Climate change play for Auckland

Leanne Frisbie in the Herald Theatre, where Between Two Waves will be staged in August. Photo: Ted Baghurst.

Debuting in August, the production of 'Between Two Waves' aims to flood viewers with emotion and awareness regarding the critical issue of climate change. Producer Leanne Frisbee and Element writer Rachel Riley caught up.

Leanne Frisbie, director of Auckland-based ethical public relations agency Passion PR, was visiting Sydney in 2012 when she attended the debut of a play concerning human indifference in the face of the impending catastrophe of climate change. Astounded by Between Two Waves and its profound message, Frisbie marched backstage and asked the playwright, Australian actor Ian Meadows, if she could bring his play to New Zealand.

With the help of Auckland Live, Passion Productions will premiere Between Two Waves from August 4-15 at Aotea Centre's Herald Theatre in Auckland. Starring The Almighty Johnsons actor Emmett Skilton and Go Girls actress Shara Connolly and directed by Black Sheep actor Peter Feeney, the play boasts an all-star cast and crew that is sure to make a big impression on Kiwi audiences.

Rachel Riley: What is Between Two Waves about?

Leanne Frisbie: There's a few phrases that are being used-it's "a romantic comedy about the end of the world". It's "about love in a warming climate". For me, what the play is about is this pressing issue of climate change - the biggest issue of our time because it does threaten the way that we live and, if worse came to worst, it threatens us as a species. It's about the way that we behave as human beings and why we feel powerless to do anything about it-why we're caught in our apathy despite the fact that it's such a big issue.

RR: Who are the main characters in the play?

LF: It's a love story, told in retrospect, about Fiona and Daniel. Daniel is a climate change scientist, and Fiona is the complete opposite to him. She's an out-there, happy-go-lucky party girl. They collide and end up coming together in a relationship. She wants to have a baby, but there's no way he wants to bring a baby into the world that he feels is doomed... It goes between the past and the present; the past is the love story, and the present is, ironically, the worst flooding the country has ever witnessed due to climate change weather events.

RR: As someone producing a play for the first time, do you feel that it is somewhat of a risk for a PR agency to debut a play brand new to New Zealand at such a large venue?

LF: I don't think it's a risk for a PR agency because a big part of this is getting awareness about it [climate change] out there. Yes, I am pulling all of the pieces of the puzzle together as producer, and that's just another project that I'm managing which is similar to the projects I manage with our other clients. It's really about the amazing people involved, and that's what gives me the complete faith that we can pull this off. We've got a partnership with Auckland Live-it's on at the Herald Theatre-they're amazingly supportive. I'm a novice when it comes to theatre production, but I'm surrounded by highly experienced, amazing cast and crew and a fantastic team at Auckland Live who are helping us. I don't feel like I'm doing it on my own. We've also had some fantastic support from Les Mills - they're our major sponsor.

RR: Has anything you've learned about the performing arts industry while producing the play come as a surprise to you?

LF: It's been an interesting experience discovering how little money there is in the arts, and how much it costs to put on a production versus how little money you can actually get back or recoup. It's been a real eye-opener for me in terms of how difficult it is for arts projects to get off the ground and be financially viable. I think communicating these issues through the arts is a really interesting way of tackling them. It's an opportunity to be less preachy and less instructional and allow people to experience it and make up their own mind.

What do you hope people who see Between Two Waves will take from the play?

LF: I hope it will enable people to stop and think about the way that we're all behaving around this issue and feel compelled to do more without feeling like they've been lectured to or patronised. I want people to feel like they are able to take an honest look at how little action we're taking and why, and to feel compelled to want more, to want action faster, and to just be more aware about how big this issue is. It's bigger than our little lives. It really is the biggest issue of our time because it genuinely threatens our existence. It threatens our lives as we know them.
Tickets for Passion Production's show Between Two Waves will be available for sale online beginning June 10 at ticketmaster.co.nz.

Between Two Waves is costing $80k to stage, and Frisbee is appealing to a motivated and altruistic public to help her raise the funds via a Boosted campaign below.