Event: Break Bread (online) - Nov/Dec 2021

With much-needed end-of-year hijinks providing an antidote to the lockdowns of 2021, Silo Theatre’s new commission BREAK BREAD collides historical moments of coming together with absurd modern rituals of gathering from November 30 – December 19. Unfolding as a livestream to gather us in a hilariously contemporary way, BREAK BREAD is theatre experienced from inside your home. What it isn’t is a Zoom call. We promise.

BREAK BREAD broadcasts the rambunctious hidden lives of four of the naughtiest theatre-makers in Aotearoa, as they attempt to perform a millennia-spanning epic of triumph over disaster. Streaming from the exhilarating pandemonium of their homes, watch as these irreverent individuals come together whilst under constant threat of the State of Things.

Playing heightened versions of themselves, four performers will bring their irrepressible modern clowning to a diabolical script of hyper-meta hilarity – unique, a little bit debaucherous, and ultimately joyful. From the invention of toast to masturbation and recreating *that* sex scene from James Cameron’s Titanic – and a truly hectic level of sourdough – BREAK BREAD is a blend of theatre and cinema that channels a Monty Python vibe and constantly surprises.

The characters represent the best and worst of where minds go while our bodies stay put inside, developing obsessions and ignoring realities. Helping us all find the levity in the situations humanity has survived together in the past, we are taken on a journey through the Exodus, the eruption of Mt Vesuvius, the Great Fires of London, and the sinking of the Titanic. A guarantee – there will not be one mention of the words Covid, virus, pandemic, vaccine, or lockdown.

Bringing a playful spirit to a project that has been evolving over two years in three different lockdowns, Alice Canton (OTHER [chinese], The Blind Date Project) and Freya Finch (Shabbat Shalom and Thank You For Coming, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead) have been with the production since its inception. Joining the BREAK BREAD cast to perform in this bold and boisterous presentation are Tom Clarke (Second Unit: What We Do In The Shadows, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead) and Scotty Cotter (Mauri Tau, The Sounds).

Behind the scenes, a collection of our most original creative minds have assembled, including Leon Wadham (Giddy, Lord of the RIngs (Amazon series)), Jarod Rawiri (The Brokenwood Mysteries, Mean Mums), Sophie Roberts (Director of The Wolves, Hir, Peter and the Wolf, Boys Will Be Boys) and Jason Te Kare (Cellfish, Every Brilliant Thing). Developed from conversations of what it meant to literally break bread, the pandemic intervened to disrupt their plans of sharing a communal meal together at the theatre, with audiences. While we simultaneously became a nation of baking experts, the collective experience of Covid-19 took the creative team back to the drawing board, sparking ideas about shared human traumas from the past and filtering these through a genuinely comedic lens.

As the arts sector continues to be limited by theatres being closed in Tāmaki Makaurau, Artistic Director Sophie Roberts sees the chance to be innovative now by presenting BREAK BREAD as an opportunity that embraces the creativity of the current moment. “We’re committed to creating something that is inherently theatrical and an active experience for audiences. By merging the digital and analogue, we want to take the best of both worlds – the responsiveness and beautiful chaos of theatre, with the reach and accessibility a digital work affords us. We are meeting this challenge with a sense of adventure, excited by the possibility of jumping into the unknown, writing our own rules, and bringing people something inventive.”

BREAK BREAD will be ticketed and available worldwide via silotheatre.co.nz from November 29 – December 19, streaming at 7.30pm & 8.30pm daily, with added shows at 4pm on Sundays (NZT). An original encounter at home on your screens, BREAK BREAD can be enjoyed from a computer, laptop, or smart television screen in your bubble. For more information about access, visit silotheatre.co.nz