Hello my name is (2012)
“Gunn’s quicksilver wit and the fearless eccentricity of her stage persona superimpose the tongue-in-cheek and the fearfully earnest in an utterly unique way… This is an uplifting and effortlessly clever show. Nicola Gunn is an extraordinary comic talent.” The Age
Hello my name is is a work about social transformation, using the theatre space as a space where a temporary community can be formed. Set in a community centre, the audience is cast as a group of workshop participants and carefully led through a series of team-building activities that chaotically and humorously describe how to have a conversation. The experience can be excruciating and confronting, to a point where the audience’s resistance to forced participation is what in fact unites them. Throughout the performance, the audience is being secretly filmed so that their individual and collective experience can be edited, stitched together and re-framed to create something surprisingly moving, funny and uplifting that is ultimately a testimony to the value of doing things together.
“When you wake up in the morning singing the first tune from the performance you saw the night before, you know it was a memorable experience. To say the least, this is exactly the impression Nicola Gunn’s shockingly unique and bravely quirky Hello my name is leaves on its audience… It is an ingeniously crafted and brave piece of work that offers an enduring experience.” Australian Theatre Magazine
Written, Directed & Performed by NICOLA GUNN
Dramaturgy DAVID WOODS
Set Design LISA HÖBARTNER
Sound Design NICOLA GUNN and DUANE MORRISON
Lighting Design GWEN GILCHRIST
Video & Photography PIER CARTHEW