Festival is Here and Now
Showcase for young players reaches its teens
After a pandemic-forced break, Auckland Theatre Company’s Here and Now festival is back. An annual celebration of young theatre-makers, the festival is now a teenager itself, with two new shows to celebrate its 13th year.
And after several years at the ATC’s waterfront base, the festival this year has moved to the Basement Theatre — a more fitting choice for the small-scale productions, the intimate main theatre the perfect size and space for the young talent to thrive in.
First up on a Saturday night was Fleshies 2.0, described by creators The Oddballs as being “born out of a desire” to showcase different body types on stage and provide a different perspective to mainstream body politics. It’s an admirable goal, but in this chaotic sketch show, little of that shines through.
Instead, we had an 11-strong ensemble-moving through recurring and one-off sketches that touch on themes around body, gender norms and self-acceptance, but a lack of a through-line or clarity means any message gets lost among the noise
The clear highlight was a monologue by Isobel Christie comparing spines to pine trees, that was the perfect blend of movement and reflection that incorporated the whole cast well.
They were clearly all having the time of their lives on stage, and there were plenty of funny moments and sharp jokes.
The second offering this year is Yang/Young, and puts a fresh spin on teenage romances with a Chinese, queer perspective. The play follows Poppy and Qui Ju, family friends who have grown apart at high school. Queen Bee Poppy sees her social standing affected after her long-time boyfriend dumps her, while Qui Ju grapples with her feelings for another girl and how to negotiate the relationship while staying in the closet.
The combination of the script by Nuanzhi Zheng and Sherry Zhang and director Nathan Joe have led to a true delight, one that captures the Gen Z-teenage voice without feeling inauthentic, and is able to follow a more traditional structure while still incorporating fantasy moments and social media motifs.
The talented cast was also wonderfully suited to its characters — particularly Kate Stedman and Shelby Kua as the leads, while Tasman Clark and Danny Lam were standouts, selling the more ridiculous parts of the play with utter commitment.
Both works were vastly different, but they do once again highlight the huge amount of young talent in New Zealand — and after a year away, let’s hope festivals like Here and Now can carry on supporting this talent in all their creative endeavours.