Bubblelands: A Fable of Fishy Sentience, Ecology And Sashimi

Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Omphalos Co and A+ Productions presents
Bubblelands
by Renee Liang, directed by Amanda Grace Leo

A Fable of Fishy Sentience, Ecology And Sashimi

Fresh from Fringe hits Under The Same Moon and The Two Farting Sisters, prolific playwright Renee Liang turns her pen to exploring the culinary habits of her culture – but from the point of view of the food. “Er – yes. Actually I love eating fresh seafood,” she admits. “But I’ve found it harder since I started watching them and trying to get inside their heads - not literally of course.”

Her whimsical physical comedy brings together the talents of Hweiling Ow (Two Fish n a Scoop, Under The Same Moon) and Benjamin Teh (The First Asian AB, Passion In Paradise). “Hweiling and Ben are great friends, so I can really push the boundaries and have them do crazy things in a confined public space,” Liang explains.

The premise is simple: in the fishtank of a Chinese restaurant, a Bluecod waits. She doesn’t remember how she got there, or what she was doing before. But the arrival of a big, bold and beautiful Crayfish starts to jog her out of her haze. Soon, one of them will be ‘chosen’ and neither can wait. It’s the classic odd couple set up, with a dash of potential cannibalism thrown in – not to mention the hungry diners looking in through the glass.

Liang sees this as a chance to explore ideas about what and why we choose to eat and what our choices might mean. She also touches on ideas such as humane treatment of fish and the effect of climate change on NZ’s marine population. “Theatre’s a great medium for exploring serious questions, but in a non-threatening way,” she says. “You can sit back and enjoy the fun, but maybe you’ll have an unintended ‘takeaway’”.

Ow and Teh are both frequent collaborators with Liang. The two make the perfect odd couple, playing an uptight fish with religious hang-ups versus a hip-hop loving crayfish. “You know what’s weird? Trying to work out how to move,” says Teh, who will have twelve appendages to manage on his costume and his hands encased in foam claws, and who break dances during his performance. “At least you have legs to work with,” retorts Ow. And are they excited to be playing seafood? “It's probably the pinnacle of my career to date,” says Ow.

Sarah Burren, who has worked on events from an educational kid’s show to the Rugby World Cup, is making and designing the costumes. “They’re more like wearable puppets. They have to reference the real animal, yet be easy to move in and durable enough to last through rehearsal and the two seasons,” she says. There are also some extra design features – such as squirting eyes – which appear in Liang’s script. “I’m loving the challenge!” Burren laughs.

Director Amanda Grace Leo is keen to explore the possibilities of Liang’s script, which dips into absurdism while exploring some of the big issues of our time – like inter-species attraction. “I now know more than I need to about sexual habits of fish,” Leo says. Aiding her in the rehearsal room is clowning guru and 2015 Billy T Comedy Award winner, Hamish Parkinson. Veteran director Beth Kayes and playwright Gary Henderson are also mentoring.

The play is being jointly produced by Omphalos Co and A+ Productions. There is also a Boosted campaign running. "We're hoping to get funding for the production of a very clever, quirky, fun show,” says Joselyn Khor, co-producer. “We’d love for Asians and other minority groups to get a chance to play roles that aren't stereotyped. It'd be incredible if people donated to our Boosted campaign, showing support for great theatre, where Asians break out of the mould… to play fish.”

She adds, “I love how this is a play that ‘just happens’ to be made by Asians. It proves that we don’t have to stick to expected themes like family or racism.” “But we do talk about food,” chimes in Teh. “Without the MSG, of course.”

Two actors in over-the-top fish costumes, interacting in the confined but revealing space of a tank. And all the while the chopsticks hover. Catch the fish while you can.

bubblelands.net

ENDS

Bubblelands

bubblelands.net

In the fishtank of a Chinese restaurant, a blue cod and a crayfish wait. What are they doing here? Is that a spark between them, or is one of them hungry? What does being ‘chosen’ mean? A fable of fishy sentience, ecology and sashimi.

Written for the talents of Hweiling Ow and Benjamin Teh by award-winning writer Renee Liang (Lantern, FAAB, Under The Same Moon), directed by Amanda Grace Leo.

Bubblelands plays in Auckland at The Basement, 25-29 August, 7 pm

It also plays in Wellington at BATS, 13-17 October, 6.30 pm

Tickets $25-$16.50. Book at www.iticket.co.nz or 09 361 1000.

Boosted campaign

https://www.boosted.org.nz/projects/creating-bubblelands
Watch: https://youtu.be/9OKh6FxvcyA

https://www.facebook.com/explorebubblelands
#bubblelands
Twitter: @BubblelandsNZ
Instagram: @bubblelandsnz

© Scoop Media