SCENE WELLINGTON - ISSUE 26 MARCH 2020 by Dink Design

CIRCA

circa.co.nz

2020

THEATRE

WGTN

ISSUE 26 MARCH 2020

THE NZ FRINGE FESTIVAL - A HIGHLIGHT OF CREATIVITY AND PERFORMANCE IN WELLINGTON. HELLO DARLINGS

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY COLE HAMPTON Ivy Bar and Cabaret Tues 3rd, Wed 4th and Fri 6th March 9:00pm TICKETS: $18/$15/$12:50 BOOKINGS: fringe.co.nz Pamela Hancock is a phenomenon that hit the Wellington drag scene a couple of years ago. Quite unlike other acts, it features a sixty-something-year-old woman from Bulls who confides in the audience, utters many a mad malapropism and sings live. Hugely popular where she is known, Pam is now hitting the theatre scene. Her creator is a twenty-one-year-old male Cole Hampton. So how did Pam happen? “Pam was originally created on a whim for a drag/ burlesque/cabaret show. The drag scene didn’t have anything like it. And on the night after the show, I was offered another gig.” And so a star was born...

Cole is obsessed with Kiwiana culture, is deeply influenced by the women in his life and made a habit from childhood of eavesdropping on any adult conversation he could. From these sources, Pam emerged pretty much fully formed. “She's become a huge part of me. Over the last two years, I’ve found that other people find parts of her in themselves as well. That's very important to me. Pam is a big part of the drag and queer community. And, although she's dabbled in cabaret, I’m excited to see how the theatre will take her.” Having seen Pam in action, I've no doubt she'll take the theatre stage by storm.

At the start of 2016 Jean's world was changed by the death of a close friend. Before that year ended, another person close to her had died. It was awful - but now, she says, it’s time to make it funny. So humour is an important life strategy for her?

CHANGE YOUR OWN LIFE CREATED AND PERFORMED BY JEAN SERGENT

BATS Theatre Tues 10th - Sat 14th & Mon 16th March 7:30pm, Sun 15th March 6:30pm TICKETS: $20/$17/$15 BOOKINGS: www.bats.co.nz Jean Sergent - an actor of great range and integrity, a person of great wisdom and hilarity. Playing herself onstage. Pretty much a winner to me. It's not been an easy life - got so weird she joined a cult, apparently. But her take on it? “Life is full of crushing blows, shocking events, and tragic happenstance - but for every one awful thing there are a thousand jokes to be made.”

STANDARD ACTS

CREATED BY KARIN MCCRACKEN, MEG ROLLANDI AND TOM CLARKE BATS Theatre Thurs 19th - Sat 21st March 7:00pm TICKETS: $20/$16/$14 BOOKINGS: www.bats.co.nz Exploring power, gender and relationships. Speaking to the complicated and ever-present impact of gender in our lives. Delving into gender and violence by examining domestic interactions between friends. That's Standard Acts. But the creators are not trying to speak for everyone's experience of gender or relationships with people of different genders. This show is about the relationship between the two performers, Karin and Tom. I spoke with Karin. “Tom and I are very good friends in life, and the show is focussed on utilising that existing relationship.” Was research involved? “Our research is our own experiences, alongside research into critical theory (essayists, etc). We are also interested in songs, characters and theory that speak to the continuing presence of gendered norms and their impacts on our social experience of the world. “This is not a Weinstein story. We know how that one goes - the men who are monsters. We’re interested in the personal, domestic. How a political movement and the resulting rage - and empowerment - can impact and transform our own relationships. From the perspective of

"Humour is an essential survival mechanism for me. I'm all about catharsis, so in that way I find humour to be an important step in any traumatic experience. There are so many dreadful things that a person has to laugh about at some point or another in their life. Gallows humour has a bonding quality to it as well. It's like a secret language." The show started life as a comedic romp through some of the truly ridiculous things that have happened in her life, but "it quickly changed into a more spiritually driven piece about the biggest theme of my life in the last few years grief recovery." She's calling in a few favours to get an outside perspective on the work – “actors,writers and directors I've done outside eye work with before. I want the opening night audience to see something that has had feedback.”

