INTO THE UNCANNY VALLEY

by Jean Betts with Charlie Bleakley, based on an idea by Charlie Bleakley and Nick Wyatt, with thanks for refinements to the original cast
Director: Charlie Bleakley
Produced by Lumina Productions
as part of STAB 2012 (with thanks to Creative NZ)

at BATS, Wellington
From 3 Nov 2012 to 17 Nov 2012

Reviewed by: Helen Sims; Lynn Freeman (Capital Times); Ewen Coleman (The Dominion Post);

An adventure into the enchanting truth hidden within every particle of existence.

Bang. (Big) noun
Energies. (dark) Holes. (black) Mysteries. (perplexing) Cats. (unstable)

Imagination is more important than knowledge - Albert Einstein

On November 3 Into the Uncanny Valley opens at BATS Theatre.

Using a mixture of theatre, dance, music, and visual and physical effects, our audience will be taken on a surprising and inspiring theatrical adventure.

We follow Sophie, as she takes an Uncanny journey from the ‘clockwork universe' of the 19th century, through the profound but counter-intuitive truths uncovered by physics in the 20th century – meeting many weird and wonderful characters along the way – up to what may finally be the discovery of the ‘God Particle' within humanity's greatest ever machine: the Large Hadron Collider...

The inspiration for Into the Uncanny Valley began backstage of the 1993 Circa production of Jean Betts' Ophelia Thinks Harder where former particle physicist turned part-time actor Nick Wyatt wowed young child performer Charlie Bleakley with the stunning and wondrous ideas of 20th century physics.

The conversation leisurely continued as Charlie's interests in both physics and theatre developed (6th form prizes – physics & drama) as did Nick's belief that the astonishing concepts within modern science could be beautifully explored for a broader audience.

They presented their ideas to several vastly experienced scientists, artists and professionals who were swiftly inspired to take on their project, collaborating to turn their fantastical ideas into reality - Lumina productions was born.

A key member of this team is Charlie's father Joe Bleakley, the only man capable of bringing such absurd and unfathomable ideas to the stage. He was a member of ground-breaking troupe Red Mole that used to have queues along Vivian St hoping to get into its cabaret shows at Carmen's Balcony nightclub with their edgy mix of puppets, skits and rock music. Joe created the opening ceremony for the 1990 Commonwealth Games for which he earned a QSM. He went on to art direct a string of Kiwi films including King Kong and Lord of the Rings. Rings earned Joe the US Art Directors Guild's highest award - Excellence in Production Design.

Along with Joe's large and varied team bringing the stage alight, Australian composer, instrumentalist and performer Adam Page is creating the musical soundscape and Choreographer and Footnote Dance stalwart Deirdre Tarrant will be bringing the dance element to life.

Charlie will direct this ensemble team from a script developed with Jean Betts and Nick Wyatt in collaboration with the Lumina productions team.

Into the Uncanny Valley
Season: November 3 – 17
BATS Theatre
Tues-Sat, 8pm

Public Preview, Thursday 1st November - all tickets $12
STAB Season Pass (Into the Uncanny Valley and Flatland) - $35
Email book@bats.co.nz for either of these special deals.

PERFORMERS
Jennifer Martin, Paul Waggott, Anya Tate-Manning, Richard Falkner, Bryony Skillington
DANCERS
Alice Macann, Emily Adams, Paul Young
MUSICIAN: Adam Page

WRITER: Jean Betts
DIRECTOR: Charlie Bleakley
SCIENCE ADVISORS: Nick Wyatt & Matt Visser
DESIGNER: Joe Bleakley
CHOREOGRAPHER: Deirdre Tarrant
LIGHTING DESIGN: Jennifer Lal
LIGHTING OPERATOR: Glen Ashworth
MUSIC: Adam Page
SOUND DESIGN: Paddy Bleakley & Buster Flaws
WARDROBE: Sheila Horton

PRODUCER: Howard Taylor
STAGE MANAGER: Lucie Camp
ON-LINE PUBLICIST: Jennifer O'Sullivan
GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Matthew Gleeson
BUBBLE-MASTER: Alan McKay
PROJECTIONS: Dan Untitled, Piet Asplet, Tim Jordan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jess Charlton
PROPS: Vicky Robertson
ANIMAL WRANGLER
FX ENGINEER: Patrick Herd
MODEL-MAKERS: Gary & Tanya Buckley, Brent Davenport
ASST. WARDROBE: Erin Horton-Wilkie
SEAMSTRESS: Jane Ferguson
PACK-IN: Blair Ryan & Thomas Press