Sea of Stories

So this is part 2 of my weekend of theatre. Friday night I saw the Te Papa "First Contact" event, and Saturday night I went to another free event by the Museum of Wellington and Maritime Museum called "Sea of Stories". This was probably one of the coolest concepts for a theatrical space that I've ever seen. The stage for the show was actually different parts of the museum. It wasn't just a straight theatrical performance either; it couldn't be considering their limited space. It was a test of ingenuity that the cast and crew past with flying colors. They used the different exhibits and spaces to their advantages. A bench in front of an exhibit became a bench out on the wharf, then they'd turn the action around and the audience was sitting on the bench as the action took place where we'd been sitting moments before. It was obvious that the budget for the show was literally nothing, but they were able to make a rather cool idea out their nonexistent budget by making puppets out of paper to help tell their story in parts, use flashlights as spot lights, and the audience for sound effects.

Since the story they were telling was all about the sea, they incorporated different parts of exhibits. For instance, there was a row boat exhibit so at one point they climbed into the boat and pretended to row. One of the cooler concepts that they had for the show was the use of paper to make props. The character of the little girl had a paper doll, made the ocean waves out of paper, even a boat and a hat. Our programs for the show were even folded into origami boats. The use of paper came to a head in the end of the story when Freya (the lead girl character) tries to go to the underworld to save her father. During the last scenes she's played as a paper doll, and everything in the underworld is made up of the stories of their lives. They break so many conventions of theatre through this paper doll idea, but they completely break the fourth-wall when Freya's paper doll gets thrown to the ground and she supposedly dies in doll form. Freya blankly stares at the doll for a moment before she looks around and says "then Freya realized that the underworld was made completely of paper and she tore out the exit, going back home." It was a brilliantly devised ending to the story of stories. It was a lovely little introduction to a kind of semi-professional theatre in Wellington, and only makes me anticipate the rest of the International Festival with glee!!