Today in New Zealand International Arts Festival history: Out Of Order (2002), Akram Khan & Where We Once Belonged (2008)
Two shows and a workshop, today - first is Out Of Order, from the Out & About series in 2002. Looking at the photos, I remember the show pretty well - I feel like the performer was French, but of course the phone box was sourced & branded locally so it would look normal. I feel like he didn't speak during the show, but convinced members of the audience to help him at various points - getting up on the box, then passing him his briefcase, that sort of thing - and I think it was the most popular Civic Square show that year. Certainly the crowd on the steps was good, and enjoyed themselves! (Of course, could you do a show about trying to get into a phone booth now? Wouldn't someone just hand him their iPhone, if he needed to make a call!?)
One quick image from a workshop in 2008, when Akram Khan and Sylvie Guilleme brought their show Sacred Monsters to Wellington - I wasn't able to photograph the show, but I went along to his schools workshop at Toi Whakaari, which was an interesting hour hearing about his background & dance tradition. (Sometimes the workshops are the most interesting part, really!)
Where We Once Belonged was an interesting show to see, partly because I'd seen the pitch in the Show & Tell a couple of years earlier, and it turned out almost completely different to what I'd imagined! As I recall, it was described originally like an evening in a Samoan fale - so when I saw the set design at Downstage, I was a bit surprised! I think it worked well as a show, though - just not what I thought I was walking into on the day.
I love that Joy Vaele took a moment in rehearsal to flash me a smile & let me know she was actually okay, that the Magasiva boys hadn't been beating her up for real...