DEEP AND MEANINGFUL WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY ALAYNE DICK Directed by Jennifer O'Sullivan BATS Theatre Tues 17th & Wed 18th March 7pm TICKETS: $20/$15 BOOKINGS: www.bats.co.nz It's the final night before we are eaten by a black hole. Alayne Dick is having a party. And taking a look at depression and fear about our limited time on earth. It's both a bleak poetic narrative and a high-energy comedy. It's a specific kind of depression, she tells me everyone seems to be accepting that the world is on fire and nothing really matters any more. “I can’t count the amount of times that I’ve heard someone making a joke about not saving for their retirement or not caring about having a house or a family because they are convinced that some apocalypse is just around the corner. It is a very bleak humour that I think is a coping mechanism. Picturing a positive future feels really difficult right now.” It's also personal. “I am trying to create an affirming, shared experience for anyone who feels like me, so in that respect the show is exploring this form of depression as a social phenomenon. But it is grounded in my personal experience. I developed the show by first selecting a collection of my poems that reflect these themes of depression and uncertainty about the future.” Although the show will not provide any clear solutions of how to save ourselves, it does suggest that it’s possible. Our world may feel absurd and overwhelming, but she hopes to encourage people to embrace that uncertainty instead of running away from it. There is definitely a note of hope! There'll be party games and blowing up of balloons but we won't have to participate - and won’t be asked to move from our seats. Also live music, performed by Aaron Pyke. “And I’ve just sourced a disco ball which is very important to a certain moment in the show.” Yep - I feel a disco ball could be a great creator of hope.

And it's a development season. Which for these theatre makers means that what they present at BATS will be a full show, but they will undertake more research and making before premiering it. “A development season allows us to test ideas without the pressure of a premiere hanging over us. I think this makes us more brave, but also is a note to the audience that things are still be figured out. “We know that we don't want to try and offer a solution to how things are playing out right now - that would be impossible. But there might be a solution for Karin and Tom - who knows?” Who indeed?

Director/dramaturg: Laura Haughey Circa Theatre Mon 16th - Fri 20th March TICKETS: $25/$18 BOOKINGS: www.circa.co.nz This is a time when women are - at last - telling their real stories onstage. Cian Gardner came to the Waikato New Works Incubator programme - a Creative NZ and Creative Waikato initiative - with a plan for an ensemble piece around a quite general topic. But she was encouraged by tutors to tell a story rooted in her own reality. “The support I had during that programme was huge. It really grounded me as an artist and encouraged me to trust my natural instincts as a writer and a performer.”

Sorry For Your Loss is her growing up story. How it was to have a “sometimes-there-mostly-not” dad and an “always-there-doing-her-best” mum. “It is absolutely rooted in the truth. Minor details were switched to protect those who are mentioned. That's because this is my story - I chose to share it. And the way I interpret memories manipulates the way the story is told. “I wanted to see everyday people onstage. I think it can be therapeutic for people to see how much power and importance their stories can have. When I stage something that could be quite mundane or 'normal', but someone turns around and says 'Oh I so know that person, my aunty is like that, that's my nanny', then I know I'm doing my job. Because it's so authentic it becomes universal.”

“Prior to our opening night in Hamilton, I was concerned at how vulnerable I was making myself. Sharing all this stuff with complete strangers. But as I talked to audience members after the shows, I realised the story was no longer just mine. I had people sharing really personal stories with me about their own heartbreak and healing.”

The rest of us could all do with some Jean therapy see you there.

It's not traditional theatre with a fourth wall and a hero's journey. Standard Acts is less linear - focus will be on the performers' interactions with each other and the audience, rather than on the narrative.

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY CIAN GARDNER

Does she feel okay about telling such a personal story alone on stage?

But she's really looking forward to just being herself on stage with the audience. “I quite like the terror of that. The material is really personal, but the show itself isn't therapy for me - I've had loads of therapy!”

two friends who love and respect each other, but still are aware that gendered dynamics impact their relationship.”

SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS

HAY IN THE NEEDLE STACK WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY LAUGHLAN J CAMPION

Waka Maori Productions Te Whaea National Dance and Drama Centre Mon 2nd, Wed 4th, Fri 6th, and Sun 8th March. 7:00pm TICKETS: Koha Hay in the Needle Stack started as an improvisation that writer and performer Laughlan J Campion used to work on while driving a delivery van round Nelson. “Initially I would just practice my accents as I was working and the best way to practice for me is through random little improvised stories. From there, I'd get home and write down what I remembered about the story, and start to develop it, adding characters, different twists and playing with different forms.” But the show is now “super different” from that improv in the van. His main character is Harvey Meservy, described by Laughlan as “a munter, a philosophy student and a hopeless romantic” who goes overseas to discover himself. Meets a bunch of other characters - all played by Laughlan. But the universe has a surprise in store ... He's had help with the project. Last year, as a third-year Toi Whakaari student, he presented the work as part of the annual Festival of Work in Development and received useful feedback from the wider community. As well as help from fellow students on design and dance elements.

“I'm using different forms as vehicles to tell the story character, physical theatre, dance, spoken word.” I ask how much of it is his own story? “I definitely got a lot of inspiration from my experiences. I'd say it's an amalgamation of my past relationships, my family, my friends and their families, and the funky people that I've met on this journey of life.” And what sort of territory does it take us to? “I think it's a good mix of truthful, heavier content and light-heartedness. I make work with a lot of aroha so I hope my audience will see that. It's not just deep, heartfelt stuff, there's a lot of really bizarre content and characters as well!” Somehow, with a title like this one, I'm not surprised!

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