Elephant in the Garden of Gethsemane
A story of courage and unspoken truth
A play by Jay Williams, Phoenix NZYP director
(Project K)
Backstory
Project K is developing a hybrid body of work that involves up to 30 young people
who will be engaged in an intensive creative process. While Jay Williams is the
Director, the creation of this body of work brings together specialist practitioners
to mentor young people through a series of comprehensive workshops.
Project
K’s devising and research processes provide an environment that foster reflective
thinking and promote greater skill in social decision making.
Project
K will result in a 45 minute
installation/theatre piece that explores identity and culture in Aotearoa
today.
Creative Process
Young people will be involved in a series of
discussions and workshops where they share their own experiences, listen to the
experiences of others and then reflect on their own understandings and
responses. This process gives them a
platform to explore, interpret and translate experience into the essential
meaning it has for them in today’s world.
The Story
The story is based around Hans Christian Andersen’s literary
fairy tale, The Ugly Duckling, a classic tale of searching for one's own
identity as an alternative to conformity and assimilation. The story centres
around Maui Felimu, a half Samoan/Maori born out of wedlock. Maui’s narrative looks
at his journey with mental illness and how this impacts on his perception of
himself. Maui’s pulsating question is
“How do I fit?”
“Some are
commercial flowers, always watered, fed, hydroponic clones, harnessed in a
man-made glasshouse. I'd rather be a
dandelion weed, free like the phoenix, uncaged, candid, real, growing on the
side of the road, broken through the surface of stone, to live, to share with
nature, to seed without prejudice. To float by the breeze of my tupuna, carrying
my DNA beyond the confines of a shop window.
I'd rather be invisible, than be an decoration in someone’s kitchen or
an after-thought on Valentines day. I’d
rather be a dandelion weed growing wild any day.” (Opening spoken word, Jay Williams)
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