Words Can Fly

Exhibited at Y E S c o ll e c t i v e in Auckland on Friday 25 September 2015.

“This series of poetic and illustrative works by Vivienne Frances Long responds to the sensitive moments of fragility and vulnerability that can emerge within intimate relationships. Together, the works form a diverse and curious spectrum, through which the artist evokes notions of character and person. Individually, the layered colours within the text tug or oust the viewer hinting at the complexity within each tale.”

Birds - The Basement Theatre  

Birds is a tale of conflict between the desires of a young Niuean boy, and the expectations of his solo mother, detached culture and melting pot community.  

Created by award winning playwright Dianna Fuemana, and showing at the Basement Theatre across one week only, Birds is an extraordinarily poignant and entertaining coming of age story.  

Despite having had funding pulled halfway through rehearsals, and it being the directorial debut of Scotty Cotter (experienced actor, The Brave and Tu), the play’s message is carried perfectly, albeit simply.  

Birds is lead by only two actors who seamlessly change into a multitude of characters. Many of which are idiosyncratic and depict the dynamics between Pacific Island cultures as living in New Zealand.  

The play launched in 2012 at the Mangere Arts Centre, and this version of Birds sees Ali Foa’i return to the role of protagonist and narrator.  

Foa’i delivers an engaging and emotionally charged performance, drawing on his Niuean roots he brings an authenticity to his characters.  

Starring alongside Foa’i is striking actress Bianca Seinafo, who shows a finesse for character acting. One distinctive comedic performance of hers as the local bully is delivered to bursts of laughter from the audience.  

Although Birds depicts such a particular cultural junction, it explores a multitude of universal themes including shame, sexuality, brutality, determination, wisdom, sensitivity, and understanding.  

While initially it may seem Birds is a simple, good-humoured slice of Niuean life, the play’s gravity increases dramatically through moments of tragedy and resilience, which overall leave a lasting impression.

Written by Vivienne Frances Long

Short + Sweet Theatre: Week One

Described as the largest ten minute theatre festival in the world, Short + Sweet Theatre is a mixed bag of nearly 50  short plays happening over three weeks. Running internationally, the local leg of this festival kicked off on Tuesday night at Auckland’s Herald Theatre.

Since it’s inception in Australia this festival has spread to become worldwide. There are plays from across the Tasman, Canada, the US and New Zealand in this year’s Auckland programme.

Each night is a variety showcase of 10 plays by both international and local playwrights, each no longer than 10 minutes. Designed to set your emotional seesaw swinging, the result is high impact.

In the style of popular TV talent shows, the audience decides which play is their festival favourite and who will make it to the Gala Final.    

Stiff Justice, by New Zealand playwright Karrie Ann Spicer, opens the show and is mentionable for its clever plot twist.  

The Australian play, Wisdom of Solomon, pulls off a ridiculous nod to medieval pompousness while Amelia Reynolds, who moonlights across two plays, delivers a powerhouse performance in both ‘Do Not Pull’ and the edgy waiting room drama, ‘Nine Types of Ice’.

Nic Sampson’s ‘The Light House Keeper’ comes out a cut above the rest and earns my vote.  This uproariously funny play follows the unlikely tale of an authentically chummy yet clingy robot desperate to become pals with his predecessor.

The talent is pegged as ‘emerging’ so you do get a variety of abilities, but it is the festival’s skill of  unveiling surprisingly fresh talent which makes the festivals format a winner.

The brilliance is all in the pace; if a play pops up that doesn’t grab you it will be over in a bearable eight minutes, whilst other plays will leave you wanting more.

Short + Sweet Theatre is a real win-win situation for the patience impaired, or theatre new comers.

Written by Vivienne Frances Long

Motel - The Basement Theatre

Within one worn out motel room, in the middle of nowhere, four contrasting stories of life, love and death pass one another like ships in the night. Motel, premiering at The Basement in Auckland, is the latest drama from award winning New Zealand playwright April Phillips (STiFF).

Showing across a week and a half from the 13- 24 of August, this show is a poignant glimpse into climactic moments within the lives of eight contrasting characters.

Phillips creates slick and honest dialogue, which often cuts right to the point and when it does the tension which transpires is breath-taking.

The most effective dialogue of the play exists between characters Henry and Pearl, an older couple who visit the Motel in search of peace.

