Bats Theatre, Shed 11
Oct 17-26 | Reviewed by Ewan Kingston

THIS PLAY... or should I say these plays... or should I say the version of this play I saw... whatever it is... is fresh, delightful and exciting theatre. It also feels kinda strange recommending a theatre experience that has a 50% chance of being very different from what I experienced.

For those who aren't in the know, in this first production of the 2006 Bats‚ STAB season, two plays are being performed simultaneously. Each is performed in a bisected Shed 11: I Aint Nothing But – a funny and engaging farce – and A Glimmer in the Dark, She Said – a dream-like mime piece.

Herded by ushers, I saw the farce first then the mime. Half of the audience saw the mime first then the farce. What difference does it make? Well the two plays share a lot. The same soundtrack-genre defying kooky groove by Wellington locals C.L.Bob – swells simultaneously through the two halves of Shed 11. They also share a door, and actors (characters even) move between the two parts.

However, my reading of the second part, or holon, (as Arthur Koestler terms a part which is a whole) was highly influenced by what I had heard and seen in the first holon. Theatre reviewers may be well used to the idea that one version of a work can be somewhat different every night, but the viewers who follow my recommendation and do attend I Aint Nothing But / A Glimmer in the Dark, She Said might have an experience which is mine inverted.

So disclaimer aside, let's get on to the guts. In I Aint Nothing But we are presented with the character of Will, a rubber-duck obsessed, somewhat puritan and bewildered but ultimately lovable protagonist. Besides the ducks in his room he has visits from Lucifer (who doubles as God in the production next door), and in Will's closet we find a staunch and feisty feminist and a yoga-posture temptress. The story bounds along with clever and natural dialogue. There are strong performances by all the cast, especially given the demands of this dual piece. It's a work of tight and funny writing by Whiti Hereaka, who was sought out by her sister, producer Amanda Hereaka, becasue "She can write better than me".

I Aint Nothing But could well have stood alone, but it is much enhanced by the performance happening 'out the back'. As actors leave the stage, we are well aware they continue to perform just a few metres away – sometimes we can even hear them, or see them on a television screen in Will's room. This added a sense of robustness to the characters as they performed on 'our' side. I'm not sure what Brecht would say, but I felt the characters displayed to us in I Aint Nothing But were more 'real', because their other life was performance too. Where does it end?

A Glimmer in the Dark, She Said was something quite different. Surreal, it is primarily a raw, sensual experience, but story and character inevitably spill over from the first half. We observe mime, dance, repetition and the most creative use of umbrellas I have seen. There is little dialogue but monologues range from topics such as cosmology and creation to the work of Monet. It works - somewhat impressionistically – and like I Aint Nothing But it could stand on its own.

In fact, in the order I saw these plays, A Glimmer in the Dark, She Said would have worked better without I Aint Nothing But. Apart from some interesting juxtapositions, the knowledge of the story happening next door somehow distracts from the dreamy action on this side of the Shed. Compounding this is a lack of symmetry which may disturb viewers. With so many similarities, the dissimilarities jar. Presumably for practical considerations the stage is twice as large, which leaves the audience feeling, well, distant.

What's more, one actor appears in Glimmer and never crosses through the door between plays, whereas every actor we saw in I Aint Nothing But shows their face in Glimmer. More importantly, narrative wise Glimmer is full of questions, and I Aint Nothing But presents some answers (although I know I'm not meant to expect answers from drama). Maybe it's just that the grass is always greener, but I predict you'll be more satisfied if you get to see A Glimmer in the Dark, She Said first.

Overall, though, this feels like an important work. True to the spirit of STAB, BATS‚ showcase season, it is experimental without being overblown, youthful without being immature. Through use of an innovative technique – one that I would love to see again – it illuminates the serendipity of our experience and the somewhat arbitrary nature of our knowledge of events. It's also great fun.