AK09 review: The Arrival at the Civic Theatre

The Arrival at the Civic Theatre until 15 March. Photo / Supplied

Tall city walls and flying black dragons' tails: from the beginning of its world premiere, The Arrival held its audience in a state of rapture and curiosity. Acclaimed New Zealand physical theatre doyennes Kate Parker and Julie Nolan have adapted Australian Shaun Tan's exquisite, softly-drawn adult picture book, also called The Arrival, for performance - and the result is exceptional.

Faithful to Tan's artistic style and muted palette, the ambitious piece almost wordlessly charts the story of a man who leaves his beloved wife and daughter to move to a strange and wondrous country. The man and his fellow settlers, who have fled scary situations such as an attack of giant people-sucking vacuum cleaners, come to a place where everyone is helpful and friendly – but they still face daunting challenges. Lack of language makes the man temporarily blind and deaf (officials cover his ears and eyes). The audience shares the man's exhausting experiences of the unknown: his adopted home's customs, games and pretty animals – expertly-wielded puppets - are alien to us too.

Using a steady dreamlike tempo, The Arrival manages to cover a large amount of ground with no frantic hurrying. The excellent ensemble cast uses acrobatic dance, shadows, props and John Verryt's stunning rolling set in ingenious ways: travellers' suitcases jigsaw together to make a boat; a strip of butcher's paper is unrolled as a conveyer belt and is then ripped by soldiers' boots to produce wet trudging sound effects. Fields of leaves miraculously emerge from the orchestra pit. Oldie-but-goodie physical theatre techniques are also used to great effect, such as hands "walking" along to stand in for characters. You wonder: what will they come up with next?

This adaption is a storybook come to life, but it's also much more than that. Joyful but far from frivolous, it offers a sympathetic understanding of the immigrant's lot, using the type of warm, inventive, real-object performance that only theatre can offer. The Arrival is world class; one of the best examples of its kind you'll ever see.