The treatment of these two characters is courageous, and the down-to-earth examination into their affection for one another is powerful.

Peter Hayden delivers a truly captivating performance as Henry, a cliché Kiwi Husband and Grandfather with a strong sensitive streak. Equally magnetic is Lorae Parry’s performance as Pearl, his devoted wife.

The two together have such immense chemistry that it thickens the air in the Theatre and renders their performance unforgettable.

Throughout the play we are introduced to four sets of characters. Each of which is initially formulaic, an optimistic salesman, a wife seeking her first affair, a saucy mistress, an invasive house keeper and a recluse Motel Manager.

Through unexpected twists and plot revelations, we see beyond the walls of the characters. Motel reveals that brief encounters are often rife with misconstructions.

Frequently funny and always engaging, April Phillips’ latest play catches life’s private woes and wonders, and unveils them for all to appreciate.

Written by Vivienne Frances Long

White Rabbit Red Rabbit - Silo Theatre

There’s nothing small, soft or fluffy about Silo Theatre’s latest international play White Rabbit Red Rabbit. Instead, this powerful work by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour is an experimental and playful examination of a social phenomenon - obedience.

Since the play premiered in 2011 (simultaneously at SummerWorks and Edinburgh Fringe Festival) it has been performed around the world, translated into over 15 languages and garnered a series of accolades.

This raft of geographical success adds to the plays mystic, as one overriding theme that Soleimanpour explores is ‘freedom’ and more particularly, freedom in the form of travel.

After refusing to complete compulsory military service in Iran, Soleimanpour’s passport was revoked and he was not permitted to leave the country.

Seizing his predicament as an opportunity, he created White Rabbit Red Rabbit, a play rich with contemplations of restraint, a play that could reach outside Iran’s boarders and travel the world on his behalf.

Heralded as ‘the worldwide phenomenon that no-one’s allowed to talk about’, this play is a slippery one, both its format and content are exciting and new.

The plays ‘script’ is delivered at the very start of each show, and the play’s cast is made up of a single actor, who delivers the part only once; each night a new actor takes the stage.

Amongst the unavoidably underprepared cast are a few colourful surprises including local celebrities, Nick D and Dai Henwood.

The format is delightfully contemporary and you can feel the very paradigms of theatre shift underneath you as you wait in anticipation, who will command our rendition of White Rabbit Red Rabbit?

The answer came as veteran Neighbours star, and award winning thespian, Stephen Lovatt jumps on stage with a commanding grin. A few benign props are composed on stage and throughout the play they gain great significance through moments of instructional narration, imaginative storytelling, and exhilarating audience participation.

Early on the audience is eased into the idea of participating with a beginners task – to number ourselves – as we snake our way along each row of the audience like a mathematical Mexican Wave, I find myself strangely aware of my position: number 45 of a total 123 including ushers, and Lovatt.

It’s what gives the play its edge, this persistent and rising sense of awareness of our role as a docile audience, and how this can be a metaphor for obedience in a greater sense.

Don’t get the wrong idea, White Rabbit Red Rabbit’s sharper confrontational moments are often hidden, at most points the play has a surface of honest, cheerful, glowing moments such as a spot on ostrich impersonation, unrehearsed grizzly bears and assorted real life anecdotes.

The magic of this play is its experimental nature and in what you don’t know, what no one knows – the actor, the audience and even the writer – White Rabbit Red Rabbit is not one to read about, it’s one to experience – go, climb the ladder, grasp the carrot and discharge yourself from your obedient nature.

Written by Vivienne Frances Long

Short + Sweet Theatre - Week Two

Now in its second week with only days to go until the Gala Finalists are announced, Short + Sweet Theatre presents its final 11 eclectic plays.

This condensed theatre format proves once again it’s collection of plays aren't short on anything but time, as each show displays it’s own one-off brand of excellence. From well hung barbershop quartets and spirited scammers, to frolicking spiders and world encompassing blue balloons. This week’s line up is a strong one, which makes casting a vote for your favourite an intensely deliberating task.

Slipping heart first into the majority of this week’s plays is the theme of love. Most enjoyable is the sweetly awkward Where You’d Least Expect, a tale of two lonely people meeting under unusual circumstances. Actress Cassie Baker pulls off an enchanting ‘full geek’ and regardless of her nervous eating habit, makes a hilarious romantic impression on her love interest.

