FREE THEATRE CHRISTCHURCH
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Robinson Crusoe or: I That Was Born to Be My Own Destroyer

6-16 November 1996, Malthouse Theatre
production credits
After the Bible, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe is said to be the most published book in the world. From its original appearance in England in 1719, Robinson Crusoe has become a central part of Western European culture and mythology. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, it was a very popular story for pantomime in which the character of Friday was usually played by a woman. As a children's book, it has filled our fantasies for generations with dreams of escape, rescue and domination. At the same time, Robinson Crusoe can also be read as a text that describes and inscribes the process of colonisation. Living in one of the remote islands that might have been colonised by Robinson Crusoe, we thought it would be apt to revisit the story of the book in the form of a play. We have set our play in a church environment in order to reflect the concerns of Defoe's novel as well as those of the early Canterbury colonists. The second title of our play is taken from Defoe;s book; it may have acquired a new layer of meanings, in retrospect, when Robinson describes himself as "I, that was born to be my own destroyer." We invite the audience to join us on our travels through the imagination following the footsteps of Robinson Crusoe.
This project was developed into a touring production two years later, see related material here Crusoe (1998).
A full recording of this production exists in the Free Theatre archives.
​
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Research

Greta Bond used Robinson Crusoe as material for her MA research Seeing Friday: Problems of Perception and Reception in Post-Colonial Theatre, University of Canterbury, 1998

Michael Cusdin used 
Robinson Crusoe as material for his MA research Watching the Savages Dance: Problems and Possibilities of Creating Post-Colonial Performance of Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe', University of Canterbury, 1998

Kate McAnergney used Robinson Crusoe as material for her MA research The return of the repressed : the (dis)appearance of the bodily in the post-colonial performance of Daniel Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe', University of Canterbury, 1999
CTV Story
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Reviews

The Malthouse Theatre, with its wonderful acoustics and versatile spaces, provides the ideal physical environment for this physical theatrical exercise. It allows the superbly fit and disciplined cast to deal with the massive physical demands made on them, as they are on stage, that is in the theatre, for the entire play.

Honours student's Crusoe

Michele Burstein, The Press, 7 November 1996
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...the approach was refreshingly imaginative and the discipline and endurance of the cast admirable. The physical demands were great.... Robinson Crusoe was not as impressive as The Free Theatre's splendid production of Medea Material last year but it underlines the importance of a drama company that is prepared to take risks and extend the boundaries of both its members and audiences.

Play's audience part of the action

Jim Tully, Sunday Star Times, 17 November 1996
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Peter Falkenberg just keeps pushing the envelope.... The commitment of the cast was beyond question, and in fact much of the piece looked like exercises students do where they learn trust, discipline and theatrecraft, and are great fun for the performers but leave the audience feeling left out. Which was the over-riding residual feeling of this preachy, didactic piece.

