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Comedy, tragedy and love at weekend theatre festival

 

By Julia Wade

6 MF-Otamateanewplays-987Local fans of live theatre will soon be treated to an eclectic selection of short plays with new writers and debut directors offering themes from tragic childhood war stories, a quirky garage sale, a comedic approach to the aftermath of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and an excerpt from renowned Kaipara writer Jane Mander.  


More than 60 actors, directors and stagehands at Otamatea Repertory Theatre (ORT) have been rehearsing for the last two months to present the One Act Play Festival, live on stage for one weekend only, April 13-15. ORT is also putting on a shuttle bus for Mangawhai patrons with a return fare of $5.

Three shows are being directed by first-timers including Pahi resident George Skelton who has also written his second screenplay The Argument, an adaptation from Jane Mander’s third shunned novel The Strange Attraction. “The Argument is a dramatic portrayal of an intense discussion between the three main characters, relevant to the 1922 social standards of the time,” he says. “The Strange Attraction is an emotional love story, you can’t come away from it with a dry eye.

I personally suspect it may have been based on her life.” Growing up in the late 1800s, Mander was the oldest daughter of a Kaipara kauri lumberman and her pioneering, nomadic childhood eventually became the base for her first four novels.

Well known for The Story of a New Zealand River, Mander’s books were well received overseas but not as socially accepted by New Zealand’s colonial readers.

As well as working in London and New York as a freelance journalist, Mander was also editor and reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangarei and the Dargaville North Auckland Times in the early 1900s. “Jane was a woman before her time and her books caused quite a scandal in New Zealand society,” Skelton says. “Women could only read them at a public library if they were over 25 years of age. She is one of New Zealand’s greatest social historians.”

First-time director, 21-year-old Brittany Dyer, will be presenting I Never Saw Another Butterfly written by Celeste Raspanti. The script is based on a poem The Butterfly, penned by child concentration camp prisoner Pavel Friedmann in 1942, and promises to be a moving depiction of the lives and experiences of the children held in the camp.

“Brittany is absolutely fabulous, I can’t praise her enough. The play is very emotional and powerful, it almost took me to tears,” Skelton says. Other plays include an amusing sequel to Hamlet by first time director Sue Skelton, George’s wife. Written in 1890, The New Wing at Elsinore tells a tale of humorous complications when Hamlet’s friend buys and then builds additions onto the famous castle. 

Trash and Treasure, from local writer and director Maura Flower, is a ‘whimsical’ exploration of the adage that ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ when two sisters have a garage sale to clear the last of their Mother’s belongings.

The range of stories ensures there will be a tale for everyone to enjoy and even though some plays have dramatic and emotional content, they are suitable for all ages. 
 
WHAT: One Act Play Festival.
WHERE: Otamatea Repertory Theatre, Bickerstaffe Road, Maungaturoto.
WHEN: April 13-15
TICKETS
: On sale through the theatre website ort.org.nz or at Tony’s Lotto Shop. Adults $28, students $15. Door sales and eftpos available.
TRANSPORT: ORT’s 11-seater shuttle bus will run from The Hub in Mangawhai, leaving an hour before each show with a return fare of $5 per person. Bookings essential. Text Maura Flower 022 354 2670.
 

 
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