Yellow Hut

Globe Theatre, 104 London St, Dunedin

19/03/2024 - 23/03/2024

Dunedin Fringe Festival 2024

Production Details


Written by Ella West
Directed by Jess Keogh & Calum Beck

Globe Theatre Dunedin


The Globe Theatre presents Ella West’s Yellow Hut.

As a storm breaks in the New Zealand backcountry, married couple Grant and Donna seek shelter in the ‘Yellow Hut’, encountering students Annalise and Mark, and hunters Tom and Geoff. The hut itself is named after the cowardice of the survivor of horrific events that took place within the hut years ago, and as the weather worsens, the events of the past appear to begin to take place again in the present. The hut’s atmosphere grows tense as the ghost story comes to life. Secrets lurk within, threatening to surface with each drip of water that echoes from the past into the present.

When the events of the night take an unexpected turn, the ensuing chaos reveals a complex web of secrets. A storm rages both outside the hut and between its inhabitants as the boundaries between truth and deception are blurred, and haunting revelations cause life changing confrontations.

Will secrets destroy those seeking shelter, or will they find a way to weather the storm together? Brace for a night at the Yellow Hut, where the simple act of taking shelter transforms into something much more sinister, revealing the haunting power of buried truths.

Globe Theatre Dunedin
19 – 23 March
7.30pm
$20 – Full Price
$10 – Concession
$16 – Discount for group of 4
Book at Dunedin Fringe:
https://www.dunedinfringe.nz/events/yellow-hut-by-ella-west


Cast
Donna - Sheena Townsend
Grant - Nic Turner
Mark - Jackson Rosie
Annalise - Kairi Mortensen-Morunga
Tom - Jacob Blomfield
Geoff - Andrew Matheson

Crew
Co-Directors - Jess Keogh & Calum Beck
Production Manager - Patricia Pantleon
Stage Manager - Harry Almey
Front of House Manager - Kay Masters
Arts Directorate Rep - Rosemary Manjunath
Fringe Administrator - Sheena Townsend
Lighting Design - Don Townsend & Cody McRae
Sound Design - Louisa Stabenow & Calum Beck
Lighting Operator - Danielle Glennie
Sound Operator - Thomas Makinson
Set Design - Jess Keogh & Calum Beck
Set Construction - Calum Beck
Props - Jess Keogh
Costume - Cast
Publicity and Marketing - Thomas Makinson & Jess Keogh
Poster Design - Calum Beck
Programme Design - Jackson Rosie
Photography and Promotional Video - Don Townsend


Theatre ,


2 hours

Yellow Hut great start to the Globe’s year

Review by Barbara Frame 22nd Mar 2024

The yellow hut looks like a typical tramping hut: minimally furnished, with bunks, a table, various bits and pieces and some leafy debris. A cute little window gives the audience an indication of the bush setting. The hut is only a few hours from civilisation, but there’s snow outside and no cellphone coverage.

It’s Saturday night. Six occupants arrive in pairs, and at first it seems fairly obvious who knows who and why each person is there (with a couple of exceptions), but as things progress identity and motive become less certain.

A dodgy-sounding ghost story is told, and the presence of guns and a bottle of whisky complicate things further. …[More]

Comments

Make a comment

This show is a slow burn

Review by Hannah Molloy 21st Mar 2024

Yellow Hut by Ella West, presented at Dunedin Fringe Festival by the Globe Theatre, is a pretty fun piece of community theatre. The cast of six invest themselves into their characters and the set neatly scaffolds the storyline.

One of the best things about Fringe is seeing early iterations of work and Yellow Hut is no exception. It has the bones of a great play, given some tightening of the script, adjustments to the pacing, and smoothing of the relationships between the characters. The cast warmed into their roles, although they felt through to the end like a group of strangers who aren’t gelling terribly well but are confined together. Donna, played by Sheena Townsend, and Geoff, played by Andrew Matheson, are the standouts. Donna managed the fragility of an abused and manipulated woman extremely well and with sympathy and respect.

The jump scare towards the end of the first half is very well received, causing nearly as many shrieks in the audience as on stage. The violence towards the end is similarly appropriately received, with gasps of horror and shock. By this stage it does feel a little bit comedic as well though – there are several moments when the cast very much look to be stifling giggles.

The show is a slow burn, taking almost the whole first act to set the scene and drop a few hints as to who is who and what’s going to happen. By contrast the second act is pretty fast moving – it feels a wee bit like everyone just wants to get it done.

There are some glitches in language cadence and continuity. For example, at one point Grant says to Geoff that Donna is very fond of him but it’s hard to see how she can be ‘fond’ when she has only known him for a few hours. I also wonder if the interpretation Tom has taken from the script when he describes the way Annalise comes on to him is the one I would have taken if I had read it – it feels a bit predatory and yuck where a police officer could be expected to be perhaps puzzled or curious about her behaviour. I suppose most of the characters are predatory and yuck so perhaps he is as well and I guess police officers can be predatory and yuck as well.

A note of warning to the cast and directors: it’s a hard no to point guns towards an audience, even if fully and carefully decommissioned. This part of the scene was extremely uncomfortable and most of the people at that side of the audience were leaning away from the gun’s muzzle. One of my guests, born and raised on farms and around guns was deeply unimpressed – “you don’t come back from accidents with guns. You just never point them at people.” 

Comments

Make a comment

Wellingon City Council
Auckland City Council