Stella Reid

Property partner: Wellington City Council

10 -13 February 2017

Clyde Quay Wharf

Images: Maxwell Gutterman

A multi-award winner at the 2017 New Zealand Fringe, this multimedia theatre work made beautiful use of a large vacant space to help evoke the mood of the work..

"Production company Chapel Perilous have found an ideal performance venue in the Urban Dream Brokerage-provided Clyde Quay wharf apartments," writes Cassandre Tse at Theatreview." The unadorned concrete has the appearance of an actual storage space, and Reid makes use of the visible fusebox when, as they are wont to do in spooky stories, the lights suddenly go out."

Cleaning out her dead grandmother’s basement, a girl finds recordings her grandmother made. While listening to the tapes she begins to question who her grandmother really was. But can the grandmother on the tapes be trusted as a reliable narrator? Not to mention the girl herself…
 
Both the audience and the solo performer fight to stay afloat among the waves of secrets and memories in grandma’s basement.
 
The Basement Tapes explores how the things we leave behind outlive us. Part audio work, part live performance, the production brings the past into the present through mixed media, actively utilising elements of its site to strong effect.
 
The Basement Tapes sets itself in the nation’s capital and proudly celebrates the Wellington character. While adding to the increasing amount of sophisticated mixed-media work, Tapes also proudly boasts a 50% female identifying production team.