HOLLOW CROSSING
Keirunga Homestead Theatre, Keirunga Gardens, Puflett Rd, Havelock North
18/09/2012 - 29/09/2012
Production Details
Blending Cinema and Theatre in Hawkes Bay
Be prepared for the storm that is approaching!
The innovative team from 2e Media Trust and Keirunga Homestead Theatre are experimenting with combining film and theatre in their latest production ‘Hollow Crossing’ by Brad Jennings.
A suspense thriller, (R16) “Hollow Crossing” is an exciting blend of film and live theatre guaranteed to leave an audience on the edge of their seats. Film making for the project was donated by 2e Media, a charitable trust set up to encourage and develop digital storytelling skills (from scripting, to acting, to directing, editing and producing) with young people across New Zealand.
Local and Wellington based industry professionals and film, media and music students from Victoria University and EIT have donated their time and talents to help both charitable organizations raise much needed funds for refurbishment and equipment replacement.
Film/play synopsis: suspense and fear and an imbalance of power.
Hollow Crossing is a place with a history of disappearance and has become an attraction for enthusiasts and thrill seekers curious to know what lies on the other side of the crossing. Cliff and Virginia are journalists working for the magazine, Undercover. Together they report the stories from the curious few who visit the mysterious region. Late one stormy afternoon as they return from an interview in a nearby town, they turn off the highway and discover the truth behind the legend.
Keirunga Homestead Theatre
Keirunga Gardens, Puflett Rd, Havelock North
18 – 29 September, 2012, 7.30pm
Adult 16+: $26.00 Concession, Student & OAP: $22.00
Cast: Emma Walker, Tipuna Smith, Isaac James, Jandrya Maciel
A.D: Simon Browne, Ben Sutherland
Producer: Juliet Cottrell
Music: Jonny Avery, Tim Dustow
Sound Recordist: Clara Kavanagh
Stage Manager: Chrissie Poulton
Set design and construction: KSM building, Alan Coombes, Chrissie Poulton
Theatre sound and lighting: Michael Harris, Suzanne Fitch
Administration and Marketing: Suzanne Fitch, Sky Leigh
A play of consequence
Review by Terri Crawford & David Bishop 24th Sep 2012
As regular theatre goers we enjoy many styles of live performance. Saturday 24th September was our first time exposure to the compact theatre at Keirunga Gardens and our second taste of ‘suspense’-driven cinematic theatre performance.
The small 48 seat theatre, intimate stage and the clever use of both live performance and screen technology encourages the audience to become an integral part of the unfolding horrors as we are all transported to the ‘unsafe’ location called Hollow Crossing.
Cliff, played by Isaac Lundon James, and Virginia, played by Emma Louise Walker, are journalists. Virginia’s ego-driven obsession to complete her story on the Hollow Crossing overrides Cliff’s intuition to stay away from it. As per formulaic thriller or horror, Cliff’s feeling is totally founded as they drive into Hollow Crossing, but there is no going back. Serial killer, played by Tipuna Smith, unremorsefully awaits his journalist victims.
The play opens and ends with film scenes, spliced with live performance. Set in a rural district, the stage set is a one-off design interior of a run down garden shed. Film scenes traverse country roads, and the exterior of a dilapidated village. The integration of screen technology within the stage set design is very sophisticated and is to be congratulated.
The film scenes are well directed and at times overshadow the pace and delivery of the live performance, although serial killer actor Smith is consistent throughout. Walker’s live performance is over exasperated at times but both Walker and James play their characters with commitment.
The terror of incarceration is enhanced by the projection of images through the garden shed window. Thunder and lightning effects aid and frame the coming and going of the sadistic killer and fright moments.
The reasons for blood lust requires some enquiry. The conspiracy story – government and chemical company versus small helpless and abandoned rural community – lacks conviction. We surmise that any ’thriller killer’ needs few plausible excuses to kill!!
We thank the cast for their energies and the contributing production team for a technically engaging display of multi-media performance And through the words of the character Cliff, we were able to link the grim past with the awkward present and… the fatal future. It is a play of consequence,
Only a sixty-minute performance, we were disappointed that there was no curtain call moment and left the theatre ‘hanging’. With the abundance of community support and efforts of students and volunteers engaged with this work it felt very strange to not acknowledge the work in this way.
Kia Kaha Keirunga Homestead Theatre and 2e Media: sponsors that continue to support live theatre in Hawkes Bay.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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