November 25, 2007

Zarathustra Said, Happy! 25-27/11 2030

steve dean          posted 25 Nov 2007, 11:27 PM / edited 26 Nov 2007, 08:55 AM

Just in case none of the professional theatre writer types didn’t make it down to Happy! for the first night of the Wellington Performing Arts Centre’s Graduates energetic and dynamic version of Alan Brunton’s masterwerk meditation on endstage human’s predicament. I’d like to make sure everyone knows this short season is on.

The barebones version of this achingly beautiful work undeservedly played to only a few dozen people in it’s Red Mole version 4 short years ago. How many would have made the short trip down to The SpacE if they’d have known what was to happen the following month, I wonder.

Anyhow, all that aside, this is a rigorous, roughshod and very sexy take on the by now (thanks to the every home should have one cd and book) very familiar text. It clocks in at an hour and 20 with a bombastic soundtrack provided by the (in the action as much as backdropping it) arch  avant-drone terrorists, Fertility Festival. The three actresses and actor acquitted themselves very well and I thought the WPAC have facilitated a really excellent end of year production.

steve