Physical Theatre company builds on success.
The young theatre troop known as 'Studio 5' wowed audiences with their penultimate performance last night. Following the success of their second show "An arc in the dark" for which they received Creative New Zealand funding, this play is again completely self devised.
Combining various forms of physical theatre and dance, the troop explored the themes of an imaginary character in an imaginary land, although the tenor of the play very much sits in a New Zealand 'landscape'. Although an odd choice for the name, the almost childlike quality to the fairy-tale nature of the story telling, was comfortably eerie for the late night audience. Just short of gruesome, the work held a surprisingly astute revelation in the storytelling, which I won't give away here, in case you are able to get along and see it tonight. Maybe worth noting that if you do take kids along, be prepared to hold their hands in the second act! The theatre suggests that 10 years old might be a good cut off age, but adds, "it's up to the parents, and the kid!"
Grimm fairytales, and the forests of Europe give way to the more bushy New Zealand scrub by day, and the set design is simply but magnificently lit by the lighting design team with only three or four different lighting states. However no qualms about the simplicity of the set, the environments were really created with the costuming which sometimes elaborately provided a set of a kind for performances within the scene, - the Fairy Queen's skirts becoming a tent landscape for the refugees dreams of the encampment they'd escaped from, a memorable and surreal moment, but not alone. The set on the whole suits well the physical style of the show, with bare boards. The frantic paced opening was hindered to some extent by a lack of specificity in the choreography, which allowed for a worrisome slow start to the evening, but what the company lack in experience they make up for in excellently crafted ingenious storytelling. Here they are using again the play within the play concept to bring outlandish but human characters to life in mask in the final act. I would suggest that their work with mask seems to a little under-developed. Possibly this is a result of the difficulties in working as a co-operative team. In previous interview one of the members of the group told me" we feel like we could have more structure in the devising process". Certainly the nature of working as a co-operative and juggling several roles must be trying. Whether He-man or Hu-man, dance, mask Commedia, here or in Europe, it's exciting to imagine what the company will do next.
The company don't earn anything for the majority of their research and development for the project which "has eaten up the best part of the year"says one of the company members. "Getting the funding a second time really honours the hard work we did with the first one. Really it just covers our production period but we all contribute a lot of hours in planning and training".
This is one reviewer who would like a longer season for their next show. However no chance to rest on their laurels. Apparently they have a new show already in development.
'Text per the He Man of Let', plays at Duckworth theatre tonight at 8.pm. Duckworth Box office ticketing available.
