SEE?
Hamilton Gardens, Lakeside Court, Hamilton
20/02/2013 - 23/02/2013
Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival 2013
Production Details
How do you become the last man alive, and what would you then say to God if you happened to meet him? What would God say to you?
Wellington playwright Harry Meech has created a puzzling conundrum in See? a taster from Plains, which won Harry the Playmarket Young Playwright’s Award in 2009.
The script has since been developed with assistance from expert dramaturgs and received a staged in reading in the United States. This is the first time that the script will hit the stage in its native country.
See? shows its colours most clearly as it approaches its genuinely tragic subject material with a wry smile and quiet chuckle. Harry’s script tip-toes the line between meaningful and meaningless effortlessly, presenting the audience with something that transcends its narrative; a resounding question … What happens if you push the button?
Wednesday 20 February – Saturday, 23 February 2013 @ 7:00pm
Saturday, 23 February 2013 @ 11:30am
Lakeside Court (if wet: Eaves)
Koha
30 mins
30 mins
Unclear out of context
Review by Brenda Rae Kidd 21st Feb 2013
See? Unfortunately I didn’t. I thought this play was about a murderer having to atone to God for his sins.
See? is one act from Plains, written by Wellington Playwright Harry Meech and directed by Nicholas Sturgess-Monks. On research I have discovered that Plains is actually five short plays about seven people’s struggle to survive the end of the world. A black comedy, as it were.
Oh. Now I get it!
I got lost in the intellectual dialogue, but to be fair, had I done my research prior to or watched Plains in its entirety, I would have understood a little more.
Mary Rinaldi as ‘God’ and Antony Aiono as the ‘Satchel Man’ carry See? Rinaldi is particularly adept at delivering a pretty hefty existentialist monologue, which in less experienced hands would have been a drone. Aiono truly does appear as if he is carrying the weight of the world as he contemplates his fate.
God is not having it though; bored by the role of saviour, s/he just wants to have fun.
The use of an open space is interesting as the actors have very little in the way of props. Rinaldo uses Aiono as a stage as she pushes, jumps, flattens and challenges him.
I would like to review See? again as one act in five as written for Plains, shown in its entirety and in context.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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