Wrest

On Sale Now

Whangārei
ONEONESIX
May 29 - 31

Tāmaki Makaurau
Q Theatre, Rangatira
June 6 - 14

“It was a penetrating, relentless, unalterable thing, to be his mother, my life ending and beginning at once.” Cheryl Strayed

At a bus stop late at night, at the scene of a violent crime, a woman watches herself split in two, her life ending and beginning at once. In the witching hour, when monsters are born, an uncanny doppelgänger emerges as the original woman mysteriously disappears. Stalked by detectives seeking answers, the doppelgänger hunts visions of her original self, determined to rebuild.

By day the doppelgänger hides out in her home. At night she enters the coat check of a subterranean nightclub. Pulling on the costumes of other lives, she visits versions of herself from the past and future, gathering clues about what really happened at that bus stop.

Wrest is a surreal crime thriller set in a neo-noir world, a mystery unveiling the monstrosity and mundanity of early motherhood.

A ferociously physical collision of theatre, dance and cinematic imagery, Wrest combines Red Leap's transformative approach to visual storytelling with contemporary dance and martial arts choreography.

Enigmatic, surreal, hyper-stylized, and genre-busting, Wrest intertwines visceral body horror with profound empathy, challenging traditional storytelling boundaries and pervasive cultural narratives about motherhood.

Artistic Director Ella Becroft and choreographer Tor Colombus co-direct this new work, with story development by Claire van Beek and Oliver Page. Designed by Rachel Marlow and Eden Mulholland, with Associate Artist Yin-Chi Lee as Assistant Director and martial arts choreographer.

"I had gone, but I didn’t know where, or if I would return. I thought early motherhood would be gentle, beatific, pacific, tranquil: bathed in a soft light. But actually it was hardcore, edge, gnarly. It wasn’t pale pink; it was brown of shit and red of blood. And it was the most political experience of my life, rife with conflict, domination, drama, struggle and power." Lucy Jones

Creative Team

Ella Becroft
Director/Co-Creator
Tor Colombus
Choreographer/Co-Creator
Claire van Beek
Writer/Story Development
Rachel Marlow/Filament 11
Production Design
Eden Mulholland
Sound Design/Composition
Yin-Chi Lee
Assistant Director/Martial Arts Choreographer
Jessie McCall
Costume Designer
slide 3 of 7

Cast

Ariāna Osborne
Shadon Meredith
Sharvon Mortimer
Tama Jarman
Louise Jiang
Olivia McGregor
slide 3 of 6

Development Timeline

  • Development Workshop 1 August 2024
  • Development Workshop 2 December 2024
  • Rehearsal into Premiere Season Whangarei / Auckland 2025