If you happen to be passing through Queen Street tonight, en-route home after a day at the office, be warned. You might just find yourself with a bucket in hand, working alongside other unsuspecting passer bys, to save the 20 or so whales stranded in Aotea Square.
Whales, an outdoor performance from Wellington theatre company Binge Culture, officially opens the 2015 Auckland Fringe Festival - running until March 9. The one off show will see six Binge Culture performers join 20 or so members of the public who have volunteered to don wetsuits and be whales for the evening.
In 2013 Whales won the best of New Zealand Fringe Award at its premiere in Wellington. Originally developed from a scene in Binge Culture's 2011 This Rugged Beauty, a commentary on Kiwiana culture, it has since been performed on the beach at the 2014 Splore Festival and at the opening of the National Whale Centre in Picton.
Co-director, producer, and member of Binge Culture, Fiona McNamara said her company aimed to "have the audience at the centre of the work" and Whales did just that.