The cornucopia of short devised pieces which make up this year’s Duets programme, is filled to occasional overflowing with ideas and enterprise. No two of the eight pieces covers the same territory but they have in common a strong commitment to their material and a gutsy approach to making it work for us. 

The audience on the mid-season evening (Friday) comprises for the main part those with a special interest in this or that performer, but it is fair to say that their warm applause clearly recognises the overall quality of the work and feels thoroughly engaged with the range of ideas seen through a youthful lens. 

For openers, there’s a clever presentation on the ‘haves and have nots’ theme, located in a Christchurch where some folk are reduced to begging and living on the street, whereas others, secure in their indulged lifestyle, live only a house wall away. Two street people (Tara Erenskjold and Pauline Ward) give us a fair dollop of clowning including audience appeals, before their bantering scenes are interspersed with shadow puppetry – in the living rooms of the house behind the wall. ‘How About a Slice of Capitalism?’ asks us to consider the unreason of piling more and more and more of life’s goodies into the world of the already fortunate.

‘Thank You’ from Bridie Sisson and Shaquille Stirling is a sensitive and at times tender love story, exploring acceptance and trust in relationships. Both performers establish a strong presence with carefully-paced work contributing to the ring of truth of their story.

The next piece references 18 books and 23 movies as a chameleon pair, Rachel Pugh and Millie Osborne, career their way through ‘The (Slightly Tarnished) Silver Screen’, delving into an assortment of costume for rapid character changes and a fantasy glimpse of lives we did not meet in the originals. While I would perhaps have preferred fewer role changes, the energy and nutty whimsy of their choices does keep me smiling. 

‘Clean Up on Fret Five’, from Jesse Ranson and Vincent Andrew-Scammell, is a lively treatment of two supermarket employees, whose humdrum lives and self-doubt eventually give way to making more meaningful music than tapping on an empty checkout counter as they establish a real band. Their fully produced song ends the first half on a well-pitched note.

Then we are let into the snippy world of teenage girls. Our pair, Maddie Harris and Millie Hanford, is confidently played, interspersing scenes from their workplace (“thank you for shopping at Glassons”) and their lunch breaks. ‘Retail Therapy’ faithfully echoes girl talk and preoccupations. The more intense and outrageously introverted it becomes, the funnier it seems.

‘Show Me Where it Hurts’, in contrast, is a mature and serious interview between Amy and her brother’s murderer, now in captivity. Ellen Jones-Poole and Harry Parker Stanley create a fine, intriguing psychological drama full of tension and surprise revelations as they take turns to ask the questions each hopes will provide some comfort. She wants to know what and why. He wants to be reassured that his act will have carved his name in the public memory. It is hard to believe that all this is accomplished in a quarter of an hour. 

‘Breaking Barry’ from Becky Gallacher and Nick Cheesebrough finds us laughing again. Barry is a disgruntled teacher who is well due for a turn around. The characters are clear and the situation evolves enjoyably, within a series of smoothly crafted scenes. 

‘Flawed’, the final piece, uses choreographed movement as well as conventional dialogue to explore the treacherously unstable world of teenage romance. Movement and music establish a driving emotional force which propels the couple (Ben Ashby and Kate Hellings) through the sequence most effectively. It is a powerful enactment, boldly conceived and performed with conviction.

All in all a thoroughly satisfying evening, convincingly marked by the company’s special and unique ability to present its own view of the world, with style and sincerity. 

Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer