Otago theatre company Sahara Breeze Productions has collaborated with Wellington acrobatic troupe Strange Case Productions to present Invisible.
The locally written piece uses circus acrobatics, physical theatre and audiovisual elements to explore what it means to be invisible in today’s world.
Director Blaise Barham said inspiration for the play emerged when, within a single week, he heard three different people mention feeling invisible.
"It kind of made me think, ‘why?’.
"Especially in this day and age when a lot of people seem to want to be visible on social media.
"People are kind of self-marketing a lot nowadays."
He posted on social media, asking people if they would be willing to share their experiences.
"We received some poems, some stories, some people that were happy to be interviewed."
The contributed material encompassed all walks of life and ages, he said.
Barham then approached dramaturg Allison Horsley to help craft the new play.
"We had an initial meeting about what ... a play like this [could] look like, we brainstormed our ideas and I sent through all the raw material to her."
Barham decided to transcribe the interviews so people who had contributed remained anonymous.
Working with Horsley, the material was shaped into a "quadruple helix" of four main stories that reflected core overarching themes from the submissions.
The narratives ranged from a person who, after being bullied, fought back but disliked the way they were then perceived, to a woman who considered being unseen was her superpower as it aided her professional life.
Barham enlisted his daughter Zoe Barham, who previously lived in Dunedin but is now living in Wellington, where she runs acrobatic and circus troupe Strange Case Productions alongside her partner, Chris Rahenkamp.
"She has always been an amazing choreographer from a very young age."
The combination of theatre and acrobatics meant ideas would be explored in a range of ways.
"Some of the stories can be quite heartbreaking, some are funny, some are thought provoking."
Barham said he was mindful of ensuring those who had shared their stories were part of the process of creating the play.
"Because they have to be happy with how their story is portrayed."
Invisible opens at the Mayfair Theatre on Thursday and runs until Sunday.
Visit sbzproductions.com for tickets.
