End of days explored through theatre

Summer Millett and Tania Davidson preapre for Milk & Honey - the first Northland production to include sign language as a central element. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Climate change, homelessness, Brexit, the bombshell election of President Trump.

For many, today's current affairs promote a sense of impending doom - but is this a feeling unique to 2016, or just part of the human condition?

This is the idea explored in Company of Giant's Milk & Honey, a wry carnival complete with candyfloss, crepes and balloons, celebrating the end of the world - and opening tonight in Whangarei.

But Milk & Honey is not an angsty bleat at those in power, said Laurel Devenie, who directed the show with Katy Maudlin.

"We're not wanting to accuse, but to take responsibility," Ms Devenie said.

"We're interested in the idea that we always feel like we're at the end ... but when you look through history, we've often been at this point, so we're exploring that aspect of the human condition."

The audience follows a troupe of creatures and humans - who make it through the Noah's Ark debacle and go on to experience the full spectrum of human-induced disaster, from God's wrath and world wars, to the election of "tyrants", the refugee crisis and climate change.

"They're the victims and the perpetrators - they are all of us," Ms Devenie said.

Summer Millett, aged 20, plays a cow who starts off as a Hindi God and ends up an exploited dairy victim.

She said she often had conversations with her friends around the catastrophic state of the world and hesitantly said she felt the situation today was different to any point in the past, particularly with global warming.

"There's learnt helplessness and a sense that everything is too big for us to handle," she said.

"But it's not immediate to my every day, and I think that's why we are able to develop a sense of apathy, because I don't see these things in a medium that's not the same medium as movies."

Milk & Honey would also be the first Northland production integrating the deaf community, with sign language interpreters Beryl Harrison and Tania Davidson forming a central part of the action, as opposed to standing at the side of the stage translating.

"The deaf community are great actors by nature of their language," Ms Harrison said. "So our vision is to fall in [with CoG] to embrace the deaf youth and give them a safe space to be able to integrate with a hearing group."

Milk & Honey is on tonight until Sunday, December 4, 7pm each night at ONEONESIX - 116 Bank St, Whangarei. For tickets check out bookings@companyofgiants.co.nz or at the door.