A City Of Souls
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
10/10/2008 - 25/10/2008
Production Details
Even the best of parties have to come to an end and the harsh light of day must come crashing in.
Five twenty-something friends are about to get a wake up call. Their personal dissatisfaction with their individual lives is about to explode with lasting consequences and once it does there will be no turning back.
Is there a light at the end of tunnel? Maybe for some.
Why is it, when all you want to do is abandon hope, you still fight for the future?
Contains coarse Language and adult themes – unsuitable for children.
Performances may be filmed
Duration: 90mins
$20.00*
*Service fees will apply
Actor’s Guild Equity Price available for this performance.
Please book via the THE EDGE® Box Office Aotea Centre
or by calling 0800 BUY TICKETS
Book 3 or more tickets in advance and go into the draw to win an 8GB Apple iPod Nano worth $299. Mention "Catalyst iPod" when booking at The EDGE on 09 357 3355 to go in the draw. The competition will be drawn on 25th October. (this offer only available through phone or box office sales – tickets must be booked in a single transaction).*Note – you can only qualify for this offer if you in advance, tickets purchased at the box office on the night will not qualify.
Company:
Jonathan Hodge, Ben Van Lier, Sam Berkeley, Ora Simpson
1hr 30 mins
Life’s OK - except when it’s not
Review by Sian Robertson 15th Oct 2008
An apt tale of five disillusioned 20-something friends, whose central focus is getting wasted with mates to avoid thinking about their shit job/loneliness/lack of direction … This play has captured the waster ethos perfectly.
Consistent performances and good dialogue (a few clichéd clunkers don’t detract from the overall effect) make this a very real snapshot of young urban New Zealanders in the 21st century who believe in nothing and trust no one. They hate their jobs, don’t know what they want to be when they ‘grow up’ and are cynical about love, but they have their friends to see them through.
There’s the two quirky brothers, the player, the nice guy and the chick. Having devised the script as a team, all five cast members have their turn to shine, and each brings something key to the story.
As Mark puts it: life’s OK. The job totally sucks but it pays the bills, his family fights every time they see each other, but they don’t hate each other, etc. Like the rest of his mates, nothing’s great, but it could be a whole lot worse. Then suddenly it is.
Something happens to all of them that isn’t so much a wake up call as a slap in the face – further proof of the confusing futility of their random lives. They each have their awkward ways of dealing with tragedy. In an age where ambition is often mistaken for intelligence, these five friends have keen, savvy minds, but are unhappily aware that they don’t have any of the answers.
* Spoiler warning *
The script is well crafted, including a narrated rape scene and the aftermath of suicide – both of which could easily have been indulgently overdone or pat, but instead feel authentic, imbued with the same uncomfortableness that permeates the rest of the story.
* Spoiler ends *
However, the ending feels clumsy, with some kind of flashback(?) of another night of bingeing that seems like it should have been at the beginning rather than the end, somehow a weak and confusing conclusion to what has otherwise been a strong and palpable story. Perhaps it was added to save the play from a slightly happy ending that would have undermined the overall sense of hopelessness. It trails off as if to say tomorrow’s just another day, the same as yesterday.
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