Tap Head by Barnie Duncan

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Synopsis

What do you get when you cross a tap with a man?
A drip?
A very good plumber?
A stand-up comedian?

It’s a question that has been haunting comedian Barnie Duncan since he began drawing his Tap Head cartoons back in 2002. Now he’s made a show about it. He’s also made a giant tap head out of chicken wire, papier mâché and builder’s bog, which he wears onstage for half of the show.

Tap Head explores the life of a lonely tap who works in a public toilet, a tap who also frequents open mic nights to test out his jokes. Spliced together with actual stand-up from non-tap Barnie Juancan, the show is a wonky meditation on plumbing, loneliness, and amateur comedy nights – a show that mixes physical comedy, mime, stand-up and surreal theatre to create a truly unique hour of entertainment.

We are currently living in a time where people are retreating into tribes. You’re either left or right, this side or that side. So it is important to find bridges, to celebrate fleeting moments of commonality, like anthropomorphism, like feeling alone, like dealing with problems in strange strange ways. This COVID climate is heavy and isolating and Tap Head explores mental health in a joyful and profoundly unique way. Its message of ‘whatever you do to deal with loneliness is ok’ will resonate with today’s audiences.

BOOKINGS & ENQUIRIES:
barnie@squaresums.co

Creative Team and Crew

Executive Producers // SquareSums&Co + Theatre Beating
Producer // Yee Yang ‘Square’ Lee
Director // Katy Maudlin
Performer // Barnie Duncan
Lighting Designer // Bradley Gledhill
Sound Designer // Daniel Nixon
AV Designer // Caiden Jacobson
Set/Props/Costume Designer // Barnie Duncan
Operator // Peter Davison
Production Manager // Molloy (TBC)
Stage Manager // TBC
Publicist // Delilah Pārore Southon (TBC)

Number of People in the Touring Party

2–3 (Performer, Show Operator/Production Manager and where budget permits Director or Producer) + Family (partner & toddler daughter) to travel with Barnie (at own costs).

Previous Seasons

Melbourne Fringe - 2018, work-in-progress season
Melbourne International Comedy Festival - 2019
New Zealand International Comedy Festival - 2019
BATS Theatre, Wellington - 2021

The show was developed in Melbourne in 2018 by Barnie Duncan and director Katy Maudlin. A development season was then staged at the 2018 Melbourne Fringe Festival, followed by a full run at the 2019 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Further work was done on the show in New Zealand later that year, and another four-night season was undertaken at Auckland’s Basement Theatre as part of the 2019 New Zealand International Comedy Festival. It was during this season that the show really ‘found itself’ thanks, in part, to Barnie being able to fully explore the show’s theatrical nature in a proper theatre with proper lights and sound. The Auckland season was a hit, and resulted in Barnie being nominated for the Fred Award for Best Show at that year’s comedy festival awards ceremony.

The show was then selected to be part of BATS Theatre’s Co-Pro season for 2021. This allowed us to ‘next level’ the show, by adding an AV element. Various animations were commissioned to project over the tap sequences, the set design was further honed, and the show fine tuned over an eight day re-rehearsal period. The resulting 11-night run was a success, achieving an 83% house and generating a huge amount of buzz within the Wellington theatre and comedy communities.

The work is ready for a NZ national tour, and hope to tour it to other major centres across Aotearoa in the second half of 2022, and to begin touring it to Australia (and beyond, COVID-permitting) from 2023.

(Please note that the full show link below is for an earlier iteration of the show, pre-AV design, and some differences in storytelling. Enjoy.)

