Follow-up an almighty job

It’s not often a young playwright can claim a huge success with a first work, but not all playwrights start with something as bold and fresh as Potato Stamp Megalomaniac.

Auckland writer and actor Andrew Gunn instantly became one to watch on the theatre scene last year with his semi-autobiographical play about his own mental health. When it won one of the Excellence Awards at the Auckland Theatre Awards last year, it was of little surprise to most people except, it seems, Gunn himself.

“I was so surprised,” he says with a laugh.

“It was very surreal. The other productions were from very established companies and . . . had several hundred thousand dollar budgets, as opposed to our not even $5000.

“It’s nice for a show that’s not slick and aiming for the integrity of telling a story. Our show was quite strange, so it was nice for it to get an award.”

Other excellence awards for overall production went to Te Po, by Theatre Stampede, Nightsong Productions and the Auckland Arts Festival; Auckland Theatre Company’s That

Bloody Woman; The White Guitar by The Conch and Christchurch Arts Festival, and Don Juan by A Slightly Isolated Dog.

Now Gunn has the daunting task of following that up. His new show, Flesh of the Gods, premieres this week as part of the Fringe Festival.

“It’s not anything like [ Potato Stamp],” Gunn says.

Instead, it’s the story of a pantheon of gods coming to life and finding themselves in a room with a character like a forensic psychologist.

“We’re looking at the . . . idea that gods are manifestations of human worship and thought and attention,” he says.

It’s the first of Gunn’s plays that isn’t particularly personal, an experience he describes as refreshing.

“It’s not 100 per cent all on me anymore.”