This Rugged Beauty
25 March - 5 April 2014, BATS Theatre, Wellington
When ‘kiwi identity’ becomes a marketed commodity, is it possible to authentically express who we are? Does any ‘New Zealand Story’ align with reality, or are they all just selling something?
Playful, iconoclastic and satirical, This Rugged Beauty uses an innovative style that blends the narrative of the 'NZ story' with a fictional product launch space where our identity is the product on sale. The conflicting relationships between the presenters reveal the diversity of attitudes towards this narrative and mission.
Production History
In February 2011, Binge Culture presented a development season of ‘This Rugged Beauty’ as part of NZ Fringe. It was devised and performed by Binge Culture with Eli Kent, also as performer and deviser, and Gareth Hobbs as sound designer. It received strong feedback from audiences and critics and was nominated for a Chapman Tripp Wellington Theatre award for “most original production”.
“Presented in the Fringe as “an exploration” the company wishes to “develop and grow”, This Rugged Beauty already stands proud on the slopes of a metaphorical Mount Aspiring.”
- John Smythe, Theatreview
We took the final 15 minutes of that performance, in which the actors donned wetsuits and stranded onstage as another performer worked with the audience to refloat them, and extended it out into an hour-long performance that took place across central Wellington. 33 people participated as whales in this project, staged as part of the NZ Fringe Festival 2013.
In June 2013, we conducted a redevelopment workshop of This Rugged Beauty, funded by a Creative NZ Quick Response Grant, culminating in two industry showings at Downstage. The goals of this redevelopment were to:
To see a full video online of the production, email bingeculture@gmail.com
Playful, iconoclastic and satirical, This Rugged Beauty uses an innovative style that blends the narrative of the 'NZ story' with a fictional product launch space where our identity is the product on sale. The conflicting relationships between the presenters reveal the diversity of attitudes towards this narrative and mission.
Production History
In February 2011, Binge Culture presented a development season of ‘This Rugged Beauty’ as part of NZ Fringe. It was devised and performed by Binge Culture with Eli Kent, also as performer and deviser, and Gareth Hobbs as sound designer. It received strong feedback from audiences and critics and was nominated for a Chapman Tripp Wellington Theatre award for “most original production”.
“Presented in the Fringe as “an exploration” the company wishes to “develop and grow”, This Rugged Beauty already stands proud on the slopes of a metaphorical Mount Aspiring.”
- John Smythe, Theatreview
We took the final 15 minutes of that performance, in which the actors donned wetsuits and stranded onstage as another performer worked with the audience to refloat them, and extended it out into an hour-long performance that took place across central Wellington. 33 people participated as whales in this project, staged as part of the NZ Fringe Festival 2013.
In June 2013, we conducted a redevelopment workshop of This Rugged Beauty, funded by a Creative NZ Quick Response Grant, culminating in two industry showings at Downstage. The goals of this redevelopment were to:
- Clarify the fictional space (world of the play) and to strengthen the arc of the show
- Accentuate key theatrical and thematic ideas, to investigate and push them further
- Eliminate non-vital and incidental elements
- Make the show flexible and suitable to touring
To see a full video online of the production, email bingeculture@gmail.com