High Rise

Written and performed by Hawke’s Bay local Cameron Jones as his graduation piece at Toi Whaakari and subsequent critically acclaimed performances at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, and the 2019 Hawkes Bay Arts Festival where it received standing ovations and sold-out shows.

Meet Henry Lewis. Everything he touches turns to sold. Set in 1980s New Zealand when ‘Excess’ defined the decade, Lewis starts out as a nobody wanting to become a somebody. He gets into property and eventually makes his fortune in Auckland as a property developer, building the iconic Shangri-La tower in Auckland's Herne Bay. As the end of the decade nears, an unexpected event will burst Henry’s bubble.With greed, ambition, and the snowball effects of success, power, morality and indeed excess, High Rise is a New Zealand version of a modern-day Icarus.

Cameron Jones, who has recently returned from Los Angeles where he studied at the Stella Adler Academy, takes us on a high octane journey using elements of clown, mask, and physical theatre. High Rise catapults to its climax with dangerous speed and an ending with a twist that holds the key to this piece.