The city's newest theatre, located at National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art will be launched on June 7th when NASDA's second year students present a dramatic musical version of George Orwell's "Animal Farm".

The theatre is located at NASDA's new home on the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, city campus. Over the last 12 months several new studios and the theatre have been developed by converting existing premises into a suite of modern, flexible studio and performance spaces. The theatre was funded in part by a generous contribution from the CPIT Foundation. The city's newest theatre, located at National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art will be launched on June 7th when NASDA's second year students present a dramatic musical version of George Orwell's "Animal Farm".

The theatre is located at NASDA's new home on the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, city campus. Over the last 12 months several new studios and the theatre have been developed by converting existing premises into a suite of modern, flexible studio and performance spaces. The theatre was funded in part by a generous contribution from the CPIT Foundation.Barry Pett, Chairman of the CPIT Foundation said, "the Foundation was delighted to support the development of these facilities, which will clearly make a significant difference to the training and performance opportunities for the contemporary arts in Christchurch."

Mark McEntyre, Head of NASDA says that the students and staff are delighted to have their own theatre and are excited about their first production, 'Animal Farm'. Having another performance space in the city is a great step forward for the performing arts and will give our students plenty of opportunities to explore collaborative productions within CPIT's other performing arts programmes in Music and Circus Arts and with other community-based theatre groups.

The theatre can seat 80-100 people and has state-of-the-art lighting, sound systems and data projection facilities.

"Animal Farm" was adapted for the stage by Peter Hall and Adrian Mitchell. Eilish Moran is directing the play and she speaks enthusiastically about the Year 2 class for whom this is their first full scale NASDA production.

"Not only have they had to study European history to prepare for this play, but they also have to take on the characteristics of animals and quickly immerse themselves in the world of mask.

"Godfrey Sim of Circo Arts at CPIT helped the students with the physical skills needed to become the animals they play," said Eilish.

Ross McKellar has also assisted the students with the vocal demands of playing animals.

"The dramatised version of Orwell's story also has a musical score that has added another layer of complexity for the cast," said Moran.

"Animal Farm" runs from Saturday, 7 June to Thursday, 12 June and starts at 7.30pm. There's a 2pm matinee on June 11.

Bookings: Court Theatre $15 and $10.

About the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art

For more than a decade NASDA has been training aspiring actors and singers in music theatre. NASDA is dedicated to excellence in music theatre training and aims to produce performers with ability to act, sing and dance, ready for employment in the performing arts industry.

The Bachelor of Performing Arts [BPA] is a unique qualification that combines training in acting, singing and dancing to produce highly skilled performers. Getting into the programme is challenging with students from around the country competing to be accepted into the three-year degree programme.

NASDA employs seven academic staff, a technician and nine part time staff who provide specialist training.

Image: by Maurice Lye

30/05/08