WHEEL OF EXPERIENCE is a unique blend of music and theatre that tells the lives and legends of early New Zealand through epic original song. Playing Loft at Q Theatre from September 9, watch three consummate performers walk a fine line between history and legend, humour and heart, as they paint eight stories of struggle, triumph and iniquity from another time.
Led by Peter Daubé’s (King Skinny, The Crucible) powerful vocals and commanding theatrical presence, the music morphs with each unfolding story, as brilliant multi-instrumentalists David Ward (Guru of Chai, Kiss The Fish) and Dave Khan (The Bads, Don McGlashan) shift rhythm, pace and texture. Each song is a journey unto itself as the performers move from haunting ballad, to wailing sea shanty, from blistering bluegrass to pounding blues.
The trio performs live on a vast array of acoustics instruments including banjo, fiddle, mandolin, cigar-box and zhong ruan, as well as hearty vocal harmony. Together they bring alive each rich story in a production steeped in the history it exudes.
Experience the crimes of the Burgess Gang, love and betrayal on the Raurimu Spiral, the murder of Joe Kum Yung, the plight of a hardy band of shipwrecked sealers, confidence trickster Amy Bock’s most infamous transformation and the legend of archetypal 'westie' Francesco Rodriguez Figuera, known since as Don Buck.”
Fresh from a 26 date nationwide tour earlier this year, from town halls to theatres to opera houses, Wheel Of Experience has been received to unanimous acclaim:
“Neither musical nor theatrical experiences come any more astonishing than the Wheel of Experience. You hear about good performers bringing songs to life, but in this case, the songs seem to give birth to the performers.” - Nick Bollinger
“Will haunt me for days…you can hear a collective sigh after each piece finishes”
- Vivienne Quinn, Theatreview
Wheel of Experience is the third production to feature in the 2014 Season of Q Presents at Q Theatre, a curated partnership programme for the next wave of performing arts companies who are poised to make a big impact on the Auckland arts scene.
