The Black Sequin Dress

MEDIA RELEASE

The Black Sequin Dress

Written by Jenny Kemp
Directed by Stephen Bain

A woman, an ordinary woman from the suburbs, walks into a nightclub.

She nervously considers the tables and chairs in front of her. In a moment of indecision she turns her head, loses balance, and tumbles to the ground.

A woman walks into a nightclub and falls to the ground.

An Ordinary Action of Extraordinary Resonance.

Enter the world of The Black Sequin Dress: a play of images and motion, based on the paintings of Surrealist artist Paul Delvaux. This play, told through movement, music, multimedia, poetry and dance will transport you into a world of dream, myth, and memory–a journey into the imagination.

Join fifteen students of physical theatre as they explore this unique world, bringing fine arts to the stage in high heels and slinky dresses. A fresh, cutting-edge performance style utilizing the entire space of a theatre in an entirely non-traditional fashion. Director Stephen Bain who co-founded Under Lili's Balcony Theatre Company, has taken a dance training approach to the script, creating a living work of art that is anything but ordinary.

Playwright Jenny Kemp's acute ability to create a piece of theatre that is both aural and visual, dealing with real issues in a stunningly lyrical manner, is undeniably evident in The Black Sequin Dress:
"Based on the premise that any ordinary action has extraordinary resonances, the intention is to liberate the audience from the usual constraints of convention, particularly those of time, and provoke an imaginative and associative engagement with image and text" (Jenny Kemp)
This New Zealand premiere of The Black Sequin Dress questions our everyday reality: our understanding of time and space in linear terms. It is a play that explores the profound consequences of a seemingly insignificant action from a number of perspectives. The elegant nightclub becomes the setting for a trek into the unconscious, where reality takes a backseat to the underworld of the psyche.

The Black Sequin Dress runs from 7.30pm 25 to 29 May at Studio 77, 77 Fairlie Tce, Kelburn. Tickets $10/$5Bookings: 463 5359 or theatre@vuw.ac.nz

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