Thricely? Precisely. A Pocket Full of Pips.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pinwheel Productions presents Thricely? Precisely. A Pocket Full of Pips.

The details, demons, and dances of obsessions and compulsions are the centrepieces of the bold new devised work Thricely? Precisely. A Pocket Full of Pips. Brigid Costello, director of 2008's The Eiffel Tower Wedding Party (Three Spoon Theatre) returns with a dance theatre production that explores the neurotic, turbulent effects of obsessive and compulsive behaviour through an unlikely medium: Dance.

But for Costello, the two subjects are not far removed. "The physical symptoms of anxiety have a dance-like quality," she says. "The compulsions that are carried out to quieten the obsessive mind have a specific, repetitive and rhythmical nature which lends them well to a dance work." A former dancer in the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Costello both directs and performs alongside fellow dancers Hannah Elks and Jane Wenley.

Costello brings a sense of whimsy and play to Thricely?, drawing ideas from the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Princess and the Pea. "I was inspired by Andersen's bizarre depiction of the 'real princess' as a hypersensitive, neurotic heroine whose pea obsession somehow wins her a husband. I wanted to explore whether or not this vulnerable creature could actually function in contemporary society."

Working with designer Taj Whitesell, Costello has created a visually arresting 'rabbit hole' for audiences to enter and approach its otherwise daunting subject matter. "From our investigations so far, obsessions and compulsions are a continuous quest for safety and control but they tend to isolate the individual because they are so consuming," she says.

Music and dance were developed in tandem, with composers Dale Hitchcock and Chapman-Tripp Theatre Award nominee Tane Upjohn-Beatson attending rehearsals to ensure unity between the two. The result is a soundtrack that is as quirky and idiosyncratic as its characters and their bizarre, yet strangely familiar rituals. The music plays with compulsive sound effects and unusual arrangements to keep the dancers and audience in a comfortably uncomfortable headspace.

Set in the symbolically appropriate Photospace Studio, Brigid Costello aims to capture and expose, and disseminate aspects of obsessive and compulsive behaviour that are rarely addressed. "When we look at the nature of obsession through an artistic lens, we can see a little of ourselves in the restless compulsions, which makes you wonder how far we are capable of going to gain control over our everyday lives." 

Pinwheel Productions Presents
Thricely? Precisely. A Pocket Full of Pips
Where: Photospace Studio, Level 2, Dixon Street
When: 7:00pm, Wed 17 Feb - Sat 20 Feb, Tue 23 Feb - Sat 27 Feb
Tickets: General $16, Concession $14, Fringe Addict $12
Book at: pinwheelnz@gmail.com

CAST
Brigid Costello
Hannah Elks
Jane Wenley

CREW
Director: Brigid Costello
Producer: Kathryn Jackson
Stage Manager: Thom McGrath
Music & Sound Design: Tane Upjohn-Beatson & Dale Hitchcock
Set Design: Taj Whitesell
Lighting Design: Rachel Marlow
Dramaturg: Jackson Coe
Publicity: Alex Rabina

ends

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