DRAGON
The Basement Tapes
SAVE THE DRAGON /
SLAY THE DRAGON
Slay the Dragon / Save the Dragon collides magic realism with a quest for home.
In 2012, a young Chinese-New Zealander flew halfway across the world in an attempt to discover the mystery behind her Chinese-ness. Instead of the eureka moment she had anticipated, she was flung strange, surreal, and often funny dream. Unexpected guides helped her along the way, in temples, karaoke bars, and slums, forcing her to confront her real reason for being in China.
Dragon is the experience of our gymnastics around grief, our fear of facing the losses we’ve all suffered. A dedication to lost loved ones, and how to keep breathing.
Slay the Dragon / Save the Dragon uses direct address storytelling, conversation, verbal acrobatics, performance games, a group pop-song dedication list, the many and diverse monuments we make to those who are gone from our lives, and several other theatrical forms to celebrate our struggle to grieve and find strength in ourselves, even after tremendous loss.
It is a fragmented jumble that points to the non-linearity of grief and how we try to stabilise ourselves through identity and connection.
Created by Jane Yonge, Nathan Joe, and Leo Gene Peters
Produced by A Slightly Isolated Dog
Performed by Jane Yonge and Nathan Joe
Directed by Leo Gene Peters
Sound Design by Chris Marshall
Spatial, Lighting, and Projection Design by Leo Gene Peters
Technical operation by Chris Marshall
Artwork by Alan Xia
BASEMENT THEATRE
Auckland
2022
BATS THEATRE
Wellington
NZ FRINGE FESTIVAL
19 - 27 March 2021