Reviews and Quotes

"A man with a tap for a head... a magical experience." – Angela East (Squirrel Comedy)

"Witty as it is commanding, amusing as it is poignant... completely unmissable." – Sarah Kidd

"a fun, unabashed performance that switches masterfully between joy and pathos." – Theatrepeople

"distinctive and beautifully absurd... just the sort of boundary-nudging work that comedy festivals should be encouraging" – Chortle UK

"Tap Head is a whimsical hour of comedy about the impact the little moments in life can have." – MyMelbourneArts.com

"there is alchemy in the way the efforts of a weakly joking comedian and a lonely cold tap evoke our empathy and compassion" – Theatreview

"brings a whole new meaning to turning on a tap" – Tanya Piejus (Regional News Wellington)

"this show is absurd yet intelligent, silly yet soulful, eccentric yet endearing." – Aridhi Anderson (WeekendNotes.com)

“This is Spindle Tap” – Anonymous

For full reviews: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1t2xq2uvw3hm4aw/AAA59uoU4GqyUuvH02S92pjba

Technical Rider & International Touring Info (if applicable)

• View/download document #1 here

Bunny by Barnie Duncan

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Synopsis

Here is a show that is a love letter to clubbing and an exploration of dealing with grief. Doesn’t sound super funny, but it is. Multi-award-winning comedian and theatre maker Barnie Duncan burrows into the specific freedom a dancefloor at 3am can bring to a human.

Made in the weeks following the death of a parent, Bunny is an hour of physical, musical and explorative comedy that allows a creative polymath (Barnie) to either attempt, avoid or deal with the grief of losing a loved one. This is the writer/performer (Barnie) at his most vulnerable yet, which makes the work all the more accessible to fans of his kooky characters and absurdist takes on the world. Speaking of which, a cleverly programmed scrolling LED sign hangs above the performer (Barnie), gradually becoming a second character, commenting on the actions of the comedian (still Barnie) with a poignant omnipotence.

A real fun ride filled with nightclubs, bass guitars and an original bloody soundtrack by legendary House music DJ and producer Dick 'Magik' Johnson, Bunny triggers the release of endorphins throughout your body (we think) thereby promoting your overall sense of well-being (we hope). Choreographed by Liv Tennet and originally produced by Anna Groot.

BOOKINGS & ENQUIRIES:
barnie@squaresums.co

Creative Team and Crew

Executive Producers // SquareSums&Co + Theatre Beating
Producer // Yee Yang ‘Square’ Lee
Performer // Barnie Duncan
Director // Barnie Duncan
Sound Designer // Dick Johnson
Choreographer // Liv Tennet
Production Manager // Molloy (TBC)
Stage Manager // TBC
Operator // Peter Davison
Publicist // Delilah Pārore Southon (TBC)

Number of People in the Touring Party

2–3 (Performer, Show Operator/Production Manager and where budget permits Director or Producer) + Family (partner & toddler daughter) to travel with Barnie (at own costs).

Previous Seasons

New Zealand International Comedy Festival 2021
Basement Theatre season June 2021
Assembly Festival/Edinburgh Festival Fringe August 2021 (digital video-on-demand season)

Given the sensitive nature of the subject matter, Barnie is unsure for how long he wants to perform the show. He is interested in the way grief evolves, however, and for this reason the show itself will evolve too. It might be worth noting there will be a conversation around suitability with each successive season of Bunny, as to how Barnie feels about performing it again.

The work is ready for a NZ national tour, and hope to tour it to other major centres across Aotearoa in the second half of 2022, and to begin touring it to Australia (and beyond, COVID-permitting) from 2023.

Reviews and Quotes

"Bunny is powerful and it is human and it is bloody funny – a truly fantastic and unforgettable show." – THEATRESCENES.CO.NZ

“Hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure, Bunny proves why Barnie is bound for future award glory. You’ll struggle to stop laughing...” – NZ HERALD

Technical Rider & International Touring Info (if applicable)

• View/download document #1 here

First Nights by Arjuna Oakes & Serebii

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First Nights

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If the full length video requires a password, you can contact the artist here.

Synopsis

Aotearoa based artists and frequent collaborators Arjuna Oakes and Serebii find middle ground whilst still letting their individual voices shine on their six-track First Nights EP (Innovative Leisure). Serebii is the alias of New Zealand Artist Callum Mower, an accomplished musician and producer based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand). The Arts Foundation Springboard award-winner Arjuna Oakes is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, also based in Pōneke.

