MARINE SNOW
BATS Theatre, The Heyday Dome, 1 Kent Tce, Wellington
16/11/2017 - 25/11/2017
Production Details
“All they can do is hope that the world isn’t as cold a place as it sometimes feels, and that somewhere out there, there’s something—anything—for them” – Finnius Teppett
Sam has a theory about a rare ocean beauty, and a drive to find it. Penny has a feeling that something life-changing is about to happen. Don has a big hole to fill, and Sonya might be able to help. As for Leon and Conscience – they’re just along for the ride.
Alongside a talented cast, and brilliant design team, director Lori Leigh (Revelations) brings to life, award winning playwright, Finnius Teppett’s (My Dad’s Boy, White Man Behind a Desk), Marine Snow, this November at BATS Theatre, in Wellington.
“…the characters in Marine Snow are each fumbling in the dark for something to sustain them: a connection.”
Teppett’s Marine Snow breaches the unknown of the world, with hopes of capturing the mysterious beauty within. He is taking a simple story and thrusting it into the world of absurd, and he isn’t afraid to do so. With meticulous research and a wild imagination, Teppett, alongside Leigh’s direction, has created magic in these pages.
Brought to life on stage by a seasoned cast; WTA Best Male Newcomer 2016 Tom Clarke (Hand to God, Devil’s Half-Acre), Stevie Hancox-Monk (Richard II, PSC midsummer night’s dream), Isobel Mebus (The Undertow, Revelations), John Landreth (My Dad’s Boy), Freya Daly Sadgrove (Tiny Deaths, My Dad’s Boy) and Neenah Dekkers-Reihana (Waru, Anahera), Marine Snow will undoubtedly be one of the best shows Wellington has seen in 2017.
The sharp minds in the design team of Marine Snow has challenged themselves to create the world Finnius Teppett has shared with them; with Nick Zwart (Vanilla Miraka, Performance Arcade 2017) on lighting and projection [and mentoring], Lucas Neal (Long Ago Long Ago, Spring Awakening) on set, and WTA Best Sound Designer 2016 Oliver Devlin (Seven Sons of Supparath, Jekyll & Hyde/Don Juan), Marine Snow is going to be shaped into the world by capable hands.
“The story has absurd elements (talking fleas, human-fish metamorphosis, a living dead seagull), but the emotions are true and powerful—this play is an intimate tragedy about heartbreak at a personal level.”
BATS Theatre, The Heyday Dome
16-25 November 2017
6.30pm
$20/$15/$14
BOOK
Cast
Freya Sadgrove, Neenah Dekkers-Reihana, Stevie Hancox-Monk, Tom Clarke, Isobel Mebus and John Landreth.
The Creative Team
Writer: Finnius Teppett
Director: Lori Leigh
Production Manager: Cassandra Tse
Set Designer: Lucas Neal
Lighting and Projections Designer: Nick Zwart
Sound Designer: Oliver Devlin
Marketing and Stage Manager: Maddy Warren
Image credits: Tabitha Arthur and Roc+ Photography
Theatre ,
1 hr
An absurdist tale of love, fleas and the struggle for connection
Review by Ewen Coleman 20th Nov 2017
The publicity for Finnius Teppett’s new show, Marine Snow, currently playing at Bats Theatre, labels it as an absurdist tale of love, fleas and the struggle for connection, and it is all that and more.
Through numerous vignettes, some connected some not, a group of disparate individuals are looking to connect and looking for love. Yet it is the disconnection, loss and loneliness that are at the heart of this rather esoteric piece of writing, that almost has too many streams of ideas running through it to the point where it’s almost information overload.
Nevertheless, what director Lori Leigh and her strong cast and creative design team have done with Teppett’s script is quite extraordinary and, even if it is difficult to comprehend the piece as a cohesive whole, it is still an amazing production to watch. [More]
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
Scary, charming and sensuous with beautiful visual metaphors
Review by Zoe Joblin 17th Nov 2017
Marine Snow, written by Finnius Teppet and directed by Lori Leigh, centres around three pairs of lovers whose lives interconnect. They inhabit an absurdist world where fleas experience heartbreak, a lost high schooler meets a Donnie Darko-esque seagull demon, and there is one sea creature who cannot find her mate.
Although slow and difficult to follow at times, the narrative has a strong through-theme of melancholy in the pursuit of happiness. The six characters vary from high schoolers to entrepreneurs to fleas but all share a similar naivety which is at once scary and charming.
Oliver Devlin’s sound design is filmic and nuanced, sitting thoughtfully alongside the story. The lighting design (Nick Zwart) crafts some startling moments such as a deep, dark blue wash followed by a strobe effect as the character Penny (Freya Daly Sadgrove) disappears.
The strength of Sadgrove’s performance in this strange, sensual, underwater transformation is mirrored at the end of the show by Neenah Dekkers-Reihana when her character, Leon the flea, realises that they mistakenly abandoned the love of their life and may never see them again.
The cast also includes Stevie Hancox-Monk, Isobel Mebus, Tom Clarke and John Landreth, all of whom create tender connections which help the story expand satisfyingly. They perform on a raised stage which is surrounded by debris where the fleas can scavenge.
Along with designer Lucas Neal, the production team utilise set and props to create some beautiful visual metaphors including a large glass aquarium which doubles as the bath that our lost teen disappears in, and the ocean floor where a lonely sea creature searches.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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