Show an interactive labyrinth

Rushes

Circa Theatre until March 3 Reviewed by Ewen Coleman

One of the great things about the bi-annual New Zealand Festival is the opportunity it gives local audiences to see innovative and exceptionally creative performance art from both here and overseas.

And the opening production at Circa Theatre, Rushes, a locally produced show, is a prime example of this and sits up there with many of the overseas productions often seen at festivals.

Created by Maila Johnston, Rowan Pierce and Eden Mulholland and directed by Johnston, Rushes completely transforms Circa Theatre into something never seen before.

Designed by John Verryt, every inch of the theatre, including backstage and upstairs, is used and covered in white paper. With Morgan Whitfield’s amazing lighting and the incredibly evocative AV designs by Pierce, the venue is turned into a wonderland of light and images. Eden Mulholland’s music also adds much to the atmosphere.

Among all this through the labyrinth of passages and rooms are 36 local performers creating expressive tableaus of dance, movement, acting and singing, with each space totally different.

As audience members move about from space to space in awe of what they are seeing or experiencing, the performers also move about so that, often, it is unclear who is performer and who is audience.

Yet this is the beauty of the piece, in that the audience can be as involved or uninvolved as it likes and wander about returning to pieces again and again to see how they evolve from when they were first seen.

To describe any of it in more detail would take away the fun and excitement of experiencing such an incredibly interactive piece of performance art, suffice to say that the creators have certainly achieved everything they set out to do and more.

Running for just over an hour, it culminates in a big interactive finale with all the cast and audience involved - so, although there is the freedom to wander in and out and leave at any time, it’s important not to leave before experiencing the ending.

It’s a family-friendly show, with everyone from toddlers to grandparents able to participate and take away a unique experience.