BONES
Julian Noel
Tāhuna/Queenstown
A tour de force, raw, honest and unapologetically real. A gifted and fearless storyteller, Julian’s powerful stories of what we inherit from our ancestors need to be heard in Aotearoa and beyond in order to set future generations free from the past.
A co-creation between writer, storyteller Julian Noel (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Torehina) and Martine Baanvinger, actor, director, and one of New Zealand's leading exponents of one-person theatre.
"We started with the series of stories I had written — stories most families never speak. I wanted to give a loving voice to the pain that lies deep beneath the surface".
Truth has a habit of arriving untidy and inconvenient and is often the forge where wisdom is wrought. Freedom is when we can let the scars sing. An actor standing alone on stage carrying the presence of generations — living, dead, silenced, and roaring... an unflinching mirror held up to colonial violence, familial rupture, and the complex, painful inheritance of identity.
Our creative challenge: how do we stay real and tell the dark, messy, human stuff — and still leave people feeling whole? Held? Lighter? We drew upon indigenous spiritual frameworks, invoking the protection of gods, ancestors and nature's unseen forces. We called the form that emerged "sacred theatre" a liminal space where we felt held by the wisdom dormant in our bones allowing us to create safety for the storyteller, the characters and the audience. In ancient Greece, theatre was a conversation with the gods — a way for humans to wrestle with their flaws, courage, and hubris. BONES stands in that lineage — creating safety and understanding for the dark, flawed and human urges.
"Julian Noel's performance is both a tribute to his whakapapa and a gift to the audience, inviting us all to reflect on the stories written in our own bones. Whether you come for the artistry, the history, or the chance to sing along, you'll leave changed".
Keywords: theatre, storytelling
Event Details
When: 9 & 10 March at 5:30pm
Genre: Theatre
Duration: 90 mins
Price: $18
Venue: WAA! Club
18yrs+
language (swearing), violence, discussion of sexual assault
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