Scary Piece of Work comes to the Sydney Opera House as choreographer Martin del Amo explores fear through movement, storytelling and shadow.
Even before the audience takes their seats, there is a certain tension in the theatre at the Sydney Opera House. The stage sits almost bare, the dark space suggesting possibility rather than spectacle. Somewhere above, a single light flickers to life, tracing the edges of the floor like a cautious search.
Fear, after all, rarely arrives with warning.
In Scary Piece of Work, choreographer and performer Martin del Amo steps alone into that uncertain space. The performance – presented by the Sydney Opera House in association with Performance Space and produced by FORM Dance Projects – takes one of humanity’s most universal emotions and places it under the theatre lights.
What follows is neither traditional dance nor conventional storytelling, but something that shifts between both. Movement becomes narrative. Sound becomes atmosphere. And fear – elusive, irrational, protective – becomes the central character.
Scary Piece Of Work And The Language Of Fear
Fear has always been difficult to describe. It lives somewhere between instinct and imagination, appearing suddenly in everyday moments or slowly creeping in through the quiet corners of the mind.
In Scary Piece of Work, Martin del Amo approaches this emotion with curiosity rather than dread. The performance moves through a series of shifting scenes where gesture, voice, and light interact in unpredictable ways.
Spotlights drift across the stage like watchful eyes. Sounds appear without warning, echoing through the theatre. Even the performer’s voice begins to change shape, bending and distorting as if pulled into unfamiliar territory.
This sonic transformation comes in part from the intricate voice design created by Marcus Whale. Meanwhile, sound artist Gail Priest layers the performance with subtle disturbances – low rumbles, sudden bursts, fragments of melody that vanish before they fully settle.
Together, these elements create a landscape where fear feels both theatrical and strangely personal.
Martin Del Amo And The Strange Theatre Of Scary Piece Of Work
Known for blending physical performance with storytelling, Martin del Amo has spent years exploring the space where dance meets narrative. Scary Piece of Work continues that exploration, but with a darker sense of humour.
The performance has been described as a kind of fever dream. One moment, the stage suggests the glamour of classic dance routines – something reminiscent of Fred Astaire gliding across a polished floor. The next moment, the atmosphere slips into shadow, echoing the eerie silhouettes of early cinema monsters.
The contrast is intentional. Fear often moves between absurdity and seriousness, between comedy and dread.
In Scary Piece of Work, these contrasts collide. A graceful dance phrase may suddenly twist into something awkward or uneasy. A moment of stillness may dissolve into rapid movement. The stage itself appears to shift alliances, lighting transforming familiar space into something uncertain.
Lighting designer Frankie Clarke amplifies this sense of transformation, creating noir-inspired shadows that drift across the performance like fragments of an old thriller.
Scary Piece Of Work In An Uncertain World
Although the performance plays with theatrical imagery, its central theme feels unmistakably contemporary.
In recent years, fear has become an almost constant background presence in daily life – appearing in news headlines, global events, and private anxieties. Yet fear is not always destructive. Sometimes it protects, guiding instinct and caution.
At other times, it lingers too long.
Scary Piece of Work gently explores these contradictions. Through humour, movement, and unexpected shifts in tone, the performance asks quiet questions: When does fear keep us safe? When does it prevent us from moving forward? And when does it become something we learn to live beside?
Rather than offering answers, the performance invites the audience into the experience itself.
The Theatre As Dreamscape
Inside the theatre at the Sydney Opera House, the world outside fades quickly once the lights dim.
The harbour continues its rhythm beyond the glass walls of the building – ferries moving across the water, wind brushing the sails of the famous roofline – but within the theatre, attention narrows to the stage.
Here, Scary Piece of Work unfolds like a dream that keeps shifting shape.
Movement gives way to spoken reflection. Comedy slips into something unsettling. Music emerges, dissolves, and reappears in altered form. The audience becomes part witness, part participant, navigating the uncertain territory alongside the performer.
This sense of immersion reflects the collaborative work of several artistic partners. Alongside Performance Space and FORM Dance Projects, the project has been supported by a network of creative institutions across New South Wales, including initiatives that nurture experimental performance and contemporary dance.
The result is a performance that feels intimate despite its ambitious themes.
After The Final Light
When the performance reaches its closing moments, the stage slowly returns to stillness. The lights soften. The sounds fade.
What remains is a quiet awareness of the strange terrain the audience has just travelled – a place where humour, anxiety, imagination, and movement intersect.
Outside, the night air around Sydney Opera House carries the cool scent of the harbour. People step onto the promenade, their conversations drifting across the water.
Fear may have been the subject of the evening, but what lingers is something subtler: the recognition that even our most unsettling emotions can be shaped into art, shared in a room, and gently examined together.
For a brief moment, the things that haunt us become something we can watch, question, and perhaps even laugh at.
Event Details
Scary Piece of Work
Choreographed and Performed by: Martin del Amo
Presented by: Sydney Opera House
In association with: Performance Space
Produced by: FORM Dance Projects
Location:
Sydney Opera House
Sound Design: Gail Priest
Voice Design: Marcus Whale
Lighting Design: Frankie Clarke
Tickets and Information: https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/scary-piece-of-work?promoCode=190361