'A theatrical event like no other'

Ewen Coleman for The Dominion Post | 19 January 2017

Ewen Coleman reviews The Undertow for The Dominion Post.

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What is so amazing about The Undertow series of plays is how director Jim Moriarty and his creative team have moulded 35 performers, from seven to 70, into such a disciplined and unified group. | Aneta Pond 2017

The Undertow

By Helen Pearse-Otene, directed by Jim Moriarty

Soundings Theatre, Te Papa, until January 29.

Reviewed by Ewen Coleman

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A theatrical event like no other is currently taking place in Wellington and is not only unique in its structure – four plays under the one title – but with its content as well.

Developed over several years prior to this current showing, the first of the two plays Part One: The Ragged, set in 1840 Wellington and the second, Part Two: Dog & Bone, set in 1869 Wellington, have been seen and reviewed previously.

These are now playing on alternate nights with the two new plays – Part Three: Public Works, set in 1917 on the Western Front and Part Four: The Landeaters, set somewhere in the here and now.

While each play is a standalone piece of theatre, members of the same Kenning family over the various generations do appear, starting with their arrival in Wellington, as seen in The Ragged.

From sparrows dancing around the stage, to statues, monuments, the jungles of Vietnam and helicopters plus a lot more, these performers move and writhe around the stage in expertly choreographed scenes that are spellbinding.

So, for something distinctively New Zealand, not only in the stories it tells but the way they are told, all four parts of The Undertow are a must see.

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