29 November 2011
Press Release
Moving To The Spirit Of Peace An 'Emotional Experience'
Absurdist Comedy
Performers in the Summoning Hope Oceania Peace Festival at the Wellington Opera House combined art, dance and theatre
into a emotional experience described by show director Anna Marbrook as "incredibly moving."
Hosted by lay Buddhist group, Soka Gakkai International of New Zealand, the festival attracted a full house of 1100
people on Sunday, 20 November with 250 performers, professionals and amateurs alike, from all over New Zealand
volunteering their time for the show.
“I have never worked with such a diverse range of performers in terms of age, ethnicity and experience. Top artists
rubbed shoulders with relative newcomers, said Marbrook
"Being backstage during the show was like a cross between a Fellini film and a meeting of the United Nations. It was an
incredible collaboration of 250 performers unified joyfully through dance song and theatre. One person in the audience
commented that the show was incredibly moving, they felt no division between the show and the audience. This was a great
achievement. ”
The Oceania Peace Festival featured diverse performances ranging from the traditional Japanese Taiko drumming to urban
bucket drumming, a mass choir led by Bert van Dijk to original song compositions by duo Sally Stockwell and Sarah
Maccombee, hula to butoh, comedy sketches and acrobatics . The show was a celebration of life and the human spirit
triumphing over adversity.
For New Zealand General Director, Jimi Wallace, the festival was a great way to bring people together to promote a
culture of peace. “We need to come together in difficult times. Culture opens the heart and creates understanding
between people. So, the festival is a way of promoting peace and understanding among people . This very much needed in
difficult times.”
The Grand Finale
Soka Gakkai International of New Zealand is part of a world-wide grass roots Buddhist lay organisation which promotes
peace, culture and education based on humanism.
ENDS