| Premiere | 12 October, 1991 |
| Venue | St Kilda Rd & Victorian Arts Centre precinct, Melbourne |
THE CROSSING was commissioned by the Melbourne International Arts Festival, 1991 as part of its opening celebrations and for daily performance throughout the Festival.
It was devised for performance in the Festival's Opening Parade and in the city streets and parklands in St Kilda Road and the Victorian Arts Centre precinct.
The work was a street play, written and directed by David Baird. It was an apocryphal tale of the passage from Winter to Spring in which a strange caravan of characters wandered the face of the earth, on a quest to locate and cross the 'edge' of the seasons. Their purpose, to release the Sun from the evil grip of Winter.
THE CROSSING blended storytelling, music and dance and was performed with puppetry, actors and mask. It first appeared on the Festival opening night, and remained on the streets for the duration of the event.
| Creative team | |
|---|---|
| Writer | David Baird |
| Director | David Baird |
| Design | Ken Evans, Paul Newcombe, Ingrid Maganov, John Rogers |
| Composer | David Baird |
| Musical arrangements | Boris Conley |
| Performers | |
|---|---|
| Winter | Paul Judd |
| Heroic Spring | David Adamson |
| Taleteller | Winston Appleyard |
| Exotic Woman | Annie Wylie |
| Exotic Creature | Susan Blakey |
| Doctor | Avril McQueen |
| Maiden | Susan Bamford |
| Musikmeister | Boris Conley |
| Production team | |
|---|---|
| Realisation | Ken Evans, Paul Newcombe, Ingrid Maganov, John Rogers |
| Cartwheel Construction | Colin Orchard |
| Season | |
|---|---|
| 12 - 28 October 1991 | St Kilda Rd & Victorian Arts Centre precinct, Melbourne |
| Total performances | 30 |
| Total audience | 4500 |