The Rebel Alliance presents
Back to Square One?
By Anders Falstie-Jensen
The Meteor
August 13 – 15, (Fri 11am & 6.30pm, Sat 6.30pm, Sun 2pm)
Tickets: $10 - $25
Book at The Meteor
Themeteor.co.nzIt’s theatre, but only just!
The Rebel Alliance returns to Hamilton with the indoor version (it’s winter after all) of their outdoor show Back to Square One? which premiered at the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival earlier this year.
Originally made to be performed in parks and driveways in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 lockdowns Back to Square One? invites you into 95 year old Inga's living room in Denmark as she reaches out through space and time to her grandson in
New Zealand.
Inga has seen world wars, cold wars, civil wars. In real life and on TV. And when you’re close to 100 you know a thing
or two about a thing or two. Featuring lots of chalk and a cameo by a Viking God Back to Square One? is the remarkable story of unremarkable lives and the (sometimes) misdirected urgency that drives us all.
“A company to watch” – NZ Herald
The play is based on writer and performer Anders Falstie-Jensen’s conversations with his grandmother in Denmark who
during the lockdown was isolated for months in her small apartment. Says Falstie-Jensen:
“That first lockdown… it was scary, and surreal but also, it had moments of beauty. The world suddenly got very small.
We connected, from a distance, with our neighbours, and for me I had time. Time to be with my family, time to talk to my
grandmother. Time I didn’t normally have because I was so busy at work. For a brief time. family and community took
priority in a way it hadn’t done before.”
Back to Square One? was shortlisted for the 2020 Adam award for ‘Best new New Zealand play’ and was originally performed in Anders
Falstie-Jensen’s driveway for his neighbours. It has toured to other people’s driveways, a car park in Hamilton, a
garden in Dunedin as well as theatres and performed by a range of actors.
The season marks the third time The Rebel Alliance performs in Hamilton. They premiered their previous production Watching Paint Dry, performed by Sean Lynch, at The Meteor. In 2012 Standstill, featuring 3 actors on 3 treadmills, played a part of the FUEL Festival of yonder years.
Previous works by The Rebel Alliance:
Yours Truly – ‘The Rebel Alliance could easily be mistaken for an international touring company’ NZ Herald
Standstill – ‘Defies description’ – Dom Post
Watching Paint Dry – ‘A masterpiece - theatreview