Dancers and singers performed in front of a crowd of more than 60 people at the Abraham Mott Hall in Nita McCrae Park in The Rocks and the Chippen Street Theatre in Chippendale, Sydney, as part of the Sydney Fringe Festival.

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Experimental in nature, the show stretched the audience’s understanding of what a multi-media artist and poet can achieve in working on the themes of a poetry collection and applying the ideas to other arts, such as video, dance and song. The cycle of poems within the collection on which the show was based is called Tales of Morgana.

Poet and novelist, Ferdinando Manzo, directed the show which sets the scene of Sydney’s cafes and bars as a fertile atmosphere for creative writing.

Morgana, my love … just a few words poured onto a bar like wine in a glass on a night of memories, of melancholy.

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Manzo’s  poetry reflects Sydney night life, with echoes of the bohemian arts. Bars and coffee shops offer a haven to solitary writers and artists – both working alone and meeting to celebrate their work. Among the titles of the poems are: ‘Coco Cubano’: a touch of irresistible passion; ‘Morgana’: You, a stranger in the night opalescent; ‘The death dance’: the sensuality of a love that wraps them in a dark force.

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"Tales of Morgana"  is written by Ferdinando Manzo and produced by Sydney School of Arts & Humanities | Artistic Director: Ferdinando Manzo | Original music by Donna Ng | reading and singing Hayley Reed and Michael Jeffrey Allen | Main percussion: Ian Cifuentes | Drums: Deva Permana | Guitar: David Park | Bass: John Maddox Duo | Reading: Roo O'Loughlin | Performers: Alessandro Mecali , Michele Majavacchi | Dancers: Joey Curcio, Arianna De Martino, Stella Desposito
| Video producers: Mario Poppers | Coordinator: Ling Ker | Extra: Joe Phillips, Michael Reidy.