The Contours of Heaven NYC Reviews and Tickets

73%

(17 Reviews)

Positive

59%

Mixed

35%

Negative

Members say

Great acting, Confusing, Clever, Quirky, Disappointing

About the Show

Based on interviews, this solo work melds theater, dance, song, looping, and honest discussions about the reality of New Zealand.

From the show:

The Contours of Heaven is a verbatim work based on interviews with 6 rangatahi in the Hawke's Bay across a period of months. This work was created between Puti Lancaster, Ana Chaya Scotney and Marama Beamish. It melds theatre, dance, song, looping and honest discussions about the reality of New Zealand. It's a work that looks out to the world and brings the world into the theatre.

Structurally the show works as a solo work of 50 minutes long, with an open facilitated conversation for at least 10 minutes at the end between the audience, director, performer and operator. This space opens up the floor for responses and respects the audience as active members in the work and is often followed by at least 30 minutes of hanging out in the space and discussing. This slow decompression is important and a beautiful element of how the work functions as a community event.

Technically it's a very simple show with Ana making all the sound live onstage with a loop pedal and mic, and the lighting design as a scalable element.

Member Reviews (17)

Confusing, Great acting, Quirky, Ambitious, Disappointing

See it if you would like exposure to New Zealand performance art-here a solo show by a young artist singing, story-telling, dancing and making sounds

Don't see it if you want a truly comprehensible story-this is 6 vignettes that pass quickly and may not be all understandable. Introduction hard to hear.

Clever, Ambitious, Quirky, Confusing, Original

See it if Kiwi mult-role solo w/ interp movement. "All the passages roll by." Heartbeats, gulls, and waves are vocalised and then repeated in playback

Don't see it if Age and gender roles are indistinct and only 45 min. "What determines becoming you?" Better in vocal manipulation than actual recitation. Read more