By SUSAN BUDD
Hamilton is preparing for an explosion of theatrical fireworks as the Fuel 2000 festival of New Zealand theatre takes over the city.
So successful was the first festival in 1998 that producer Cristian Pilditch is expecting enthusiastic audiences to crowd the city's theatres.
Pilditch is excited that the festival will feature two world premieres, Blossom and White Dwarf, two different but highly original theatre-pieces.
Blossom is a solo show performed by Alison Wall and devised by her with directors Vanessa Chapple and Ben Crowder. Well known for her performances in television's Issues, More Issues and Xena: Warrior Princess, Wall plays a multiplicity of characters, from talking camels to harem women.
The play centres on the unlikely friendship of Maggie and Mavis, aged 34 and 92 respectively, who travel to Morocco to find love and adventure. Described as "a piece of theatre about the courage to live your dreams," it promises to be moving and comical.
Helen Todd's White Dwarf explores the nature of light in theatre, using dance and music. It is based on the white dwarf, the final phase of light emission from a star. Todd has worked as lighting designer for the Douglas Wright Dance Company, Mau Dance and Black Grace Dance Company.
"It is fantastic to see Helen branch out to work from her own point of view," says Pilditch. "Often theatre is monopolised by the spoken word and it is good to see other facets explored."
He is also delighted to have secured Boneflute ivi ivi, performed by Mau Dance, with direction, design and choreography by Lemi Ponifasio.
"It is a very different kind of theatre and a vital part of expression in this country," he says.
He loves the abstractness and musicality of the work, its liberation from the spoken word and unique status as South Pacific dance theatre.
Fuel is showing some of the best fringe performances from the past two years that, otherwise, might not have been seen outside their home bases.
Moahunting, performed at the Silo Theatre this year by Kate Parker and Julie Nolan, is a charming puppet show featuring New Zealand's wildlife, from the rare to the extinct.
Lynda Chainwai Earle's Box Role Dream, set on the Russian ship Mikhail Lermontov the night it went down in the Marlborough Sounds, Mel Johnston's comedy on cleanliness, I'm Having It Off With Ajax, and Split, a black comedy on man and his conscience, were all hits at Wellington fringe festivals.
The festival also features plays with a strong Waikato flavour, such as Hundred Birds - Manu Rau, written and directed by Aucklander Ian Rae. It is set during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s when Von Tempsky spearheaded the most notorious action of the Waikato War, the Sabbath raid on the undefended village at Rangiaowhia. A multimedia piece, it blends John Wraight's solo performance with videos of character portrayals and montages of Von Tempsky's art works.
Hamilton playwright Richard Prevett takes a drive in The Yellow Mercedes, a comedy-drama featuring Hamilton actors, and the Waikato Youth Theatre will perform a devised piece, Stir, directed by Wellington theatre artist Conrad Newport.
The inimitable Gareth Farr reaches the city with a new version of Drumdrag, in which the NZSO percussionist appears as Lilith, the Drag Diva of Drums.
Fever, by Wellington's Jealous Productions, will be presented as work in progress, with workshops and a seminar. Other events include theatre-related art exhibitions and a ball at the end.
* Fuel 2000, Festival of New Zealand Theatre, June 24 till July 15, at Hamilton.
Fuel for theatrical fires
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