Roadworks presents: This Unquiet Planet

20 September 2005

October 2005 11th to 13th at 8pm 14th and 15th at 8pm &10pm 16th at 4pm “lively and energetic . . . powerful and haunting . . . clever and innovative . . . uniquely entertaining.” The DominionPost

This Unquiet Planet is the final chapter in a trilogy of theatrical works focussing on contemporary political issues. In early 2004 Roadworks presented Unbearable Journeys, a production based on the experiences of immigrants, migrants and refugees, performed in part by European immigrants based in Wellington.

Late 2004 brought The (Un)Known Island: Tales of Trade, the story of the colonisation of a tiny, previously “undiscovered” yet inhabited island. In the development period of This Unquiet Planet Roadworks presented Cabaret of the Unlikely at Bats Theatre, a showcase of theatrical and musical pieces. October 2005 brings the trilogy to a close with This Unquiet Planet, a survey of the state of the planet.

The performance explores contemporary themes through theatre, mask, dance, music and song: nuclear threat, modern relationships, consumerism, war, natural disasters and visions of the afterlife. This Unquiet Planet presents a view of the world in opposition to that presented by the mainstream media – a world of strangeness, multiplicities of opinion, humour and ultimately, hope. The Capital Times called Unbearable Journeys: “A stunning piece of theatre.”

The DominionPost wrote: “In chant and dance, through “foreign” accents, with flashed fragments of maps and boundaries marked by ropes, with sinister masks and quarrelling puppets, with minimal props and lashings of imagination, the hour-long unbroken show is impeccably staged.” Of The Un(Known) Island The National Business Review wrote: “It remains an important facet of freedom that such conscientious writers and performers may create such theatre events.” Roadworks director, Sally Rodwell, has a career in avant-garde and political theatre stretching back to the late sixties.

Co-founding the legendary Red Mole Theatre in the early seventies with Alan Brunton, Rodwell struck out in a career that has taken her as director, performer, writer and teacher of theatre across the world, from South America to Northern Europe in many tours and theatre productions.

In recent years she has been focussing on her Roadworks group, which sprang out of productions staged with the Victoria University Russian department.

ENDS

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