The Basement Tapes at Arts House

"The most visual medium for me is radio. There's nothing more visual than sitting in the car while the radio is playing"– Robert LePage.

Following her Grandmother’s death, a girl is faced with the overwhelming task of clearing out her house for sale. The Grandmother accumulated a lot during the span of her life, and the girl remembers dreading the fearsome prospect of cleaning it up.

A hit of the 2017 NZ Fringe Festival, The Basement Tapes offers an audience auditory pleasure of immense detail. Part audio work, part live performance, this work brings the past into the present through mixed media. As the granddaughter hears these tapes for the first time, both audience and solo performer fight not to drown among the waves of secrets and memories in the basement.

Inspired by the popularity of podcasts (think Serial, This American Life, Welcome to Night Vale, and The Witching Hours), The Basement Tapes responds to the immediacy of site specific performance (Clyde Quay Wharf, NZ Fringe Festival 2017) and the imaginative capabilities of audio recording.

Winner: Outstanding Performance - Stella Reid (NZ Fringe Festival 2017)
Winner: Melbourne Fringe Tour Ready Award (NZ Fringe Festival 2017)
Nominated: Best Directed Chaos (NZ Fringe Festival 2017)
Nominated: Best of Fringe (NZ Fringe Festival 2017)