HEAT - theatre of the Antarctic at Otago Festival

Echoing the restrictions of life in the Antarctic, award winning theatre show HEAT brings its own alternative energy source to power up an original love story between a woman, a man and a penguin.

It’s 1999 and a husband and wife scientific team hunker down inside a tiny, tightly packed survival capsule on the Ross Ice Shelf, wintering over in the vast frozen Antarctic, accompanied by only web-cam, sporadic radio contact, the amazing Aurora Australis, and a colony of male penguins.   Struggling to maintain a failing relationship, Stella (Kate Prior) observes breeding patterns among Emperor penguins, while John (Simon Vincent) monitors climate change – until the untimely introduction of a third character (Byron Coll) blows their fragile world apart.

Unlike other conventional theatre shows HEAT uses self-sustainable energy means - powered off-grid with lights, sound and electronics from low drain and/or renewable energy. This unique Spacewise energy installation on site at the theatre is a world first. The production will look, as the Antarctic stations are increasingly doing, to partnerships with companies developing sustainable, renewable power sources.

With a powerful script written by the acclaimed Lynda Chanwai Earle (Ka Shue, Alchemy, BoxRoleDream), music by CNZ Antarctic Fellow Gareth Farr, lighting by Marcus McShane and design features by Brian King and Afterburner’s Marty Roberts, HEAT opens a rare glimpse into the extraordinary isolated experience of being an Antarctic scientist, being a human pushed to the extremes, and of the sheer beauty of a winter in the Antarctic.

HEAT was nominated in its premiere Wellington season for two Chapman Tripp Awards in 2008, winning the coveted Actor of the Year Award for the role of the penguin.

HEAT contains adult content and full male nudity.
Recommended for mature audiences.

“exciting and intriguing … a gripping and moving tale of magical realism.” Laurie Atkinson, Dominion Post