Arjuna and Serebii have known each other since the summer of 2017, and as their friendship grew, so did their collaborative practice with music. After years of collaborating indirectly on each other's solo projects, the two decided to knuckle down and complete a project together, perfectly marrying Arjuna’s skills as a songwriter, keys player and vocalist, and Serebii’s skills as a producer and beat maker. The resulting EP is an in-depth musical journey which takes you through feelings of heartbreak, self discovery and acceptance. First Nights was released on August 2021 through LA independent label Innovative Leisure (BADBADNOTGOOD, Hanni El Khatib, etc.).

First Nights debuted in August 2021 at #5 on KCRW’s Top 30 Albums chart, and have had extensive plays on BBC6 (thanks to Gilles Peterson and Mary Anne Hobbs) and BBC1xtra, surpassing 1.6M+ streams on Apple Music and Spotify in the six-months since its release. Arjuna & Serebii have dropped several First Nights live performance videos, including 'Reset', 'Even When You're Gone', and 'Satellites', as well as a special live recording of 'Holding Cell' (featuring Mo Etc.) shot at the iconic Old St Paul's church in Wellington, several of which feature an expanded band including guitars, flutes and more.

BOOKINGS & ENQUIRIES:
firstnights@squaresums.co

Creative Team and Crew

ARJUNA OAKES

Arjuna is a singer-songwriter and producer based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand). Following the release of his debut EP ‘The Watcher’ in 2019 with a combined 800,000+ Spotify and Apple Music listens. Arjuna has since released another three projects to widespread acclaim, 2020’s ‘Recovery Pt.1’, 2021’s ‘First Nights’ (with producing partner Serebii) and 'Recovery Pt. 2' in February 2022.

With an act comprising some of New Zealand’s most exciting young jazz musicians, Arjuna and his band have been exciting live audiences the last couple of years with a string of sold out shows, appearances at some of NZ’s top music festivals and recently had one of their live performances run in the 2021 online Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Arjuna was also a recipient of the inaugural New Zealand Arts Foundation Springboard Award where he was mentored by renowned composer John Psathas.

SEREBII

Serebii is the alias of R&B experimentalist Callum Mower. Based in Wellington, New Zealand the singer / songwriter explores sensuality through colossal soundscapes and buttery textures that draw you in like sleep after an emotional day. An accomplished Artist and music producer he is often found in the company of fellow boundary pushing music pioneers Skud Gambosi & Arjuna Oakes. After multiple New Zealand tours with a genre bending Dunedin outfit “The Shambles” Serebii decided to nest in the capital of Wellington city to indulge in his most promising musical projects yet “Skud & Serebii”, “Arjuna Oakes collaboration” and “Mauria te Pono - Creatives in Schools”.

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THE TEAM

Artist Management // Yee Yang ‘Square’ Lee
Lead Performers // Arjuna Oakes & Serebii (Callum Mower)
Band // Sam Notman (Drums), Jo Jenkins (Guitar/Flute/Vocals), James MacEwan (Trumpet/Vocals/Percussion) & Harrison Scholes (Bass)
Lighting Designer // TBC
Sound Engineers // Marc Freeman, Te Aihe Butler
Production Manager // TBC
Publicist // Delilah Pārore Southon (TBC)

Number of People in the Touring Party

8 (6 performers plus 1 sound engineer & 1 tour manager)

Previous Seasons

N/A

Reviews and Quotes

“Watch out for a great singer from New Zealand called Arjuna Oakes” – Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 6 Music)

“Soulful and sophisticated” – Under the Radar NZ

"...the very best of neo-soul... a soulful, jazzy paradise where escape is anything but desirable." – CENTRALSAUCE

"Such a beautiful track" – MARY ANNE HOBBS (BBC 6 MUSIC)

Technical Rider & International Touring Info (if applicable)

• View/download document #1 here

Modern Māori Quartet: Garage Party

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