Our Last Holiday, written and directed by Glen Pickering, is a sensitive and compelling look at the residues of love once it is lost.

From the darker side of romance comes Feature Wall, a raw comedy that follows a man-eater and her apprentice as they axe their ex’s – proving that beauty is not a woman’s only revenge. This play’s quirky lullaby conclusion is surprisingly romantic, and boosts the overall effectiveness of the storyline.

Spiderman creatively explores the world of love and lust as it is for two male arachnia. The premise is refreshing and entertaining as the roles of male and female are reversed from how they commonly are for homo sapiens. Clever costumes give each movement of the characters a comedic edge that is particularly charming in a dance sequence.

If this play was a cocktail, it would be a Slippery Nipple - Fruit Salad delightfully illustrates how being a free spirit can quickly turn into a tricky situation. Simon Shreeve delivers an outstanding performance as the naive, middle aged father who never learns, and always has fun.

Most imaginative in premise is Lust is Blind, a play which follows the discovery of affection between different parts of the human body. Difficult to grasp at first, but the joy of this performance is in making the leap to believing love is possible between the most benign of things.

A sassy and neurotic tale of love and anticipation, V.D. is a monologue by proficient playwright Pete Malicki. Actress Jess Holly Bates’ delivers an exceptionally engaging solo performance and tackles the roles intricacies like a pro, gaining a particularly overt ovation from the audience.

Last Drinks is a poignant and far-fetched tale of a ‘widow makers’ chance meeting at a bar with an ‘unbreakable man’. Although the narrative at times feels borderline played-out or obvious, the overall effect is engaging and highly enjoyable.

Blue Balloon written by Angie Farrow floats above the other plays on a higher conceptual plane. A show busy with both physical and verbal poetic gestures, with its meaning is not immediately apparent, it should be beheld, not deciphered.

Performer James Crompton stands out in his portrayal of a spirited scammer in Hongi. This dramas plot remains exciting in the first two thirds as it keeps you guessing, but the excitement fades to a cringe as the main characters true intensions become apparent.

Jess Holly Bates demonstrations her multiplicity of talents as writer/director/actress in Lucky C*nt-ry, a conceptual kiwi tale filled with enjoyably cliché characters. Romy Hooper stars effortlessly alongside of Bates as they reel through character after character of mini, and uniquely, patriotic monologues.

All and all this year’s Short + Sweet Theatre has housed a moving and competitive collection of plays showcasing both proven and emerging talent. This Sunday, the line-up will be boiled down to its essentials in the competitive and unmissable Gala Final.

Written by Vivienne Frances Long

NZCF: Tim 'Rosso' Ross, Man About the House

For the first time this renowned act crosses the ditch from Melbourne to Auckland. Showing in the modernist Donner residence in Titirangi, ‘Man About the House’ is an intimate show which comes alive within the wide glass walls of its iconic venue.

The two storey house, built in 1947, with its winding, sloping grounds are open to the audience to explore in the show’s interval, at which point it’s enjoyably hard to believe you’re not simply at a mates house party.

Comedian Tim ‘Rosso’ Ross fires through random highlights of his life to date and touches on themes  which include growing up ‘then’ versus ‘now’, dating and new fatherhood.

His comedic partner, acoustic musician Kit Warhurst, who goes unmentioned in the show’s title, surprisingly opens the act with several, moody, ‘David Grey’ like songs. In fact, Warhurst plays an equal part in the performance – although more musical than comedic – his songs create an exciting pace and atmosphere.

The two deliver separately their unique performances which act as foils; Warhurst with his hypnotic sonnets and Ross with his fantasticallife stories.

The duo then come together, combining their talents to create anupbeat musical comedy piece not dissimilar to our own ‘Flight of the Conchords’. Their point of difference? It’s the amalgamation of Watts’ goofy charm to Ross’s expert delivery of confrontational lyrics which secure their style as original.

Highlights of the show are Ross’s tales which are relentlessly original and remarkable, often funny and occasionally touch on his passion – modernist architecture.

Tim Ross in Man About the House is real, somewhat educational, completely boss and the audience digs it.

Written by Vivienne Frances Long

NZCF: Doctor Brown, Befrdfgth

There’s no cure like comedy, and there’s no prescription like Befrdfgth. One of two shows presented by hilarious comedian and adept mime, Doctor Brown.

