Coffee Cups and a Porridge Pot at Frying Pan Lake

BATS Theatre, Wellington

19/05/2010 - 22/05/2010

Production Details


Indie-folk duo Rosy Tin Teacaddy are putting on a show at BATS. Coffee Cups and a Porridge Pot at Frying Pan Lake runs four nights from Wednesday 19 to Saturday 22 May.
 
Rosy Tin Teacaddy are Billy Earl (Andy Hummel, Woolshed Sessions) and Betty Grey (Holly Jane Ewens) who, courtesy of CreativeNZ and the Dept. of Conservation, have been away on sabbatical to Lake Tarawera as recipients of a Wild Creations residency. Their four nights at BATS will explore this bubbly terrain both visually and aurally. Combining brand new songs written at the lake with those from their two earlier records, Billy and Betty welcome you further into their world by extending the storytelling prowess synonymous with their albums and live shows, ‘In many ways these stories seem to all play out against the same slightly off kilter, slightly other-worldly backdrop – songs that exist in a nostalgic part of the countryside, or a quiet corner of the past, or conceivably both. There are departures but there is also the imminent return.’ (Jenah Shaw, Wellington Live Music Review for 2009’s The Homeward Stretch).
 
And as Billy succinctly puts it “if you’re the sort of person who likes songs that are a bit sort of folky or country with harmonies and that, accompanied by guitars and bits and bobs then Rosy Tin Teacaddy might be right up your alley.” It’s the bits and bobs that make this show, directed by Hannah Clarke (Babyshads, Theatre Militia), more a ‘theatrical excursion of domestic observation and historical fancy’ than a sit down gig. Betty sees the show as ‘an open door to our song-writing process, while being a great way to share some remarkable stories unearthed at the Lake.’ Let Billy and Betty pack you into their hatchback along with two guitars, an omnichord, coffee cups and a porridge pot and set off for Frying Pan Lake.
 
BATS Theatre
Four nights only
8.30pm 19 – 22 May
$20/$14 concs
Ph: 802 4175 or book@bats.co.nz
http://rosytinteacaddy.wordpress.com/
www.myspace.com/rosytinteacaddy
 
Rosy Tin Teacaddy bio:
 
Billy Earl and Betty Grey first met as youngsters, and since have surrounded kitchen tables with cheap wine, fine food, dirty children, acoustic guitars and endless cups of tea.
 
Their debut release, the EP Blind Leading The Blind (2007), was written and recorded as a five-day project in Betty’s cottage. Waking on the first day of the new year the two squirreled themselves away in self-imposed exile. Free from distractions, they stared out to sea and filled the vacant spaces. The result is a diary of cabin fever; shanties, lullabies, and electronic noodlings. This project was a response to their situation and environment, sparking the ignition for what was to become RTT.
 
A year of live gigs greeted the inclusion of accompanying musicians. This established the band’s distinctive flavour – a textural nu-folk sound. Think Peter, Paul and Mary. On acid.
 
Busy as beavers, Rosy Tin Teacaddy are often found whoring out their live shows to all and sundry. These musical tartlets have shared the stage with the likes of the Chris Knox, The Eastern, Jose Gonzalez and Iron and Wine.
 

2009 saw the release of the full length album, The Homeward Stretch. Recorded with Lee Prebble it aimed to capture a sound indicative of their live shows without pretentious gimmickry. Part art folk, part campfire sing alongs, the verdict is out: The Homeward Stretch is a stunner, a corker, a real ripsnorter and is the perfect accompaniment to the playing of cards.

‘This full length album sees songs like Crosswords, Deliverance, Bangers and Mash and Come Home with Me standing head and shoulders above so many of the usual Kiwi bands. This is not a guitar indie band, nor is it reggae/dub – and the blend of Earl and Grey is sublime; the perfect vocal cup of tea, so to speak’. – Simon Sweetman, North and South Magazine.

Stage managed by Tim Nuttal
Production managed by Maria Deere
Lit by Marcus McShane
Sound operated by Ryan Prebble

Charming

Review by Lynn Freeman 27th May 2010

Musicians are by nature performers, and great concerts are inherently theatrical. But few have the confidence to fashion a theatre show and blend it with music to create something, well, different – not musical theatre, not theatre with songs, but something much more homogenised.

Billy Earl and Betty Grey, in the fictionalised opening of the show, are married with far too many children but pack them off so they can pack up and go to Lake Tarawera. Facts: this is the scene of the 1886 eruption that killed more than 150 people and destroyed the Pink and White Terraces, and it’s one of the places DOC, with its Wild Creations scheme, sends creatives like these two to commune with nature and come up with something remarkable.

They create gorgeous harmonies and songs with wordplay-filled lyrics. They are equally playful when it comes to this show, bringing in a storyline, reading out parts of the diaries they wrote while lakeside in an isolated hut surrounded the history of the area and the memories of those who died and survived the eruption. 

They and director Hannah K Clarke use Marcus McShane’s lighting to full effect, casting ghostly beams and shadows, helping turn baking powder into ash as it’s sieved over Billy’s head during an eerie ballard. Stacked suitcases turn the formica table into a car and microphones are moved and reset so cleverly it feels like part of the action rather than a distraction.

They use sound beyond the music so cleverly, it’s a show full of charm, neat little theatrical touches and of course terrific music.
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A cosy Teacaddy show

Review by Phoebe Smith 20th May 2010

Coffee Cups and a Porridge Pot at Frying Pan Lake is a ‘musical road-trip’ with Rosy Tin Teacaddy. The band’s music is soft, lyrical, witty and homely – and it’s quite lovely, really.

Rosy Tin Teacaddy – comprising Billy Earl and Betty Grey (aka, Andy Hummel and Holly Jane Ewens) – were selected for a 2009 Wild Creations residency, which saw them pack up their car and drive to Lake Tarawera to begin writing their latest album. They discover inspiration for songs not only in their new physical surroundings, but also in the unexpected pervading spookiness of the landscape’s history.

The set – evolved by director Hannah Clarke with the performers – of a clothesline, kitchen table (with wonderful attached stools), standing lamp and a large pile of suitcases is effective in its simplicity. Everything that is required can be found inside the cases, the clothesline allows a mobile projector sheet and thanks to some ingenuity of materials and Marcus McShane’s lights we are permitted some seemingly effortless visual spectacle.

A self-proclaimed genre hybrid, “not really a play and quite a bit more than a gig,” Coffee Cups struggles slightly with the material between songs. While never entirely dropping the audience’s interest, the repetition of the model of minor domestics and lengthy readings from journals becomes a little tired. Perhaps the difficulty in a performance piece that is “not really a play,” is finding a build and a climax in its narrative.

Moments of cute humour are popular with the audience, particularly from Billy Earl. Both he and Grey are confident musical performers; their voices and playing are beautiful. It is a credit to sound operator Ryan Prebble that the levels are consistently good and we can hear everything, spoken and sung.

It is always a pleasure to see something different from the usual format on stage. That a cosy little show such as Coffee Cups has been produced after only one of the pair’s three fortnights of residency bodes extremely well for the album to come.
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