VEGAN JESUS
BATS Theatre, The Heyday Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
10/03/2019 - 13/03/2019
Production Details
Back in the sands of time, there was one man who stood up and told us meat was wrong. One man who travelled preaching his commitment to vegetables. One man who fired the imagination of the people and helped bring about a new era. One man who made the ultimate sacrifice for his meat free beliefs so we could all enjoy nut roasts – and then came back three days later to keep going on about it.
Vegan Jesus, prophet of potatoes and messiah of mushrooms, walked the land spreading his message of peace and fresh produce. But what was that he said about the treatment of lambs? Be careful what you preach for, because some of his messages just might have been misconstrued.
Vegan Jesus is a delicious gluten-free blend of topical issues and contemporary circus, lightly garnished with social experimentation. What could possibly go wrong?
BATS Theatre – The Heyday Dome, 1 Kent Terrace
Sunday 10 March – Wednesday 13 March 2019
7:00pm
NZ Fringe tickets are no longer available for this show, to get tickets visit BATS Theatre or call (04) 802 4175
Theatre , Circus ,
1 hr
A veritable vegan ragout
Review by Margaret Austin 12th Mar 2019
This show’s title fulfils its promise of intrigue, even provocation, at Bats Heyday Dome. The Septic Steamfish (Boomtown Okrabats) cast of three have devised an inventive and disarming piece which they describe as “a developmental circus theatre show.”
So perhaps we’re ready for our first sight of a white clad figure dragged onstage by a couple of henchmen bent on crucifying him. Disappearing to track down nails, they leave the space to a dangling martyr who turns into a rope dance artist, twisting and turning in poses sometimes suggestive of crucifixion.
This mingling of spiritual and acrobatic characterises the performance, as does the juxtaposition of vegan and viand, represented by rival sellers – Gladys the Vegan (Steph Hobbs) and Bob the Butcher (Rich Martin) – who vie for buyers’ preference in a gymnastic dance that has me fearing for the veggie girl.
Our Vegan Jesus (Aidin Ralfe) comes between the two, but his line about the insufficiency of bread for man’s good is eagerly pounced on. There are some other good lines, but the script is the only somewhat weak aspect of a show whose main appeal is visual.
There’s a trapeze act, a hoop one, and a double juggle with onions complete with ten Hail Marys for a misthrow.
Vegan Jesus is an altogether well-staged, delightfully ironic take on a figure we know – or thought we did – in combination with a topical dietary argument. A veritable vegan ragout.
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