GRANDAD’S LUCKY STORM
Hannah Playhouse, Cnr Courtenay Place & Cambridge Terrace, Wellington
05/07/2014 - 19/07/2014
Production Details
As the windows rattle and winds howl, Grandad waits out the storm with his grandchild. A spur of the moment babysitting job turns into a tale of adventure, piracy and family, as Grandad shares the secrets of his life. Out of the gloom of Grandad’s home, cluttered with motorbike parts and makeshift furniture, his story appears before your eyes as if by magic.
Grandad’s adventures twist and turn as pieces of theatrical mystery bring even the most far away places right to the door.
Ideal for ages five and over, the world premiere of this unique and inspiring work is presented by Capital E National Theatre for Children, especially for Wellington audiences, this July school holiday at the Hannah Playhouse.
As the windows rattle and winds howl, Grandad waits out the storm with his grandchild…
Recommended age: 5 years and over
Venue: The Hannah Playhouse, 12 Cambridge Terrace
Dates: Sat 5-19 July 2014
Performances: 11am and 1pm (1pm only on Sat 5 July)
Duration: 55 minutes
Tickets: $12.50 per person; $44 for groups of 4; $10 per person for groups of 10 or more
There is limited availability for this unique experience so book early to avoid disappointment.
Creative Team:
Creative Producer Stephen Blackburn
Writer Rachel Callinan
Director Murray Lynch
Grandad Jason Whyte
Designer Theo Wijnsma
Composer Thomas Press
Lighting Designer Natasha James
Production Team:
Production Manager Sonia Hardie
Stage Manager Bridget Carpenter
Assistant Stage Manager Antony Goodin
Company/Audience Development Manager Charlotte Jackson
Set construction Jarren Jackson, Anne de Geus
55 mins
Rally round rascally pirate
Review by Laurie Atkinson [Reproduced with permission of Fairfax Media] 09th Jul 2014
Rachel Callinan’s Granddad’s Lucky Storm for Capital E is unusual in that it is a play for children with the audience reduced to 30 people, the actors to one and the performance area to the size of a small room with seats in a semi-circle round the walls.
Jason Whyte is the only actor and, of course, he plays several roles once Granddad has settled his grandchildren (all 30 of us) into his cluttered home because his daughter needs a babysitter for an hour. [More]
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
Plenty in it for all age groups
Review by John Smythe 05th Jul 2014
Grandad’s Lucky Storm is a very different sort of children’s play involving a very different sort of grandparent: neither the wise old vegie-garden digging cocoa-sipping type nor the fantastically piratical Margaret Mahy type (who, I know, was a mother rather than a grandmother but you know what I mean) – although this Grandad does have a story to tell about being a pirate.
The necessarily small audience is ushered into Grandad’s place: more of a shed than a living room, cluttered with motorbike parts, tool boxes and other paraphernalia. And an odd collection of chairs and sofas. Theo Wijnsma has created a splendidly intimate environment within the Hannah Playhouse* and Natasha James has lit it very realistically, with some hidden craft allowing for special effects (which I assume are implemented by Stage Manager Bridget Carpenter and/or Assistant Stage manager Antony Goodin).
From a child’s perspective, we – collectively representing a grandchild – have been rather unceremoniously dumped, by a stressed-out mother with things to do elsewhere, on a gruff and rather awkward Grandad (Jason Whyte). And this is the first time Grandad has seen us since we were “about the size of a potato”.
Having traded his TV in for the currently dismembered Harley, he’s somewhat at a loss for how to entertain us. Turning the room into a tent by hauling patchwork sheets up and over us, then attaching them to the dangling light cord (don’t try this at home, kids), is a start. It’s like a larger version of what most kids do with their bed clothes. But now what?
What he comes up with is a story about a pirate called Lucky with crew mates Telfast and Optrex (the medication packets are in evidence) and their constant battle to evade the Boys In Blueberry Gang. Their great fear is being captured and imprisoned on the Isle of Eden Mountain. Then there’s Lucky’s special relationship with a ‘Boatermechanic’-cum-panel beater called Hope, with whom he has a daughter, just before … the past catches up on him.
It all takes place as an electrical storm rages outside, causing a job lot (I use that term advisedly) of torches to be brought into illuminating service. One hand-generated gadget, with a siren, seems to take on a life of its own, as do elements of shadow play …
For adults (of any age) and older children, what also unfolds is an equally compelling underlying reality: the story of a compulsive petty crim whose mate gets nabbed by ‘the boys in blue’ only to return and set Grandad up for his own long stretch. Presumably Grandad has lost ‘Hope’ along the way, his relationship with his now grown daughter is somewhat estranged and something (unspecified) has happened to make her dump us, the next generation, at his place for an hour or so (which, given the nature of theatre, feels like a good half day).
Jason Whyte and director Murray Lynch are very focused on making Grandad real, avoiding obvious manifestations of theatrical flair – both in the storytelling and shadow puppetry – so we are not spoon-fed with carefully modulated set-ups and payoffs. The feeling is he is not telling the story for us but is sorting it out for himself. This might have worried me if I had not seen small faces just as entranced as the older ones.
Recommended for age 5 and over, Grandad’s Lucky Storm is a play with plenty in it for children, parents and grandparents – and those with little experience of parenting too. Entrancing and intriguing for the younger ones, who will intuitively recognise true experiences they rarely see replicated in theatre, it also leaves older observers with plenty to think about in terms of how a lot of lives are lived and where our humanity lies. Then there’s that thing about how fiction can get us closer to the facts …
This production is highly recommended along with the urge to book early, given the limited audience size.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
*It strikes me that if an excuse was needed for allowing larger audiences in, Grandpa and Hope might have constructed a bit of a ‘grandstand’ for them and their mates to watch a Rugby World Cup back in the day …
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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