World-renowned Hastings-born mime Trygve Wakenshaw brings his show Nautilus to the stage he first performed on as an 8-year-old. Photo / Fraser Cameron
World-renowned Hastings-born mime Trygve Wakenshaw brings his show Nautilus to the stage he first performed on as an 8-year-old. Photo / Fraser Cameron
Despite his expertise in physical comedy, Hastings-born Trygve (pronounced Trig-vee) Wakenshaw isn’t clowning around when it comes to making the most of his whirlwind two-month New Zealand tour.
In a full-circle moment, the Prague-based mime will perform one show next month in a Hawke’s Bay location wherehe once trod the boards as an 8-year-old. Mitchell Hageman reports.
For someone who tends not to talk for a living, Trygve Wakenshaw had plenty to say about his exciting Hawke’s Bay homecoming.
The physical comedy performer’s return to Hastings Toitoi Opera House in June to perform his one-man show Nautilus will be extra special, considering the stage was the first he ever stepped foot on.
It was in a production of Carmen directed by Richard Campion, he recalled.
“My first time on stage was at that municipal theatre; I feel really full circle about it.”
Trygve Wakenshaw studied at prestigious Paris clown school Ecole Philippe Gaulier, where the alumni include Sasha Baron-Cohen and Emma Thompson. Photo / Fraser Cameron
It’s fair to say Wakenshaw has gone from strength to strength since his Hawke’s Bay theatre days.
After studying at Ecole Philippe Gaulier, a prestigious Paris clown school with alumni including Sacha Baron-Cohen and Emma Thompson, he’s spent more than a decade travelling the world.
“My whole career has been a fairly fluid evolution. It was really early that I wanted to perform,” he said.
Forays into film, theatre and stand-up comedy in New Zealand helped him gain some crucial knowledge and exposure, but the world soon called.
“I started creating things with my friend Barney, and we were really influenced by silent films and the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
He said New Zealand was a “great place to grow as an artist” but it had its limits.
“I could feel what was achievable in New Zealand theatre. I thought I wasn’t going to get any further, so I went off and studied with Philippe.”
Today, Wakenshaw’s solo physical comedies Kraken, Squidboy and Nautilus have consistently sold out at festivals around the world.
“Doing the festival circuit in Europe, you can perform your show every day for a month, then change cities again and do it every day for a month, so the show really develops. You get better, and the show gets better.”
Nautilus sees Wakenshaw’s long-limbed body shape into a multitude of characters, scenarios and jokes using mime and other physical comedy techniques.
It is described as a “salute to the human imagination”.
Before his return to Hawke’s Bay, the master of mime plays a big part in this year’s NZ International Comedy Festival and will also tour the country for three weeks.
While doing this, he’s crafting a new show for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
“Saying this, I realise I sound like a busy man,” he joked.
Busy indeed, but not too busy to make time for his hometown, a place he still credits for his success.
“It’s where I was formed, in a way. I went to Hereworth School and Havelock North High after that.
“I felt really encouraged and supported, and my parents were also very encouraging and supportive when I got into acting and drama.”
He said he understood why many local artists went overseas to study European artforms.
“I think New Zealanders have an interesting imagination for stuff,” he said.
“I think part of it is that isolated feeling, and the little scraps you can get from European art are really enticing. You look at it and go, ‘How do I make that?’ It’s like having to make a car having only seen a picture of a car.”
Wakenshaw said he also enjoyed the varied audience perceptions and the thrill of expressing his playful nature while touring.
“It’s interesting touring it to different countries and learning what elements and gestures translate.
“You get moments where the thing you do on stage really shines, so you get this flavour of what it’s like to be incredible. I’ve spent my whole career searching for that feeling again.”
In typical Hawke’s Bay fashion, Wakenshaw expects his audience to feature some rather familiar faces.
Trygve Wakenshaw brings Nautilus to Toitoi in Hastings on Friday, June 14 at 7pm. Tickets are available via Eventfinda or at the Hastings isite.
Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in January 2023. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community. He has a particular love for stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
