Sat 26 Mar 2016 In: Performance View at Wayback View at NDHA
Little Child of Miracle is the kind of fairy tale you wouldn’t tell your children before they are put down for sleep. The new show at the Basement is a visual feast for adults, opening this Tuesday, it’s not one to miss. The show is about a boy who has lived in space with the moon, but finds out that he was originally from earth in a strange round about way (his parents are a dead queen's necklace, a sad guy king, a statue and cute lil bird...). He travels down to earth to find out more. The very talented art director, designer and theatre collaborator, Christopher Stratton, is the show’s creator and co-director. Christopher dreamt up the idea for the show from a few late night scrawlings and small drawings he had previously done and took inspiration from Oscar Wilde’s children’s’ stories and early fantasy silent films. Heavily inspired by Oscar Wilde’s children’s stories, The Nightingale and The Rose, The Happy Prince and The Star Child, “I had those stories on cassette when I was little and used to listen to them constantly,” says Christopher, “Revisiting them as an adult made me realise how beautiful they were. “They're full of earnest characters who, because of the fact that they are simple children’s stories can just say things simply and clearly and ask for love and wonder, but then there's this undercurrent of darkness and tragedy that sweeps around them that makes their innocence all the more wonderful. “They're all about death and the spirit and love and kinda dark and I suppose that just really appeals to me.” “I have always wanted to put on The Importance of Being Earnest with everyone in giant Beatrix Potter animal suits,” he says. “In the 1970s the Royal English ballet made a film of Beatrix potters stories told through ballet, and the costumes were incredible and I would love to see Earnest staged with them. My boyfriend Eli was in a production of Earnest by Ben Henson a few years ago that totally revitalised the play for me and made me like it again (having studied it in high school it was all a bit dry for me) so I guess I have to wait for that version to fade from memory before I mount my (most likely disastrous) animal version.” Christopher studied Film and Theatre at Unitec, going on to work in art department and production in television, while jamming out designs and costumes for a range of fringe theatre works and low budget music videos. Little Child of Miracle is his chance to push his ideas further and experiment, “Making a weird show with my mates is pretty exciting,” he says. “Getting to pull us together on a stage and have fun. Hopefully it will be fun.” Expect an “absolute bloody chaos if current rehearsals are anything to go by,” says Christopher. “What I'm hoping this show will be is basically a series of beautiful and strange images that are hopefully a little bit funny too.” Little Child of Miracle 29 March - 1 April The Basement Theatre / Auckland - 26th March 2016