Auckland Theatre Company Literary Unit has announced the new plays for this year's annual Next Stage festival of new works in development.
The 2008 line-up includes Yvette Parson's intimate solo tragi-comedy Silent Night, veteran journalist Simon Cunliffe's absorbing newsroom drama, The Truth Game and prolific playwright Dave Armstrong's hilarious what-if- we-were colonised-by-the-French farce, Le Sud. Auckland Theatre Company Literary Unit has announced the new plays for this year's annual Next Stage festival of new works in development.
The 2008 line-up includes Yvette Parson's intimate solo tragi-comedy Silent Night, veteran journalist Simon Cunliffe's absorbing newsroom drama, The Truth Game and prolific playwright Dave Armstrong's hilarious what-if- we-were colonised-by-the-French farce, Le Sud.These plays will be fully workshopped prior to their presentation as semi-staged readings at The Maidment Theatre Studio, October 7 - 11.
By Yvette Parsons, (Auckland)
Directed by Margaret-Mary Hollins
It's Christmas Eve and somewhere in Sunnynook Irene McMunn is throwing a party.
She's wrapped the presents, sorted the tree, hung her festive decorations and now she's waiting for the guests to arrive. Make Irene's Xmas Eve one to remember and join her as she shares a lifetime of memories and throws in some Xmas craft tips (it's amazing what you can do with mistletoe and toast!). Silent Night is a play about independence in old age, about those who've slipped off the radar and characters you'll never forget.
75 MINUTES - no interval
Dates
Tuesday 7 October, 8pm
Friday 10 October, 8pm
Saturday 11 October, 2pm
By Dave Armstrong, (Wellington)
Commissioned by The Wanaka Festival of Colour
"C'est terrible! You can't walk down the main street of Queenstown anymore and hear French being spoken -it's all foreigners gabbling away. Gerard Depardieu and his film star mates have come over and built vineyards - "
Le Sud imagines New Zealand colonized in a completely different fashion, splitting in 1839 to the British North Zealand and the French speaking South - Le Sud. Thanks to abundant cheap hydro-power and farming subsidies, Le Sud flourishes, but free-market economies and a civil war with the Tuhoe nation mean North Zealand is a third world backwater. So a North Zealand delegation heads to Le Sud to ask for foreign aid and cheap power. What follows is a tense round of negotiations combined with elements of classic French farce with many romances, quarrels and leadership challenges along the way.
90 MINUTES - no interval
Dates
Wednesday 8 October, 8pm
Friday 10 October, 10pm
Saturday 11 October, 5pm
By Simon Cunliffe, (Dunedin)
Directed by Gary Henderson
Frank Stone thinks he knows the truth, but in a rapidly changing online world, is the truth enough?
The Truth Game is a sharp new comedy from Dunedin based journalist Simon Cunliffe. Frank Stone is a hard nosed night editor returning from a quick holiday to find change is afoot at The Advocate. Sassy new marketing executive Belinda demands more bang for her advertising buck, Ralf is half way through his wine column and half way through a bottle of Pinot, while his boss, Bill is dodging the issue and there's no decent story for the first edition. Then the news comes in off the wires from the Middle East. Now Frank Stone is in his element, but tonight's deadline will throw up more intrigue than he could possibly foresee.
Dates
Thursday 9 October, 8pm
Saturday 11 October, 8pm
During the last seven years the Literary Unit has worked with 55 different playwrights and 100's of actors to bring over 70 new New Zealand works off the page and onto the stage. As a proud sponsor of ATC Literary Unit, New Zealand Post is delighted to be playing an active role in bringing New Zealand stories to the stage.
Over 70 plays have been nurtured through the unit to production stage, including HATCH, MY NAME IS GARY COOPER, WHERE WE ONCE BELONGED, THE DAYLIGHT ATHIEST and now SHIP SONGS. More than fifty-five established and emerging writers have benefited from the Unit's processes, playwrights including Albert Belz, Michael Galvin, Vivienne Plumb, Stephanie Johnson, Gary Henderson, Pip Hall, Stephen Sinclair, Victor Rodger and Tom Scott to name but a few.
The Unit is continually working through scripts that are unsolicited as well as those forwarded to ATC from Playmarket, supporting the new and existing writers by providing script analysis and dramaturgy, playreadings and workshops.
The Literary Unit hosts monthly PLAYREADINGS where the public are invited along to professionally rehearsed readings to give vital feedback to the writer.
Once a year the company hosts THE NEXT STAGE, Auckland Theatre Company's Annual Festival of new works in development.
26/08/08