Biography Of My Skin

Biography Of My Skin
Miranda Harcourt returns to Downstage with a new solo show

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Biography of My Skin takes a life lived on stage and looks for the truth behind the face-paint. In this candid, autobiographical solo show, actor Miranda Harcourt sets out to tell her story as a working mother.

But there’s a catch. The script is written by Miranda’s husband Stuart McKenzie (True, Double Beat). The more she struggles to talk about her relationships, ambitions and marriage, the more interference she experiences from the writer seeking to husband her narrative.

This funny and often outrageous conflict between husband and wife – in all its skirmishes, subterfuges and dramatics – reveals a surprisingly moving portrait of a marriage, as well as an entertaining social history of the last four decades.

Biography of My Skin is the long-awaited follow-up to Flowers from My Mother’s Garden, which toured throughout NZ and was seen by over 35,000 people.

“Flowers From My Mother’s Garden shares the experiences of a mother, daughter and extended family with an ingenious simplicity that belies the depth of insight. It’s a prime example of how universal the particular can be ...That’s what I call communication!”
John Smythe, National Business Review

Stuart and Miranda have worked extensively with verbatim text since the groundbreaking solo shows Verbatim (written by William Brandt, co-devised by Miranda and William) and Portraits (written with Stuart). And also their feature film For Good, which developed out of Portraits.

Pursuing their interest in “real lives, real voices” Miranda and Stuart turned their lens onto their own family. Their short film Voiceover (Best Short Film, NZ Film and TV Awards) recounts an episode from the life of Miranda’s late father Peter Harcourt. And Flowers From My Mothers Garden (commissioned by the NZ Festival of the Arts) played out the changing relationship between a mother and daughter.

Biography of My Skin puts marriage under the microscope. In fact, the play uses the tussle between the actor and the writer to get under the skin of marriage and family life. In so doing, it pulls apart the very idea of the solo show.

Biography of My Skin is a rare opportunity to see Miranda return to the Wellington stage after 5 years.

Miranda and Stuart are joined by an outstanding team, including lighting designer Paul O’Brien (Flowers from My Mother’s Garden and Double Beat), set designer Andrew Foster (Blood Wedding, The Raft) and Robert Larsen as audio-visual designer (Apollo 13). Director Tim Spite (Turbine, Paua) brings his unique vision through his company Seeyd which has created some of the most startling theatre of recent years.

Biography of My Skin
Starring: Miranda Harcourt
Written by: Stuart McKenzie
Directed by: Tim Spite

Dates: 9-31 OCT
Times: 6:30pm Tue-Wed and 8pm Thu-Sat.
Prices: $25 to $45.
Meet the Artists: Tue 8 OCT

ENDS

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