RETURN TO SENDER
Gryphon Theatre, 22 Ghuznee Street, Wellington
18/02/2014 - 22/02/2014
Production Details
Unsent letters inspire heartfelt improvisation
WIT celebrates the literally lost art of letter writing
Back before Skype, email, texting and even phone calls, we contacted loved ones by putting pen to paper and sending our messages through the post. What happened, then, to those messages that never arrived?
Join the Wellington Improvisation Troupe as we explore letters undelivered in the New Zealand premiere of Return To Sender in NZ Fringe 2014.
Originally created by Melbourne’s Amy Moule and performed by Impro Box, Return to Sender is set in the local Dead Letter Office, where undelivered letters are stored and filed. Words of love, intrigue, promise, regret and even the mundane sit undelivered and unread. Watch as we bring the stories, characters and spirit of these letters to life. Audience members are invited to bring their own letters along to serve as inspiration for each night’s performance.
Directed by Kate Wilson, fresh from her strong roles in #Divas, Secrets, and The Young and the WITless, Return to Sender also features performances from Jennifer O’Sullivan, Geoff Simmons, Matt Hutton, Wiremu Tuhiwai, Amy Williamson, Mary Little, Phil Anderson, and Annika Naschitzkini.
“Having played in this format in Australia I immediately fell in love with the richness that is provided in the letters. These kept memories are special in themselves and being able to bring them to life onstage is a delight. I have absolute faith in the cast that they will honour these memories in both truthful and comedic ways. I cannot wait to see what this unique season will bring.” says Kate Wilson, director.
Presented by Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT), Wellington’s not-for-profit, community based improvisational theatre group. WIT performs and teaches the skills of improvisational theatre at community venues around the Wellington region.
“Highly recommended and worth repeat viewing” – Theatreview
“Pure bliss on stage together.” – Theatreview
Return to Sender – NZ Fringe 2014
Dates: 18-22 February 2014
Venue: Fringe at the Gryphon, 22 Ghuznee St
Tickets: $16 / $14 / $12 from www.eventfinder.co.nz
More Info: www.wit.org.nz
Theatre , Improv ,
50mins
They warm to their task
Review by Sophie Melchior 19th Feb 2014
Improv theatre has long been a love of mine. The creativity and sense of timing the actors need show a real dedication to the craft.
Return to Sender takes a long form improvised scene and weaves shorter scenes around the central premise of two people working in the Dead Letter Office. The two initial characters, tonight Erin and Nate (tomorrow who knows?), are played with impressive skill by Jennifer O’Sullivan and Wiremu Tuhiwai. The scenes in the office are seamless and at the end of the show I am convinced that their portion at least has been scripted.
Erin and Nate read out letters that have been lost and the elements from those letters are to be woven into scenes by the others members of the group. The first couple of scenes unfortunately aren’t as effortless as those in the Dead Letter Office, but as the group warm up to their task they hit their marks more often.
Amy Williams, Geoff Simmons, Matt Hutton, Phil Anderson, Annika Naschitzki and Mary Little work very hard to bring humour and genuine sweetness to the Gryphon. I think however that that format would be better served with the other actors taking bigger cues from the letters read aloud. Perhaps even weaving a story which manages to link them together.
The short length really adds to this performance as even those scenes which don’t hit that mark aren’t able to lower the energy levels for the rest.
With each show unfolding differently to the night before, this is the type of format that will just grow and improve over the run as the actors feel more comfortable.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
Comments
Jennifer O'Sullivan February 20th, 2014
Just a brief note to confirm that absolutely none of our show was scripted, even if it gave you that impression :) Come again and see!