Don Juan

Overview

Based on Moliere’s classic play, Don Juan uses a cabaret structure to take audiences on a “furious adrenalized romp through the games of attraction and sexuality”, according to its host, the Circa Theatre. The performers utilise a breathtaking combination of banter, song, clowning, scene, interactive audience participation, stand-up comedy, puppetry and dance. Employing simple stagecraft they transform the theatre into everything from a forest, to an ocean, to a tomb, to a battle with twenty bandits, to hell.

Moliere’s tale tells the story of the ‘Seducer of Seville’, Don Juan, who originated as a hero-villain of Spanish folk legend; a famous lover and scoundrel who has made more than a thousand sexual conquests.

The performance is a quest for emancipation; the performers searching for a way to live boldly and freely, like Don Juan. Unfortunately pesky things like domestic anxieties get in the way, our fears usually in the way of what we most want. Not that it's a didactic play. The performance isn't about finding the answers - the characters don't, but just about celebrating our uncertainty and our continual attempt to live boldly and brashly.

Brought to Circa Theatre by Wellington’s acclaimed company A Slightly Isolated Dog (Death and the Dreamlife of Elephants, Perfectly Wasted (in partnership with Long Cloud Youth Theatre) and Settling), the show stars Maaka Pohatu, Andrew Paterson, Susie Berry, Comfrey Sanders, Jonathan Price and is directed by Leo Gene Peters.

It is a show is jam-packed with flirtation, pop songs and imagination, so grab a drink (they’re being served all night long) and strap yourself in for the ride.

Warning: Contains course language and adult themes.