Not just hot air...

When I first arrived in NZ a couple of years ago, my friend and I were driving north when we happened upon the myriad of turbines dotting the lanscape of the Tararua Wind Farm. We thought it was the coolest thing we'd ever seen. It was like something out of a sci-fi movie, but in a good way, not an alien-is-gonna-burst-out-of-your-guts way. How cool it would be to look out at that skyline everyday, and how cool that wind power was being utilised on such a large scale. Weeks later, I would learn of the proposed Makara wind farm project, and the resistence it was meeting from the local residents.

So it was probably somewhat appropriate that Wellington turned on a cool, blustery night for the opening of the Downstage season of Turbine. The crowd, however, seemed to be in a warm and welcoming mood for the production.

After making a mad beeline for our seats after a failed Eftpos transaction for our refreshments (I'll fix you up next week, Markus!), it turned out I needn't have rushed, as the actors were taking their time to ease into the opening scenes by undertaking a bit of doodling on the set's whiteboard-like backdrop. This 'doodling' would encompass a not insignificant portion of the play, and contributed to the storyline in many different and cool ways.


The main characters were quickly established, and the crowd warmed particularly to actor/Director Tim Spite's Ariel, easily the most accessible character, with his idiot savant-type traits and eclectic mannerisms. All the actors played multiple roles, but the main characters of each dominated the action and made following the plot quite easy after the first few scenes. Are there 'scenes' in a play? I don't know, I'm just a guy who likes being entertained.

And Turbine was very entertaining, even if the issues being addressed are still a little bit murky to me, the crux of the matter still not completely clear and neither side of the argument gaining my support, sympathy or understanding. But Turbine kept me laughing, thinking and yes, entertained for the full 90 minutes, and even if they may be evil or otherwise, I still think those bloody big windmills look cool!