Showing at the Herald theatre across four nights as part of the NZ International Comedy Festival, this is a performance not to be missed.  

If you’re looking for something dark, different and absolutely gut wrenchingly funny this is the show for you.

His costume, which could well have been dug up from the bottom of a beloved dress-ups box, is subtle – part magician, part nobody.  

Doctor Brown harnesses your imagination as he wields suspense and generates invisible stories through cliché mannerisms.  

Like the best of mimes not only does he enable us to see the invisible, Doctor Brown transforms his tales, bending the rules of the stories he brings to life.  

This twisting of expectations coupled with good hearted, yet R rated sequences. Violence and sexual themes are the Doctors recipe and it is one of absolute success.

Doctor Brown is an old hand at bringing his audience to life, and continuously coaxes punters from their seats through cheeky and childlike acts. More than a show, it’s a platform for play.

And this mime knows how to be playful; Doctor Brown honed his skills at the French clown school Ecole Philippe Gaulier, where Sacha Baron Cohen among others mastered their clownish craft.

Doctor Brown in Befrdfgth is simple, incredible and destructively funny. While this show is definitely adult, it’s also incredibly appealing to ones inner child. 

Written by Vivienne Frances Long

Velcro City - Fringe Festival

Eli Matthewson and Hamish Parkinson fasten together once again to bring their decent, and yet, indecent, style of humour to Aucklands Fringe Festival.

These two are the adept comic duo behind Square Eye Pair, a play which won best comedy act at Auckland Fringe Festival in 2011.

In 2012 the two went on to create Velcro City, which again took out the top comedy prize.

The shows innovative aspects - in particular its use of boundary blending costumes and props - fit neatly within the Fringe Festivals sensibilities, which makes Velcro City the perfect quirky gem to be encore’d back the festival.

Velco City, playing at Basement Theatre, is a nonsensical tale, which follows the lives of a diverse, yet cliche range of characters whose paths cross while going about their everyday lives within a fictional New Zealand City.

Mathewson and Parkinson prove they are masters of brewing an ordinary scenario, and from it, extracting grave and engrossing themes.

Velcro City’s follies are neatly underpinned by such issues as unrequited love, political unrest and veganism.

With speed, over a dozen, lo-fi,  felt tip drawn characters - each facing their own comic trial - are snapped on and off of the two actors velcro onesies.

These quick changes are often surprising, and the creative detail of one particular charter is delightfully engrossing.

Although one scene was skipped over and lost in the hype of the play, this subversive tribute to a communities trials and tribulations is heartwarmingly acted, and wholeheartedly received, a recommended must see.

Written by Vivienne Frances Long

Swan Song – Auckland Fringe Festival

Aptly titled water ballet, Swan Song, showing as part of Auckland’s Fringe Festival illuminated Parnell Baths late Wednesday evening.

Playing for five nights from the 13-17 February, this sold out ‘rom-trage’ constructs an exciting and contemporary prologue to the original Swan Lake tale.

Initially a Russian ballet fashioned from local folk tales, this local edition takes it’s stylistic influences from both present-day culture and dramaturgical film director Baz Luhrmann.

Swan Song is created by the ensemble of Kiwi talent, Wet Hot Beauties, and is a follow up ballet from Sirens, the troops 2011 sell out success.

Under the cover of night Swan Song kicks off and brings the usually deserted pools to life with bright, ‘club’ style lighting. Glow sticks are handed out as entry wrist bands which illuminate the audience’s wrists.

Swim suit clad ‘swans’ laze and canoodle in bevies as the audience, entranced by the spectacle, breathe in the chlorine rich air. While Swan Song’s boisterous soundtrack lines up tunes from generation now, which subtly accentuate the story line.

The raw physicality of the human form comes to life as themes of tenderness and aggression are played out through the performance.

The crowed coo and honk, totally engaged and delighted by the trails of water which splash up at their feet.

The choreography is superb and highlights hilarious comedic situations, then moves on to hauntingly describe an emotional character defeat.

As the crowd dispatches to their cars I recall a moment. While slipping around the pools edge to our seats, an usher wearing a rash suit whispered “Don’t feed the swans, they’re allergic to everything.” and perhaps he was right for by the end of the tale it became apparent, swans are unquestionably allergic to love.

Written by Vivienne Frances Long