant-folk, shamanic music, Tuvan throat singing and more out of Astral Weeks’ blessedly O.T.T. sound system.

At 7:30, two members of the opera team will perform two of her rarely played scores: Craig Pedersen (trumpet) will play the poetic falling leaves (2023), and Josten Myburgh (saxophone) will have a go at the comic and provocative thirteen pages of improvisation (2017).

Limited edition O,D,E denim patches made by Bosa & Oli Rawlings for sale, plus some other merch!

About O,D,E

Meditation is a powerful force. O used it for liberation, until their peaceful passing. Their lover E is led astray by power and seeks to bring O back from the dead. They manage—but do not recognise O in their new body, so seek to become Death themself. Death is just doing her job. Until she isn’t. 

O,D,E is a new experimental opera by Sage J Harlow (aka Sage Pbbbt). A queer, occult retelling of Orpheus & Eurydice, grounded in the suffering that comes with simply being alive. Exploring gender and identity, characters change bodies, enter contracts with eternity and howl through the libretto as they do so. 

Underpinned by live music from an ensemble of noisemakers who bring a new meaning to “pit band”, O,D,E fuses the grandeur of opera with lo-fi, weirdo improv and metal aesthetics. 

Full Team

Writing, composition: Sage J Harlow

O: Tiffany Ha, Lara Dorling
D: Michael Banting
E: Charis Postmus

Ensemble: Craig Pedersen, Naoko Uemoto, Saskia Willinge, Jane Stark, Michael Terren, Eduardo Cossio

Producer: Josten Myburgh
Dramaturg (process queen): Dr Jeremy Neideck
Stage Manager: Catherine O’Donoghue
Set: Kelsey D
Costumes: Tia Tokić (Bosa)
Graphic Design: Oliva Joi Rawlings

Accessibility

Astral Weeks is wheelchair accessible at street level, and has a gender-neutral accessible bathroom. It is a small, acoustically treated space, and often feels a bit crowded. The live music will be acoustic and will have a wide dynamic range, including loud and stimulating sections and long silences or quiet passages. The room is indoors and air-conditioned and windows are kept closed, meaning ventilation is limited. Lighting will be low and warm. There will not be a dedicated check-out or quiet space in the venue due to limited space. Free earplugs and N95 masks are available from the person at the door. First Nations & Palestinian folks, and companion card holders, are encouraged to attend for free.

Acknowledgments

O,D,E is produced by Tone List, a Boorloo-based label for exploratory music, in partnership with The Blue Room Theatre.

The creative development has received support from the Western Australian State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sports and Cultural Industries, and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.