THE LONELIEST WHALE IN THE WORLD
Plimmer Steps, Above Leroy's Bar, Wellington
21/03/2018 - 24/03/2018
NZ Fringe Festival 2018 [reviewing supported by WCC]
Production Details
All Alone Together
The true-life story of a whale that’s captured human hearts. Imagine being lost, swimming across the Pacific, calling into the void and hearing nothing back in return. Is it too easy to picture? This one-woman show explores what loneliness means for us all, 1000 leagues under the sea.
Dr W Watkins has dedicated their life to searching for the 52 Hertz whale in their personal submarine. No one has ever seen this whale but she has been heard. She’s definitely a whale but she emits a mating call too low for any known species of whale to hear. Watkins follows the whale (nicknamed “Pam” by the dedicated and eccentric researcher) in order to find out what has caused Pam’s misfortune and whether in fact, she is as “lonely” as she seems.
Plimmer Steps, Above Leroy’s Bar, Te Aro, Wellington
Wednesday 21 – Saturday 24 March 2018
7:00pm
Fringe Addict $7 | General Admission $10
BOOK
Theatre , Solo ,
50 mins
Open, brave and honest
Review by Stevie Hancox-Monk 22nd Mar 2018
Hilary Penwarden has created a lovely, low-key, important piece about what it is to feel lonely. The venue – what appears to be a clubbing space that has been converted into a performance space – complements the themes in this piece: a stage empty but for a microphone, a music stand, and a guitar.
When Penwarden takes the stage, the blue of her costume stands out brilliantly against the black and red of the space. This clever isolation of the colour blue – a clear visual metaphor that inextricably links Penwarden with the character of the whale – is an idea I would love to see expanded in a further iteration of this show.
The show presents like a musical stand-up routine, a form that lends itself well to engaging with audience members. Penwarden is a gentle and sweet performer who has the audience spellbound from her first word. She cultivates her relationship with the audience so well that we are eager to support her and experience the journey with her. Direct eye contact with the audience would refine the form, but the performance e – she has excellent comic timing. This is the strongest element of the show, an incredible feat for a first-time songwriter.
Loneliness is not often discussed in such a calm, relaxed, and comical way. This show is open, brave and honest – a breath of fresh air and a thought-provoking work that concludes with a standing ovation from an audience calling out whale sounds. I cannot wait to see what Penwarden does with it next.
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