House Programme - The Griegol
Photo Credit: Philip Merry / axylotl photography
Asian Premiere
A wildly inventive, wordless fantasy of love, loss, and monsters
The Griegol follows a child in the week leading up to their grandmother's funeral, as they start to suspect they are being pursued by the smoke-demon shapeshifter of the old woman's stories. An elegant, imaginative fantasy in the vein of Spirited Away, the play explores a child's understanding of grief for a cross-over audience of adults and older children. Unfolding like a silent film made live before your eyes, the work is eerie and affecting, but also playful and engaging, with a throughline of light and love that carries through the darkness.
With an original score by Emmy award-winning composer and sound designer Tane Upjohn-Beatson, the wordless work is performed by four actors and a live musician, utilising techniques from silent film along with silhouettes, smoke, puppetry, and live animation. With the backstage operations kept in plain sight, audiences can see both the stage effects and how they are made. Combining hi-fi with lo-fi technology, and the mythic with the everyday, The Griegol is a charming, moving, and wildly inventive work.
First performed at Auckland Arts Festival in 2021, it was selected for the Mid-Atlantic Arts Trust's Performing Arts Global Exchange programme to tour the East Coast of the USA. At the 2022 Wellington Theatre Awards, it won Director, Composer, and Production of the Year.
Please note: The show is usually performed with a live violinist, Tristan Carter, who also creates the foley effects. As Tristan currently awaiting the birth of his child, the HKPAX performances will use pre-recording of Tristan's violin part, with director Hannah Smith performs the foley effects live on stage.
This presentation has been made possible with support from PANNZ and Asia New Zealand Foundation.
The show was originally co-produced with and premiered at Auckland Arts Festival 2021.
This show is dedicated to the memory of Ian Smith and Ella Martin (nee Howell).
- Free Seating.
- The performance runs approximately 60 minutes without intermission.
- Registered participants are required to arrive and be seated at least 15 minutes before the scheduled programme start time. Seats will be held until the scheduled start time; any unoccupied seats at that time will be released to standby attendees.
- Please switch off mobile phones and any other sound and light emitting devices.
- Photography, audio, and video recording are not permitted during the performance.
- Eating and drinking are strictly prohibited during the performance.
- Programmes are subject to change without prior notice. HKPAX reserves the right to final decision regarding programme arrangements.
- The story acknowledges death and grief.
Story: Hannah Smith (she/her), Ralph McCubbin Howell (he/him)
Director: Hannah Smith (she/her)
Child – Stevie Hancox-Monk (they/them), Paul Waggott (he/him), Funeral Director, Granny, Mum – Elle Wootton (she/her), Nurse, Gentleman Caller, Cat – Ralph, McCubbin Howell (he/him)
Live Foley: Hannah Smith (she/her)
Stage Manager: Anne Larcom (she/her)
Operator: Pete Davison (he/him)
Sound Design & Composition: Tane Upjohn-Beatson
Violin: Tristan Carter
Lyrics: Ralph McCubbin Howell (he/him)
Technical Design: Brad Gledhill, Rachel Marlow（Filament Eleven 11）
Lighting Design: Rachel Marlow
Set & Costume Design: Rose Kirkup, Sylvie McCreanor
Puppet Design: Jon Coddington
Illustration: Hannah Smith (she/her)
Stop Motion: Ralph McCubbin Howell (he/him)
Trick of the Light Theatre
Trick of the Light is an award-winning theatre company from Aotearoa/New Zealand, founded by Hannah Smith and Ralph McCubbin Howell in 2011. They make and tour original theatre works and are renowned for their engaging, nuanced stories and inventive design – often for a cross-over audience of older children and adults. Their work has toured across Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, the UK, the US, South Africa, Canada, and the Chinese Mainland. Previous works include Suitcase Show, The Road That Wasn't There, Tröll, and The Bookbinder – a solo show that has toured from multiple sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, to the Lincoln Center in New York, to the attic of Aotearoa/New Zealand's oldest bookbindery.
Asia New Zealand Foundation
Performing Arts Network New Zealand
