There is an eerie, dream-like quality to ATC’s finely crafted revival of When Sun & Moon Collide that situates the play within a tradition that might be called Kiwi Gothic.

As with the novels of Ronald Hugh Morrieson, the drama opens a window on the seedy underbelly of our rural heartland and exposes sinister forces festering beneath the tranquil surface of small town New Zealand. [More] 

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Briar Grace Smith’s When the Sun and Moon Collide – directed by Rawiri Paratene – is as much about the darkness eclipsing as it is about these light-shedding entities colliding.  

Kiwi anthem ‘Ten Guitars’ plays from a jukebox as a lone silhouette sweeps the day’s work away.  Lights reveal a quaint tearoom with a menu that includes: $7 Eggs on Toast, $12 Big Breakfast and $3 pies. We are obviously not in a cafe on Ponsonby road but the sleepy tearoom of Isaac – played by Jack Buchanan – in the middle of nowhere. It is in this humble tearoom where we see the lives the four main characters Declan, Francie, Isaac and Travis intersect.   

We are fully immersed in Dan Williams’ detailed set: counter, kitsch chairs, salt and pepper shakers and even a RESERVED placard for love interest Francie. Isaac’s cooking is a far cry from his late mother’s juicy big breakfast of blood pudding, bacon and eggs. Abandoned by the rest of town, his only customer is the troubled Francie, played by Emily Campbell, who only drinks warm water anyway.

The tearoom fades out like a sketch. As the set stretches across the left of the stage the walls become mere frames and we can see through to layered sheets of darkness. Floor-to-ceiling flecked strips of fabric overlap and there is an ominous depth in the shadows behind the tearoom. Jennifer Lal’s lighting design shocks the towering fabric with shades of blue, green and red, electrifying scenes and creating atmosphere in the moody moments of the play.

Joe Dekkers Reihana’s one-eyed Declan is the first to emerge from the darkness behind the tearooms, disturbing Isaac’s solitary routine. Fresh out of prison, he is wild in nature and takes us through the notion of Mutuwhenua. Mutuwhenua is the name of the phase when the moon dies and darkness takes over.

Throughout the play Declan slips into the character of Koro, as if recalling a childhood memory. He reminds us of the significance of the moon phases for growing food, catching fish and the menstrual cycle. It is in these moments – assisted by Thomas Press’ sound design – I am most drawn in, as Declan highlights that we have lost sight of observing the natural cycles of our environment and the moons magnetic effect on the energies of the earth.  

Isaac is stiff and Declan is a ball of intensity while Travis – played by Kuru Forrester – is the comic local police officer. She walks around with the smugness of institutionalised security, spouting off prepared pep-talks and bad puns. She was raised good and proper (unlike Declan’s ‘lot’) but as this facade melts we uncover the deeper reasons she is meddling in Declan’s life.

Emily Campbell, who plays Francie, is suitably slight, physically, for her role but without the fragility you might expect. She is a survivor like Declan and despite not sharing the stage with him, except last few scenes, they both possess the same disturbed glint in their eyes. Unlike Isaac, I am keen to see these two characters collide. 

We watch Isaac write a new menu item on the window: MQ117… he quickly rubs it off and we sense it represents either an abandoned dream or a closely guarded secret or perhaps both.  

It is a detective story and Travis is such a poor police investigator, we attempt to solve the mystery of the missing Danish tourists. 

It is satisfying to watch the jigsaw puzzle of this community clang together as they uncover uncomfortable truths about themselves and people they thought were dear. Whenever I find myself clasping my glass too tightly another witty line is delivered, keeping things light and humorous.

This play is about finding the inner courage to confront obstacles and pursue burning desires in spite of circumstance. As Declan says: “The kowhai tree would never have met the tui had it not found its courage to bloom.” 

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