About
An antique magic lantern projector, an iPhone 6 and a live musical score shine a new light on Samuel Butler's classic sci-fi novel. A Victorian explorer discovers a colony of refugees, time-travellers from the 21st Century escaping their dependence on its technology. This delightful neo-historical head-scratcher playfully welds future, past and present into a glittering bracelet of time. A multimedia collaboration between Magnetic North, and Kiwi playwright and newly-qualified magic lantern showman Arthur Meek. Featuring an original musical score played live by New Zealand pop powerhouse Eva Prowse.
| Written and performed by |
Arthur Meek |
Music composed and performed by
|
Eva Prowse |
| Slide images created by |
Sharon Murdoch and Emily Thomas |
| Directed by |
Nicholas Bone and Geoff Pinfield |
Erewhon premiered at the Christchurch Arts Festival in 2017 and is a co-commission between Edinburgh’s Magnetic North and CAF. Arthur Meek was writer-in-residence with Magnetic North in 2016 while working on Erewhon. The residency and commission was supported by Playmarket New Zealand, Playwrights' Studio Scotland and Creative New Zealand.
Photos
Production photos by Erik Norder.
Reviews
'A sharp look at our present-day society...a real treat. .' ★★★★★ Edinburgh Festivals Magazine
'Taps into an all too current attempt to rewind the clock on old ideas of empire while effectively taming the natives.' ★★★★ The Herald
'Meek's new Erewhon is a sublime achievement.' ★★★★ The List
'The mix of technologies on display is both entertaining and thematically satisfying.'★★★★ Broadway Baby
'It is puzzling, but it is also illuminating (ha!), literary and entertaining. And you will want to go read some Samuel Butler.' ★★★★ Fringe Guru
'A scathing comment on colonialism and modern man’s reliance on technology.' ★★★★ British Theatre Guide
'It’s an intriguing concept and Meek delivers it in an engaging fashion. The lantern in itself is a fascinating device and there’s pleasure in watching him operate it.' The Stage
'Meek cuts a compelling figure. Eva Prowse’s live musical accompaniment, inspired by 1980s synth-pop, is equally likeable, and Nicholas Bone and Geoff Pinfield’s direction is sure-footed.' All Edinburgh Theatre
'Meek’s co-star, Eva Prowse provides some other-worldly, and beautiful, sounds and vocals.' UK Theatre Network
'Meek is a fascinating, engaging performer'. The Skinny
'So full of verve.' Tychy
'Erewhon gives a technological makeover to Samuel Butler’s classic sci-fi novel.' Lyn Gardner pick of the Edinburgh Festival 2018, The Independent.
'This marvellous production, directed with panache, looks ahead towards the allure of contemporary technologies, and in doing so suggests that a sanitised, self-centred colonial culture of nostalgia and erasure is as evident now as it was in the 1800s.' The Pantograph Punch (NZ)
'The magic lantern and the iPhone feel like the perfect tools to tell this story, with its 19th century roots and science fiction predictions that machines would one day gain consciousness.' Stuff (NZ)
'Such is the assurance and composure of our host that no beat is missed.' Theatre Review (NZ) 
