Event: Mr. Meloncholy (Auckland Fringe)

As part of Auckland Fringe Festival, a team of dynamic Auckland creatives will delight audiences with a surreal parable of solitude and sorrow by Australian playwright Matt Cameron.

Playing at Studio One Toi Tū from 16 to 20 February 2021, Mr. Melancholy is an existential comedy that follows a group of self-prescribed hermits as their life of solitude is turned upside down by the arrival of a runaway circus clown. Urban art space Studio One Toi Tū is transformed into a deconstructed lighthouse on a remote island, providing an other-worldly setting for absurd routines, clown antics, and desperate attempts at human connection.

Mr. Melancholy teeters between bleak and hopeful. An absurdist narrative which hauntingly mirrors the current climate of lockdowns and isolation.

Ollie is the keeper of a lighthouse, Enzo keeps forgetting to replace its light, Margot prefers to keep their island in the dark. Passing ships crash and suitcases pile high as the empty light spins on loop, illuminating nothing. Enter Dolores, a runaway circus clown with a package to deliver and a desire to be taken seriously. Relationships are tested as the status quo is forced into question and lost hopes are reignited. Three’s company and four’s a crowd in this deliciously dark comedy.

Directed by Katie Burson, an award-winning Director, Actor, and Theatre-maker from Tāmaki Makaurau. A graduate from Unitec School of Performing and Screen Arts (Acting, 2009), Katie has presented work locally and abroad with companies including Co Theatre Physical, CDP Theatre Producers (AUS), Tim Bray Productions, Auckland Live, Movement of the Human, & White Face Crew. Katie completed a 10-month arts residency at Studio One Toi Tū, culminating in an exhibition of original video works and the presentation of GET OUT OF MY LETTERBOX at Q Theatre, in Auckland Fringe Festival 2020.

In 2020, Katie completed her sixth-month of touring the Olivier Award-nominated Room on the Broom through Australia and NZ with CDP Theatre Producers. Katie was awarded ‘Best Director’ at Short & Sweet Festival for Slow Dating(2016) which went on to present subsequent seasons in Auckland, Sydney and Hollywood.

A cast of five multidisciplinary performers bring Mr. Melancholy to life, including Mustaq Missouri (TEA, A Fine Balance, The Mourning After), Hamish Annan (93%, Ao-Terror-Oa) Irasa Siave (Leilani, Arlecchino Errante) , and Susannah Smith-Roy (After the Fact, Fleshies). Original music will be composed by Chris Marshall (Heatwave, Judas Sheep, Miss June) .