The Wanderer - Finn McCauley (she/her)
Tom - Hamish Boyle (he/him)
Nina - Marija Stanisic (she/her)
Luke - Zachary Klein (he/him)
The Scientist - Hayden Frost (he/him)
The Spokesperson - Slaine McKenzie (he/him)
Additional Voices - Emma Maguire (they/them)

Created by Emma Maguire
Poster Design - Hamish Boyle
Lighting Design/Operation - Darryn Woods (he/him)
Sound Design/Video Editing/Digital Design - Emma Maguire
Filmography - Troy J Malcolm (he/him)

Audio Recording - Matrix Digital
Thanks to Barbarian Productions/RUCKUS, VUWSA, DAT and New Zealand Fringe.

Creator’s Note

Back from a long trip around the world, Your Body is a Wasteland has finally made it to Pōneke. It’s a journey that’s spanned several countries, different mediums, and many hundreds of hours of editing.

I wrote Your Body is a Wasteland because frankly, my body is. I have several chronic health conditions, my brain’s a bit shaky, and a lot of days are a challenge. It’s a life that a lot of people who don’t have the lived experience of it may find it hard to understand. One of the reasons I’m not performing in this show, despite it being laced with such specific experiences of mine, is that I find it very hard to physically do theatrical performance anymore. That’s what it’s like having chronic health conditions.

You’re fighting a battle with your body that often feels too hard to win.

So, I took this experience and stuck it in the end of the world. Why? The end of the world is pretty easy to imagine. It’s lonely, it’s isolated, weird shit happens, and the road is hard but you keep on going. What better way to try to explain a chronic health condition to someone who’s never lived it?

The world ends (your health takes a turn) and you have to survive. It can be terribly depressing, it can feel like you’re so alone, but with the right people, you will find your place, and you’ll make it.

Your Body is a Wasteland is not about the pain you feel, but the way out the other side. It’s a story about finding your community, no matter how much that takes. Your community is there, waiting for you, and one day you’ll find it.

–

To Hamish, for boundless kindness on the shared roads we walk.

To Finn, for skill, good humor, and for making it the best solo directing experience ever.

To Mon, who we all dearly miss.

To my parents, who do so much, and I never say it enough.

To those who I didn’t name, but deserve the world.

Thank you.