Surreal comedy meets ridiculous reality in this premiere production for the everyday existentialist.
Interrupting Cow is a new work for the stage by Sarah Delahunty MNZM, created alongside young theatremaker and musician Ari Leason and political activist and former MP Catherine Delahunty. The surreal comedy is a step in a new creative direction from Delahunty’s more realistic repertoire of feminist works and plays for young people. Interrupting Cow is a poetic and humorous train of thought, woven into snappy dialogue and tender awkwardness. Audience will relate to the characters and their obstacles, although they may not be able to fully piece together how.
55-minute of punchy feelings and ideas, elevated with character and comedy. Ultimately, Delahunty leaves the viewer to decide what it meant to them.
Two women are plagued with annoyance. Shoe laces and global starvation are set to push them over the edge. Cake and music kept behind red tape. We’re waiting for God knows what; lost in a puzzle of 395 million 729 thousand 346 pieces that's the size of a mini KitKat.
Interrupting Cow is a refreshingly unusual and presentation of modern day existence full that will leave you wanting cake.
“They didn’t like the fact that there was two of us, because we reinforced each other.” – Catherine Delahunty to Pantograph Punch on responses to their feminism in 1960s and ‘70s
The third theatrical collaboration between sisters Sarah and Catherine Delahunty, Interrupting Cow features their trademark fiery spirit and push for progress. Sarah first got Catherine on the stage in Question Time Blues – a show about Catherine’s time in Parliament as a Green MP. Catherine got Sarah right back, with playwright and director Sarah making her first appearance on the stage in 30 years in the sisters’ autobiographical play #UsTwo: Six Decades of Sisterhood about their lives through the feminist waves. #UsTwo also marked the professional debut of actor and musician Ari Leason who has since graduated high school and continues to work in the industry. The full team behind #UsTwo – performers Sarah, Catherine, and Ari; light designer Izzi Lao; and producer Eleanor Strathern – now reunite for something completely different.
We live in a time of global annoyance. Where did it start? How did it start? When will it end?
The premiere production of Interrupting Cow at BATS Theatre is made possible with the support of The Performing Arts Foundation of Wellington.
Sarah Delahunty has written over 30 plays, often focused on social justice, feminism, and creating opportunities for teenagers and young people to thrive in the arts. Her debut production Stretchmarks premiered in 1985 and subsequently won the prestigious Bruce Mason Playwrighting Award in 1987. In 2015, Delahunty was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to theatre. In 2019, she was awarded The Playmarket Award or significant contribution to theatre in Aotearoa.
Catherine Delahunty is an activist, environmentalist, and politician. She was a Member of Parliament for the Green Party 2008 – 2017 and was also a co-convenor of the Green Party 2003 – 2005. She has been a youth worker for the Thames-Coromandel District Council; a Greenpeace campaigner; a leader in Coromandel Watchdog’s campaign against mining on the peninsula; and a radical educator with Kotare Trust, coaching activists how to best agitate for social change.
