The SoHo Playhouse in New York City has played host to a number of emerging artists over the course of its decades-long operation. At the moment, the historic theatre is housing a contingent of three Kiwi productions, one of which is The Contours of Heaven, in which Ana Chaya Scotney gives a powerful solo performance on a bare stage. The simple staging of the production nevertheless manages to fill the theatre with sound, emotion and the potent power of simple human connection.

The performance centres around the voice and stories of six rangatahi (young leaders) living in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. It begins with director Puti Lancaster taking the stage and welcoming the audience, explaining how the show came to be and giving some cultural touchstones for an American audience that may be unfamiliar with Māori culture. She touches on the Māori creation myth of Maui fishing up the north island from the sea and explains where Hawkes Bay sits in the geography of the land. It is a beautiful way of explaining the connection with place and home, which is central to many of the stories in the show.

Scotney takes the stage and inhabits each of the six rangatahi by turn, telling their stories as they did in their own words. Scotney is a powerful performer and seems totally at ease onstage, demonstrating dexterity at swiftly moving through a myriad of voices, accents and physicalities. The stories touch on a variety of topics, including schoolyard bullying, the burden of financial responsibility for a family, mental illness and loss. While the subject matter is often serious, Scotney nevertheless manages to inject humour into the performance by emulating the upbeat youthful energy of the rangatahi themselves.

Tying these six spoken sequences together are sequences involving dance movement and live song, in which Scotney uses her breath to mimic the sounds of the wind and ocean. She breathes in and out heavily while moving fluidly about the stage in a dance that seems to evoke the power of the sea, of nature, and connect it to the human body and spirit. These sequences are often enhanced by the use of a loop pedal and microphone that is Scotney’s sole prop on stage, into which she creates ephemeral harmonies and soundscapes that bridge the gaps between scenes. The lighting design effectively breaks the stage up into different places that the six characters inhabit, and highlights the contrasting music and dance sequences.

It is a pleasure to see this unique production brought all the way stateside. There is a distinct sense that the New York audience has been moved by The Contours of Heaven’s heartfelt performance. Scotney proves herself to be an emerging talent who is well worth seeing while you have the chance. 

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