SOFT N HARD
The Heyday Dome, BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace
Tuesday 22nd - Saturday 26th August, 2017
In the preposterous world of Soft N Hard, the curtains are so beautiful you can get lost in them, taking a shower is so deep you need a wetsuit, and the view in
the mirror is simply breathtaking.
Jo Randerson and Thomas LaHood are the creative team behind Barbarian Productions and real life wife ‘n’ husband. Man
‘n’ woman. Clown ‘n’ genius. Together they run their theatre business, create their art, and raise their two children.
Their lives are inextricably intertwined.
A year or so ago Jo was working on a solo performance about how women have to hold themselves to accommodate others, and
Thomas was working on a solo performance about how men hardly have to do anything at all. So inevitably, they decided
they should explore both sides live on stage. What could possibly go wrong?
Thomas and Jo have approached the fraught territory of gender posturing with characteristically outrageous humour and
courageous self-expression. Soft N Hard is visually extravagant, hugely fun, and completely absurd.
In recent years Barbarian Productions has become known for a radically progressive approach to theatre: Taking over the
entire back end of the State Opera House (Grand Opening, 2015), filling the Wellington Cathedral with songs of inter-generational conflict (Sing It To My Face, 2014), and dishing out free haircuts in exchange for political discussion (Political Cuts, 2014). In 2016 they received the Wellington Theatre Awards Jury Prize for their outstanding overall contribution to
Wellington Theatre.
ENDS