Local Pyrotechnician Steps in for Internat'l Show

Media Release for Immediate Release
Tuesday 13th February

Local Pyrotechnician Steps in for International Festival Show

When acclaimed German director and composer Heiner Goebbels and his theatre company, Theatre Vidy-Lausanne, tried to send a box of pyrotechnics (fireworks) to New Zealand to arrive in time for their Auckland Festival, AK07 show, Max Black, they were faced with a fiery conundrum – no-one would freight the explosives that are essential to the show.

Goebbels and Theatre Vidy-Lausanne tried to send the pyrotechnics from their base in Switzerland to Auckland, only to find that no airline would carry the explosives and sending them by sea freight was not possible because they are classified ‘hazardous’, which means they would require their own container – an unnecessary and unaffordable expense for such a small parcel.

Enter Hamilton-based pyrotechnician Dr Martin Van Tiel who was contacted by Auckland Festival, AK07 to see if he could fashion the pyrotechnics himself.

Van Tiel is one of New Zealand’s leading pyrotechnicians and was delighted to help. After a series of long distance phone calls Theatre Vidy-Lausanne was convinced they could trust, for the first time, someone outside their company and country, to produce the necessary explosives.

Max Black is an extraordinary piece of contemporary theatre that uses stage pyrotechnics, amongst other things, to experiment with the boundaries between text, music, lighting and effects – and without the right pyrotechnics – there is no show.

Van Tiel says making the pyrotechnics for Max Black has been an exciting challenge, “These guys are very particular about what they want and because they are so used to making the explosives themselves they have been extremely thorough with their instructions. I look forward to testing them out at Unitec and then hoping like hell they work on stage at the Maidment Theatre!.”

Van Tiel is also storing a 20-foot container-load of fireworks for famed French pyrotechnicians Groupe F who are opening the Auckland Festival, AK07 with their show A Little More Light at the Auckland Domain on Saturday 10th March. This free public event is expected to be the biggest ever fireworks display seen in Auckland.

“I can’t wait to see what these guys can do – they’re the best in the world – and they’re coming here,” said an excited Van Tiel.

Max Black, Maidment Theatre, 21-23 March, Bookings Maidment Theatre 09 308 2383
Groupe F, 10th March, Auckland Domain, 7:30pm, Free
Auckland Festival, AK07, 9-25 March, www.aucklandfestival.co.nz

ENDS

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