Back in the day a friend and I were travelling in Mexico and had arrived at the top of the Baja Peninsula, accompanied by another young Aussie who had attached himself to us on the boat over from the mainland. We stuck out our thumbs and a big, black 4WD pulled over, driven by a middle aged Mexican doctor. He was just travelling to pick up some supplies a bit further south, but was keen to practise his English and find out about Australia, from our viewpoint.
After a while he pulled over at a general store to make a phone call – this was well and truly before mobile phones – and when he hopped back in the car he announced that it was all sorted and that he was taking us all the way to our destination – the southernmost tip of the Baja and a two day drive.
What followed was a wonderful 2 days and a night of beer, tequila, singing, an improvised fire and camping on a scorpion infested beach sleeping under upturned fishing boats and a lasting question in my mind as to why this kindly bear of a man who was a husband, father and professional chose to take two days off to drive 3 strangers from a foreign land to their next place of adventure.
I like to think that he was nourishing his own adventurous spirit. There was definitely nothing creepy about him; we all had a marvellous time before he turned around and drove back to his normal life.
My own travel experiences resonate with the kindness of strangers; the lady who stopped to offer directional guidance on the Paris Metro, the English truck driver who gave us his sleeping cabin for the night, the Americans who took us home for an all night party. Then there are all the friends for a day or a week, fellow travel buddies til the next fork in the road.
I haven’t seen a hitchhiker for years. I guess we have Ivan Milat to thank for that. In this hyper vigilant age of Stranger Danger and Be Alert, Not Alarmed, fear of the invader, neighbour and potential date rapist, we are less inclined and often too fearful to open ourselves to strangers.
Paper Cut Collective’s latest work, HELLO, STRANGER raises this issue in a very interesting, contemporary and innovative manner. The audience meets at Civic Station in Newcastle to board a bus to be taken to a secret location. Our travel guides, Zoe Anderson, James Chapman, Belinda Hodgson and Cooper McDonald, welcome us aboard, introduce our driver, Ellen and position themselves down the aisle to deliver an aeroplane hostess style warning, complete with stylised gestures about travelling and going out. Drink in moderation, stay in groups, stay in well-lit areas, carry keys in your hand and so on.
Once at our secret location, we are tagged with ‘threatening’ or ‘non threatening’ stickers and led into the performance area and instructed to follow specific coloured arrows on a floor that is a swirl of different coloured arrows, lines and dots, while the core three of Paper Cut Collective, Tamara Gazzard, Sarah Coffee and Lucy Shepherd perform Meisner Viewpoints training type movements and exercises around the space.
What follows is 70 minutes of thought provoking theatre that insists we remain interactive and involved. We mill as if at a nightclub, stand on dots, sit in rows on coloured lines, break into small groups, talk to others and to the performers, and throughout it all Tamara, Sarah and Lucy give a highly physical performance as they relate verbatim stories collected from found text and interviews.
The theme is interactions with strangers and for the most part, the abiding message is one of altruism and kindness. A bottle of water handed to a sick traveller, a random offer of a ride to the train station, the calling out after a phone is left on a car roof. There are some dark cautionary tales in there as well, detailing random acts of gang violence and aggression as well as unfortunate mishaps.
It’s a timely topic and many of the stories are graphic and engaging, although at times it does feel repetitious and lacking in purpose. Paper Cut Collective’s award winning shows such as No One Cares about Your Cat and Spent gave very clear and deliberate statements in extremely clever and innovative ways and HELLO STRANGER would benefit from a little more directed discourse on the topic.
Or maybe that is the point; there are no comments to be made, merely observation of incidents and experiences.
These three talented ladies are a very compatible trio in physical appearance and skills and they reinforce this by wearing the same costume and hairstyle. Dance teacher Cadi McCarthy has supported their already established physical prowess with some very physical training that the action is constantly and organically weaving through the space and the audience as they narrate the tales and effortlessly morph physically and vocally into a range of characters in random interactions.
Lighting Designer Lyndon Buckley and Sound Designer Huw Jones create an otherworldly space and we are transported into a world that is nowhere in particular and hence entirely suitable for telling stories from everywhere.
Their program, created by Vinyl Design, is a bit of a treat as well. Designed by Claire Albrecht, it is modeled on the In Case of Emergency card found in the seat pocket on an aeroplane.
Paper Cut states;
“We make highly visual and physical performance, using found text and documentary techniques. We create though a rigorous collaborative process, blending theatrical forms and testing the boundaries of traditional theatre. Our work is bold, sharp and playful.”
This is true. HELLO, STRANGER has a unique hybrid theatrical style tailored to suit their talents and topic, one that is highly relevant as we are increasingly mobilised and able to travel, migrate and explore yet more fearful and alert to potential harm and threat from others.
HELLO, STRANGER was assisted through HotHouse Theatre Company’s A month in the country residential program, delivered in partnership with Albury City.
HELLO, STRANGER will be performing in Newcastle every Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights until the 5th March. Buses depart from Civic Station in Hunter Street at 7.30 pm.
The Company will also be presenting HELLO, STRANGER in Bathurst for one show only on Friday 11 March at 7.30pm. The bus will depart from Bathurst Visitor Information Centre promptly at 7.30pm. Bus will return patrons to this point at the end of the performance. Please park on Durham St.
Tickets $30 Adult | $25 Concession. Bookings through BMEC Box Office on Ph 6333 6161 or www.bmec.com.au