Theatre: The man who disappeared

Todd Emerson is challenged to play two very different characters.

Company’s latest work a radical departure from the award-winning Daffodils, writes Dionne Christian

Because they had been to many Edinburgh Fringe Festival shows, Rochelle Bright and Kitan Petkovski made a decision: the next show from their theatre company, Bullet Heart Club, would be completely different from the debut production, the much-loved, award-winning Daffodils.

It would feature a more complex, darker story which would push every element of the music, story and staging. The result is The Deliberate Disappearance of My Friend, Jack Hartnett, with an original soundtrack and an epic story which jumps from Auckland to Amsterdam but is performed by just one actor, Todd Emerson, with a live band comprising composer Abraham Kunin, Leon Radojkovic (Brel, Live, Live Cinema) and Alex Freer, who will tour with Tiny Ruins and Bic Runga later this year.

Bright says Daffodils, a nostalgic cabaret-style story of her parents' romance, put the heart into Bullet Heart Club, whereas Jack Hartnett provided the bullet. Although different in tone and genre to Daffodils, it stays within their signature style of bringing together contemporary music, media and stories.

Jack Hartnett begins at 2am when Oliver, in his work office possibly because he has nowhere better to be, switches on the computer belonging to his older colleague, Jack. Oliver wants to know why Jack left without notice in search of the mysterious Anja, the woman behind 152 emails sitting in Jack's inbox. With online access to Jack's innermost thoughts, the fragile balance between observer and participant is broken and voyeurism will lead to a catastrophic crime.

"It is about the constant yearning for love, the search for human connection and the depths people can go to in order to find that, because it's not always found in places that are pleasant," Bright says.

The script was written for Emerson, who stars in TV3's Westside and was one of the two leads in Daffodils. He acknowledges it will be a test for him as the sole actor and to be playing two markedly different men. Oliver is young and Jack an "overweight and sweaty" man in his 50s but both are loners on the outskirts of society. "It's intriguing that Rochelle, whom I believe is a great writer, can actually see me as being able to perform this work and craft these characters and while I might be thinking, 'You really think I can do this?', her belief in me gives me confidence to make the story jump off the page," Emerson says.

Emerson is now rehearsing with director Conrad Newport.

Bright devised Jack and Anja during a six-year stint in New York where she completed a second master's degree (in fine arts) at New York University and worked as a screenwriter/composer/librettist, becoming the only New Zealander to be a resident librettist at the American Lyric Theatre in New York.

When severe vision problems developed Bright was warned she might have a brain tumour. Dispatched to a specialist, she says the characters of Jack and Anja came almost fully formed to mind. She thinks that in such an extreme situation going to an imaginary storytelling land was a coping mechanism. It eventuated that she had a viral infection which left her needing glasses.

She, Kunin and Emerson have worked on Jack Hartnett for almost a year; there was a short development showing at the Auckland Arts Festival. Daffodils will tour later this year to the Taranaki and Christchurch arts festivals.

Bright admits it's a risk for a second show to be so markedly different. "But I don't think enough people do take risks in this business," she says.

"It will be a challenge for an audience especially with the style of storytelling. We're not making it easy or giving them all the answers, but I don't like obvious writing. I prefer to be part of an audience where you have to really think for yourself but I hope our audiences know the quality of our previous work so they come to see something which maintains those standards but excites them in other ways."

• The Deliberate Disappearance of My Friend, Jack Hartnett is the first to feature in this year's Q Presents programme, a partnership supported by Q Theatre for independent companies.

What: The Deliberate Disappearance of My Friend, Jack Hartnett
Where and when: Q Theatre Loft, July 24 - August 8