Instructions for Modern Living

Details

This comic-tragic multimedia collage is a time capsule of urban life in the small hours of the night. Music, dialogue, and huge video images of nocturnal surveillance footage create an eerie, hypnotic atmosphere, setting the scene for some captivating tales of people who find it hard to sleep. Behind closed doors we eavesdrop on ordinary characters at the edge of sanity: a radio talkback announcer with no callers, a ghost who refuses to leave its former bedroom, a man about to bet his life savings on a horse, an astronaut suffering anxiety attacks in space, and a fast-food franchise owner who is sleeping with his employee of the month. 85 mins with no interval. Commissioned and first produced by New Zealand International Arts Festival 2006. Supported by Creative New Zealand.

Creatives/Company

Author(s): Duncan Sarkies, Nic McGowan