Our Own Little Mess is a theatrical journey into the mysterious human mind

Why I Made is a fortnightly feature in which artists and writers share the behind-the-scenes stories of their creations with listener.co.nz

The theatre company A Slightly Isolated Dog makes plays that use improvisation, humour, farce and a whole lot of audience participation. They’ve toured New Zealand with such shows as Don Juan and Jekyll & Hyde, but their latest is a little different.

For starters, it’s not often you find cognitive neuroscientists credited among the crew of a theatre show, but two have been instrumental in the making of Our Own Little Mess.

The scientists – Drs David Carmel and Gina Grimshaw – have helped the company “explore the inner realities” of the mind for a show that is about what we really think, but rarely share.

Company founder Leo Gene Peters says there’s not so much active audience participation. Instead, playgoers stay in their seats, wearing headphones so they can hear, in real-time, the thoughts of each character.

Peters says it’s a celebration of the beauty of the mundane “as well as the unknowable mysteries of the human inner voice” following five seemingly unconnected characters.

Leo Gene Peters, why did A Slightly Isolated Dog make Our Own Little Mess?

LGP: That’s a question I ask myself every single day. Jane Yonge [ASID co-founder and show director] and I envisioned it around late 2018. We were playing around with different ways to use technology in the theatre – like headphones and devices – along with questions about travelling and loneliness, and places where we feel most ourselves and alive.

We pitched the show to a few places, but couldn’t get the funding for it, so we went on with other things. Then Covid hit, and those ideas about technology and movement and loneliness suddenly seemed much more relevant. We pitched it to the Aotearoa NZ Festival of the Arts [in Wellington] and got accepted. Unfortunately, though, we had to cancel some performances when cast members got Covid, so we’re excited to bring it to Auckland now.