Day 19: Culture in Christchurch
I arrived back at Cathedral Square and headed off to the Frauenreishouse, or “Women Travelers Hostel”. It was only a ‘Seven Minute Walk From Cathedral Square!’ but with my backpack on and not quite knowing where I was going, it felt much longer, trudging through the unfamiliar streets.
I settled into my room and chatted for a while with the English girl who was hanging out there. Flatteringly, she thought I was about her age — 24 — and said that, even though she’d had a blast on the backpacker buses, she felt a bit old and understood how it wasn’t for everyone. She was taking a few days in CC to decompress and just not do anything (read: drink) before heading to Australia on the next leg of her trip.
I’d read about a new show being put on, and readied myself to go. I couldn’t convince my new roommate to come to the theater with me, so I headed off solo. I’d called the box office from Akaroa, and they said there’d be tickets available but to be sure to come on time as there was no seating after curtain.
The show was called “Bombshells”, a one-woman play that had just opened for its month-long run in CC. It had the “uniting theme of ‘women on the edge’”, about “…the madness which precipitates, inhabits or folows the point at which a woman’s private and public selves intersect.” Sounded pretty interesting!
The theater itself was in an arts coplex that I think was once part of a University. the antetheater ws small, with the box office, a candy window, and a bar with surprisingly reasonably priced beer, wine, and cocktails, (although only 3 tables and no other good congregation places.) Turns out, patrons can bring their drinks into the theater as long as they’re in the original bottles or plastic cups (as opposed to glass.) I quite fancied this idea, and thought it might make a nice addition to the American theatergoing experience, but then decided that American patrons are probably too rude and messy to make it a viable practice.
The other interesting thing was that the programs were on offer for a “gold coin donation,” meaning a $1 or $2 coin. I dropped my coin in the box and bought a program, which was pretty much a mimeographed trifold without a huge amount of information, but without advertisement, either. Very different from the Broadway-style “Playbill,” that’s for sure!
I was also lucky enough to have a front-row seat, and a great view of the stage, which was level with the first row, and tiny. The set, however, was gorgeous. There were 6 vibrantly hued panels of velour hung at varying heights from wrought iron, wooden, and other triangular-shaped rods as the backdrop for the forestage, which had 5 exquisitely crafted dress forms, 3 of them especially stunning in their artistry, combining form, function and beauty.
The most beautiful had symmetrical v-shapingon the shoulders and a shirring effect created by wrapping wire around and around from bust to hip; it was absolutely stunning. The long-torso dress form was made of copper, and another smaller one had thick coils forming spirals and leaves, a scarf thrown over one shoulder for effect.
The show itself was quite entertaining, and I thought the actress, a New Zealander named Ali Harper, was excellent. Normally, I don’t like “1-person” shows, but she portrayed all the characters as distinct and unique. (The only complaint I had was that I found it hard to understand her accent when she portrayed children, which was in a bit of a whiny, grating voice.)
The characters included a washed-up singer, a bride on her wedding day, a pre-teen in a talent show. I especially liked the portrayal of a post-middle-aged widow who’d had an unlikely romantic encounter with the (much younger) blind student she read to; the story was told interspersed with the character giving a talk about cacti at a meeting of the “Succulants Club”. It was really a great bit, and well done.
I also enjoyed her portrayal of a totally frazzled “stay-at-home” mom of three kids. the combination of watching her perform the actions of her day-to-day routinge — feed the baby, feed the kids, feed the dad, take kids to school, get the cleaning, go to soccer, do the laundry, get more food, etc. — juxtaposed with her iner monoogue and frenzied narration of her own life — “Still need coffee! What will the teacher think of me!? I’m a horrible mother! Must get coffee!” — was excellent. Being a mom of 3 kids seems like a daunting job indeed!
I enjoyed the show and the experience of going out to the theater, had a nice walk home, and got ready for my last night and day in New Zealand.