Theatreseen

Barry Grant, The Star, 1996

Articles

Familiar tale reworked to focus on the issue of colonisation in NZ
Naomi Gilling, The Press, Wednesday 13 November 1996
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  • ABOUT
    • Manifestos and Writings
    • A brief history...
    • Who We Are
    • The University Connection
    • Shirley Horrocks documentary
    • Training and Devising
    • Home, Space and Design
  • HOME
  • WHATS ON
    • The Passionate Puritan
  • EDUCATION
    • Kids Holiday Programmes
    • Schools Workshops
    • Adult workshops
  • PRODUCTIONS 1979 - present
    • The Cat Eleonore
    • The Deadbeat Opera
    • Babylon Berlin
    • Beggars Banquet
    • Woyzeck
    • The Axe
    • Endgame
    • Digitising Performance
    • Erewhon: Over the Range
    • A Summer Night's Dream
    • How Dare You
    • A Winter's Tale
    • Ars Acustica
    • Alice
    • The Black Rider
    • Frankenstein
    • The Mauricio Kagel Project
    • Footprints/Tapuwae
    • Kafka's Amerika
    • Ubu Nights >
      • Past Ubu Nights >
        • Ma Ubu Night
        • Ubu Through the Looking Glass
        • Ubu in Wonderland Ubu Night
        • Frankenstein Ubu Night
        • Casablanca Ubu Night
        • Faust Ubu Night
        • Not Hamlet Ubu Night
        • Punk Ubu Night
        • The Art of the Deal Ubu Night
        • Crossroads Ubu Night
        • Ubu Shows Us the Way to Brecht's Whiskey Bar
        • The Devil and the Blues Ubu Night
        • Bowie Ubu Night
        • Warhol Ubu Night
        • Berlin Kabarette
        • Beat Ubu Night
        • Twin Peaks Ubu Night
        • David Lynch Ubu Night
        • Kafka Ubu Night
        • Tango Ubu Night
        • Ubu Ubu Night
        • Lovecraft Ubu Night
    • Canterbury Tales
    • The Soldier's Tale
    • Bluebeard's Castle >
      • Bluebeard's Castle credits
    • I Sing the Body Electric
    • Big Heads Protest
    • Hereafter
    • Passion, Pulse and Power
    • The Earthquake in Chile
    • Don Giovanni Invites you to Dinner
    • Doctor Faustus
    • The Marvellous Corricks >
      • Corricks - Credits
    • Distraction Camp
    • Remake
    • Ella and Susn
    • There and Back Again
    • Faust Chroma
    • Enigma Emmy Goering/Nico Sphinx of Ice
    • Change Proposal
    • Faust Feast
    • Diana Down Under
    • Philoctetes >
      • Production Credits - Piloctetes
    • Fantasia
    • Christmas Shopping
    • Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
    • Achternbusch in the Antipodes
    • Caucasian Chalk Circle
    • Samson Airline
    • Antigone
    • Kabarett Kabul
    • Footprints/Tapuwae
    • The Well Intentioned Wife
    • The Last Days of Mankind
    • Bakkhai / Diotek
    • Krapp's Last Tape
    • Murderer Hope of Women / The Philosopher's Stone
    • Comrade Savage
    • Love on a Bicycle
    • Crusoe: A Lapsarian Mass in Twelve Movements
    • Medea
    • Songs to the Judges
    • Resolution Island
    • Oedipus Rex/Oedipus at Colonus
    • The Empire Builders
    • States of Shock
    • Robinson Crusoe or: I That Was Born To Be My Own Destroyer
    • Power
    • MedeaMaterial
    • Salome
    • Electra
    • The Girl Who Sings Waterfalls
    • Hamletmachine
    • Oresteia
    • A Respectable Wedding
    • Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant
    • Cloudkiwiland
    • Double Act / Postponeless >
      • double act credits
    • Preversions
    • The Mortal Pleasure of Wander Lust
    • Red Cross & Takeaway
    • Lulu
    • Cowboy Mouth
    • The Meeting >
      • the meeting credits
    • Action / Tongues
    • The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
    • A Letter from L
    • Dinosaurs and All the Rubbish / The Hunting of the Snark
    • Free Theatre Christmas Show
    • The Ride Across Lake Constance
    • Electra
    • In Three Minds
    • The Rapist Over Suzannah
    • 1984: The Future Is Now
    • Make-up Ground down / Texts for Decomposition
    • Leonce and Lena
    • Court Case: Free Theatre vs The Arts Centre
    • The Almost Free Theatre Kabernette
    • The Joffongract
    • King Lear
    • Kabarett
    • King Ubu
    • Black Cat Cabaret
    • The Gas Heart/Ox on the Roof/The Mirror Wardrobe One Fine Evening
    • Jazz Cellar Dada / Heavy Metal Cabaret
    • Round Dance
    • Woyzeck
  • Te Puna Toi
    • Past Te Puna Toi Projects
    • Artists in Residence
  • SUPPORT
  • CONTACT
  • CNZ application