Theatre

Our Own Little Mess - MATCHBOX 2024

Our Own Little Mess is a genre-bending live performance and immersive audio adventure. Follow the sprawling and seemingly unconnected lives of five characters as they navigate life’s big mysteries, from Wellington and Auckland to New York and Beijing, from the mundane to the unknowable.

$30 - $45 (plus service fees)
90 minutes, no interval
24 Jul - 3 Aug 2024

Our Own Little Mess is a genre-bending live performance and bespoke digital audio experience that takes you from your seat, transports you around the world and through it.

A celebration of the beauty of the mundane as well as the unknowable mysteries of the human inner voice, Mess follows the sprawling and seemingly unconnected lives of five characters. A study in the ways we are simultaneously more atomised and interconnected than ever. 

Inspired by cultural critic Olivia Laing (The Lonely City), novelist Haruki Murakami (The Wind-up Bird Chronicles), and filmmakers, the Daniels (Everything, Everywhere, All at Once), this existential mystery-comedy-thriller collides multiple realities in magical ways.

Please note: To experience the show, please be advised that attendees are required to wear the headphones provided. Headphones are over the ear and compatible with hearing aids. 

Produced by Q Theatre, A Slightly Isolated Dog, SquareSums&Co, and with development support from Auckland Live and Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

Audience Warnings:
This show contains strobe, haze, simulated gunfire, loud sounds, and themes of isolation and death.

There is a strict lockout for the full duration of the show.

Cast:
Jack Buchanan, Laurel Devenie, Isla Mayo, Andrew Paterson, Maaka Pohatu

Creative Team: 
DIRECTOR & LIGHTING DESIGNER | Leo Gene Peters (A Slightly Isolated Dog Ltd)
DIRECTOR | Jane Yonge
PRODUCER | Alyssa Medel and Sums Selvarajan (SquareSums&Co.)
PRODUCTION DESIGNER | Meg Rollandi
SOUND & TECHNICAL DESIGNER / AUDIO MIX ENGINEER / SHOW OPERATOR | Sam Clavis
COMPOSER | Dr. Jeremy Mayall
DRAMATURG | Nathan Joe
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENTISTS | Dr. David Carmel & Dr. Gina Grimshaw (Victoria University Wellington)
LX PROGRAMMER | Zach Howells
TECHNICAL STAGE MANAGER / AUDIO ASSIST | Joel Orme

Show Programme: 
Click below to read the digital programme.

 

MATCHBOX Logo Lock Up V4 - Q Theatre
  • 3 - 5 September 2025
    Theatre

    TBH: To Be Heard

    Discover the artistry of Aotearoa’s rising choreographers and dancers. 11 original works by Year 3 Unitec Dance students — each piece a striking investigation of identity, intimacy, resistance, and rhythm.
  • 4 - 20 September 2025
    Theatre

    Mother Play

    By Paula Vogel. The Milford Asset Management Season. An absurd, funny, and unflinching exploration of family, identity, and the ties that both bind and break us – a modern American classic.
  • 1 - 3 October 2025
    Theatre

    Manawa Ora: Hā

    When Aotearoa’s finest creatives stand with rangatahi, stories come alive. In one week, they craft waiata, rap, dance, and movement. Honest, fearless, full of rangatahi energy. One stage.
  • 16 - 18 October 2025
    Theatre

    Big Time

    There’s nothing better than watching your best friend live their dream—unless it happens to be your dream, too.