It’s the ultimate week of the Auckland Pride Festival. With the competition turning out some superb theatre this 12 months, Concerning the UFO Sighting Outside Mt Roskill is one I’m glad I didn’t miss. Reon Bell offers an enthralling and totally entertaining efficiency on this solo act as Dana, a younger, closeted homosexual man within the 80s who has an growing perception in aliens. The story begins out by steeping us in sci-fi mythoi as scenes from Doctor Who and Star Trek are projected on a big display, placing mankind’s exploration of the universe, and ourselves, into the foreground, earlier than taking us to a tiny desk at an insurance coverage firm in Mt Roskill.
The comedy is grounded in an Office Space-esque journey of Dana’s office routine, which is disrupted with Dana’s fixed preoccupation with science fiction in all its ephemeral qualities. But the 2 issues collectively finally brings the present into its personal distinctive world. Through using music, lighting and a projector display, the world grows as we’re taken to a number of places in and round Mt Roskill. The totally different media are used significantly effectively on this method. The set is dressed merely for that reason, because the present leans into utilizing sound, visuals, and recordings to inform the story. Director Sean Dioneda Rivera skillfully pulls all the weather collectively, retaining an lively tempo and with transitions. On the entire, the technical parts of the present are fantastically crafted.
As we transfer between the assorted components of Dana’s world, there are indicators peppered all through that Dana has not come out as homosexual. It sits uneasily within the background, and on the identical time, so does the burgeoning menace of alien abduction. Sometimes, the theatrics would overshadow the moments when the insidious alien presence made itself identified, nevertheless, that journey finds readability because it continues.
In between dancing to Split Enz in your bed room, watching Patrick Stewart be iconic as Jean-Luc Picard, the nostalgia hits exhausting. By setting a narrative previously, the identification of the period is emphasised as it’s recreated via emblematic music and tv reveals. These cultural artifacts are a big a part of who Dana is, and the place his identification as a Trekkie is established, his identification as a homosexual man, in contrast, is underexplored. Scenes in moody lighting of unrequited needs and emotions in nightclubs observe. These are instances the temper turns into extra emotional as we get a glimpse into Dana’s inner world.
Some of the references soar slightly additional forward in time to the early nineties. The effectively cherished theme music of Twin Peaks evokes a vibe of the paranormal and morbidity – humorous how the theme of repressed identification typically runs alongside the morbid. Once once more because the sci-fi world collides with Dana’s interior self, the present arrives at a satisfying second the place recordings and reside theatre culminate to a intelligent sequence. Eventually, Dana’s easy existence as an workplace employee is elevated right into a world of science fiction and Dana has to face questions on his personal existence. I believe a real love of science fiction comes via at this level, as questions typically posed by sci-fi tales are spoken via the phrases of Picard and Kirk, about existence and which means in life (I believe reasonably than the meaning-of-life). The alien encounter goes on slightly too lengthy at instances because the tempo is sluggish and on the identical word. I believe if expanded on, the expertise might be extra rewarding for the viewers. However, it offers house for us to discover that world of concepts.
I discovered the present to be a beautiful orchestration of theatrical parts. The sound and music have been explicit highlights, as was the 80s nostalgia and foray into self-acceptance explored via science fiction. The present is enjoyable, at instances feeling like I used to be on a musical street journey via Mt Roskill. The efficiency is charming, partaking, and at moments, sincere and touching. I’d advocate getting in additional theatre earlier than the Pride season is over.
Concerning the UFO Sighting Outside Mt Roskill performs Basement Theatre 21-Twenty fifth February 2023 as a part of Auckland Pride.
This evaluate is a part of the Auckland Pride Review Project – a collaborative challenge between 4 native publications (The Pantograph Punch, Bad Apple Gay, Rat World and Theatre Scenes) to supply extra essential discourse round queer theatre and efficiency work. We will probably be reviewing a variety of reveals all through the month of Pride – so preserve a glance out and go assist our native queer performers!