Two of New Zealand's best emerging young writers Claire Ahuriri (Winner of Flip the Script 2005) and Benjamin Teh hit the stage this March in Auckland's Fringe Festival showcasing 'Virgin Party' and 'Where the Monsters Are' - two original provocative plays.
'Virgin Party', an exhortation of sex and femininity dazzles and shocks with its discourse between modern, historical and mythological interpretations of physical intimacy and its social consequences.
Writer/Director Claire Ahuriri says the play "revolves around the idea that the taboos placed around sex have made it dangerous and it's the danger that makes it so attractive". Two of New Zealand's best emerging young writers Claire Ahuriri (Winner of Flip the Script 2005) and Benjamin Teh hit the stage this March in Auckland's Fringe Festival showcasing 'Virgin Party' and 'Where the Monsters Are' - two original provocative plays.
'Virgin Party', an exhortation of sex and femininity dazzles and shocks with its discourse between modern, historical and mythological interpretations of physical intimacy and its social consequences.
Writer/Director Claire Ahuriri says the play "revolves around the idea that the taboos placed around sex have made it dangerous and it's the danger that makes it so attractive". The play's development began with a single image of a symposium of mythological women engaged together in intense debate and the Fringe Festival provides an ideal platform in which to stage this type of social theatre.
Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary, Athena and Aphrodite all join together on a mythical plane to the discover the roots of physical intimacy. While far away, a young girl caught between sexual freedom and social dominance echoes their struggle.
Ahuriri thinks of the Fringe Festival as "a chance to finally get outside the square, an opportunity to share, shock, to be weird, to be ourselves".
Infused with narcissistic humour 'Where the Monsters Are' chills the human psyche and screws with seemingly concrete perceptions of society.
Enter a dark world where nightmares are real and monsters run wild. In the night a young girl must play a dangerous game of survival as her fantasies turn against her.
Writer/Director Benjamin Teh says the play is about "dreams, nightmares something everyone can identify with....love.....fear. The characters in my play" he says "are all driven by their own desires to torment or feed on or save".
The play incorporates modern popular culture including characters like Elmo and 'Jester' the female version of the infamous Joker character.
Teh says the Fringe Festival is a chance to "creep people out" and he's interested in the audiences' reaction. "It's a very malleable script; I foresee it being interpreted in many different ways".
'Virgins' and 'Monsters' are brought to you by the Theatre of Love. Producer James Wenley says "Theatre of Love is about bringing original and daring theatre to Auckland's stage, theatre that may not have been seen otherwise. 'Virgin Party' and 'Where the Monsters Are' are both innovative, challenging, and not to be missed".
Prepare to be dazzled.
Prepare to be shaken.
'Where the Monsters Are' runs from March 3-7, 'Virgin Party' runs from March 10-14.
Both shows staged at The Auckland University Drama Studio, 8pm each night.
Tickets are $10
To make a booking, of further information email: theatreoflove@gmail.com
27/02/09