A Crazy Ride

This week on drama* on the waterfront, Director Kerryn Palmer talks about the crazy ride that is the Circa season of Second Afterlife.

Second Afterlife a crazy ride!!!!!

The Internet scares me. It baffles me with its endless infiltration into people's lives. So much time is spent looking down at screens. Often it is not enough to just have a cup of coffee with friends, instead we have to tell the rest of the world about the experience. 

As a Mum of two boys I spend a lot of energy providing my kids with experiences and activities that aren’t screen based. I grew up in the country and spent my childhood, building forts, doing science experiments and getting dirty. TV was limited and computers unheard of until my late teens, so I find myself quite anti-technology and resistant to these changes.

I believe it’s great that kids spend as much time as possible off screens playing sport, music, lego and having actual interaction with people, but am I doing my kids a disservice? Will this stunt their growth in a technological world?

I decided the best way to tackle my confusion and questions over this  was to direct a play about something I didn't really understand, to spend time with people that really knew about the gaming world and the Internet and immerse myself in a culture that scares the crap out of me.

It has been an amazing journey. Blessed with a script of epic imaginings from the pen of the extraordinary Ralph McCubbin Howell and a cast of such dedicated and talented young actors, directors and designers, I have had so much fun bringing this play to life. Thank you to Circa for inviting us in, it's great to see the next generation of theatre practitioners in the building. Thanks to Young and Hungry for being awesome and for producing the first season of the play.

I was in the very first season of Young and Hungry 21 years ago and it is a marvellous way to begin a career in the theatre.

Second Afterlife runs from 29 May to 13 June.  Book now:  http://www.circa.co.nz/site/Shows/Second-Afterlife