Overview
Sarah Graham: director of F*ck Love, actress in Course Related Costs, and most importantly (in my very immature, soap-opera-loving eyes), real life daughter of Alison Quigan who plays Yvonne on Shorty. You know the one, she was Ben’s missus, the receptionist who has that massive fear of worms. I digress. Sarah Graham is a talented director, who has brought a number of shows to Auckland since graduating with a UNITEC Performing and Screen Arts degree in 2007. Her latest work, F*ck Love was critically acclaimed, and Graham was lauded for her ability to form three dimensional characters through social commentary. The production was sort of a combination of Girls and Bridesmaids. Think more lighthearted than Girls, more serious than Bridesmaids, but every bit as entertaining as the both of them.
Her newest work, SIN, promises the same critical social commentary that Graham is known and loved for producing. The performance looks at lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride, and how each of the sins affects a modern New Zealand society. The sins are generally seen as outdated, but SIN illustrates how each of the issues pervades our daily lives. From the undeniable pleasure one gets when their profile pic tops fifty likes, to the excitement one feels when the waiter approaches the table with a tray full of food, no one is exempt from the sins. The question that SIN addresses is: to what extent are the sins acceptable in today’s society, and how has our social acceptance of sinfulness evolved over the years?
The show is inspired by interviews of the New Zealand population, where interviewees confessed real life stories of their sinful ways. Set over a week-long lead up to a tropical storm, fifteen Aucklanders react to the upcoming disaster in ways that make us question our morality, and wonder where the line of social acceptability regarding sin should be drawn. The production explores each sin from its most wicked, to its most innocent form, so that the serious underlying criticism is broken up with a bit of fun and laughter. Featuring New Zealand talent, including Chris Tempest from Shorty and Amanda Tito from The Almighty Johnsons, who embody Aucklanders from all walks of life, to give audiences a range of perspectives on how the sins are entrenched in human nature.
If you gain enjoyment from spending an entire day in bed and eating a whole pizza (if you don't enjoy this then you are the weird one here, not me. Or you are lying.) then maybe SIN can shed some light on your immoral ways.