Documentary release – Red Mole: A Romance
Professor Annie Goldson FRSNZ released her new film Red Mole: A Romance at the Whānau Mārama NZ International Film Festival that ran in July/August. The feature explores the origins, performances, personalities and fate of Red Mole, an experimental theatre troupe from Aotearoa New Zealand that emerged in the 1970s.
An indefinable genre of poetry, dance, mask, fire-eating and rock music, the troupe took young New Zealand by storm though shocked many in the older generation in the then socially conservative country. The troupe departed for New York City in the 1980s where it reached some acclaim until the demands of the city fragmented its core. Like Flight of the Conchords but earlier and darker. Red Mole: A Romance is a social history and a poignant personal story.
The film premiered at the Embassy in Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, then screened at the ASB Waterfront Theatre in Tamaki Makaurau, at the Lumiere in Ōtautahi Christchurch and the Rialto in Ōtepoti, Dunedin.
Upcoming theatrical run at selected cinemas nationwide begins in late November 2023. Check this webpage for updates.
‘Red Mole is a joy and a blast’ – Graeme Tuckett, Stuff.
‘Ribald and entertaining – and deeply emotional’ – Chris Bourke, NZIFF.