Running Into The Sun - National Theatre Tour Launched Today
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Melbourne-based, New Zealand theatre crew a2 Company are bringing their breakout work Running into the Sun home to Aotearoa. The show had a breakthrough season at the 2024 Melbourne Fringe, winning the notable combination of Best Theatre and Best Emerging Company out of more than 400 Australian and International shows.
Written by Ben Ashby (former Artistic Director of Long Cloud Youth Theatre) and developed by the a2 Company ensemble, Running into the Sun is a one act play with a three piece jazz band and four contemporary dancers. The story follows Mary (Jasmine Susic) and Ash (Ben Ashby) at their university graduation house party, as they navigate an unexpected pregnancy and a flash flood hits their hometown.
'messy, joyous, heartfelt and completely off the chain.'
- 2024 Melbourne Fringe Festival: Judges' Picks.
Running Into The Sun is a bold and empathetic work exploring what it means to be young and managing personal crises against the increasingly surreal backdrop of international climate disaster, political instability, and live-streamed war.
After their success in Melbourne the a2 Company are excited to bring this show back home. 'This show could not be more specific to the New Zealand experience', says Ashby. 'I was at my Aunts house in MacAndrew bay, writing about the characters learning of a flash flood in their home town, and I got an emergency alert, telling me I was stranded, because the only road back into Dunedin had been closed due to slips. - At least I got a lot of writing done that weekend!'
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Wanaka Hāwea Hall: 7 September TICKETS
Christchurch Chch Arts Centre: 9 - 14 September TICKETS
Auckland Basement Theatre: 16 - 20 September TICKETS
Wellington Te Auaha: 1 - 4 October TICKETS
a2 Company was founded in Te Whanganui a Tara - Wellington by Ben Ashby (Artistic Director Long Cloud Youth Theatre 2020-2023) and Nadiyah Akbar (Footnote NZ Dance, Movement of the Human, Joel Bray Dance).
The a2 Company ensemble for the 2025 Aotearoa Tour of Running Into The Sun is:
Choreographer Nadiyah Akbar; Dancers Nadiyah Akbar; Alec Katsourakis, Jasmine Susic, Luke Romero; musicians Toby Leman, Lennox Grootjans, Seth Boy; actors Ethan Morse, Ben Ashby; and designer Asha Barr.
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She's looking forward to being in Aotearoa – particularly in relation to the oddity that is the gulf between Australian and New Zealand literary communities. My parting question is to ask Wood for recommendations – Australian writers she admires. We discuss Fiona McFarlane, Joan London, Helen Garner, Gail Jones, Alexis Wright and Ellen van Neervan. Wood then turns to glance at her empty bookshelves to consult for more and momentarily despairs at their absence, 'so weird when they're not there! I feel out of my head.' Charlotte Wood will appear in multiple events at WORD Christchurch this August including an event on Stone Yard Devotional, an Elements of Fiction masterclass, live with Emily Perkins.
