Don Juan

Don Juan

Don Juan: by A Slightly Isolated Dog

5 crazy, faux-French clowns invite you to play. They bring you in, they get you a drink, they flirt with you a bit (maybe they fall in love with you) and then they invite you to tell the story of Don Juan, with them.

This is an interactive performance event, a party in the theatre.

Don Juan premiered at Circa Theatre, Wellington in April 2015 and played to over 1200 people. It is nominated for several 2015 Wellington Theatre Awards including Most Original Production. Don Juan will be refined and presented as part of the 2016 Q Presents Season at Q Theatre in Auckland, funded by Creative New Zealand.

The Don Juan experience lives in the intersection of music gig, physical theatre, sketch comedy, and improvised theatre. The show is fast and furious. It gives the audience a taste of danger, surprise, and wonder.

It feels spontaneous and alive: the actors seem to make it up on the spot, responding to audience interaction with wit and precision. But the show is held by a highly structured artistic backbone that ensures a complete and satisfying experience every night.

Using a cabaret structure we tell the story of Don Juan: short acts follow each other at an infectious pace.

Don Juan the character is the boldest and greatest of men. He does whatever he wants (with sometimes dubious ethical consequences). Don Juan the show is a celebration of those moments when we surprise ourselves by being bold and decisive. And a celebration of the - unfortunately more frequent - moments when we shrink from our impulses because we worry about what people will think.

You meet the very passionate Philippe, the coy young Ginger, the flirtatious Lilly, the childlike but delightfully disturbing Maurice, and Julie: the enigmatic (kind of) drag queen.

Audience members are enlisted to participate in numerous easy and delightful ways. With coaching, they play different characters in the show, help to imaginatively create the locations (the ocean, a forest, etc.) and feed-in ideas. Even the most reticent audience members are warmed up to the game. This finely crafted performance creates the joyous feeling of chaos.