Poetry of our Ancestry, Story of our Belonging
Printable Reality Actors Ensemble brings to life a contemporary performance/live literature project exploring the experience of becoming a New Zealander. Inspired by poetry from New Zealand and around the world, adapted for the stage and directed by gus Simonovic and Gail Romano – Aotearoa is a cloud in motion, a place of becoming, where our personal journeys are at the centre of the story.
Performance can be accompanied by a workshop:
Let our crew take you on this unique poetic journey . Be inspired by transformational nature of live poetry – reading it, speaking it, writing it. Working with a poet and the actors, using series of simple exercises, participants are invited to unleash their creative potential. An adventure and discovery in language and expression, followed by live stage performance***. All workshop material provided, participants are invited to bring a couple of their favorite poems, to share.
Touring party of four, can be performed at any theatre or gallery setting. First performed at the Basement Theatre, March 2013. Matariki edition of the show performed as a part of Matariki Festival at TAPAC, July 2013.
For more info and booking please contact gus@printablereality.com +64 212323739
PEOPLE
Printable Reality Actors Ensemble:
Jennifer Austin, Denise Snoad, Lee ah yen Faatoia,
Jordin Lincoln, Prema Cottingham and Rebecca Parr.
Plus special appearance by Rosanna Raymond,
and surprise live appearances by local poets.
Music: Dubtext
Visuals : Siri Embla
Adapted for the stage and directed by gus Simonovic and Gail Romano.
Poetry of our Ancestry, Story of our Belonging
New Zealand is a country of immigrants, a modern nation built on diversity. Historically, all New Zealanders have come from somewhere, some before some after. They have all bought parts of their tradition, language and culture – threads from which the tapestry of our modern day Kiwi-culture is woven.
Poetry as an art form is as old as human existence. Initially developed through oral tradition and folk song, it predates literacy. Spoken word evolved further through writing, reading, translation and performance, and it is so central to all cultures. Over the past few months, favourite poems from all around the world were collected by various NZ communities, individuals and poets. In adopting and adapting them for this performance, parts of those poems are “lost in translation”, leaving behind the old homeland, and parts have been “found in translation” – finding a new home and contributing to the new culture. The resulting collection of poems and excerpts is transformed into a 30-minute spoken word performance.
The project aims to use language and poetry to deepen the understanding of where we Kiwis “come from,” individually and collectively, and what makes us who we are today. The story of our belonging, our uniqueness and identity is told using a blend of old modern voices, perceptions and expression. Inspiring and transformational, this is a live poetry show like you have never seen it before.
Inspiring and transformational, this is a live poetry show like you have never seen before.
Photos and Video
Poem used for a promo video : What Are You Doing? by Dinah Hawken