The Rebel Alliance goes where no one has gone before. They have left the ticket prices for the entire upcoming season of The Orderly up to the audience. After you've seen the show you pay whatever you think The Orderly was worth.

May 12 - 18 is National Hospice Awareness Week and The Rebel Alliance will donate half of all the season's takings to North Shore Hospice and Mercy Hospice Auckland.

The Orderly is based on the life of the now deceased Peter Russell, who writer and performer, Michael Downey, met when he worked as an orderly at Auckland's North Shore Hospital. The Rebel Alliance goes where no one has gone before. They have left the ticket prices for the entire upcoming season of The Orderly up to the audience. After you've seen the show you pay whatever you think The Orderly was worth.

May 12 - 18 is National Hospice Awareness Week and The Rebel Alliance will donate half of all the season's takings to North Shore Hospice and Mercy Hospice Auckland.

The Orderly is based on the life of the now deceased Peter Russell, who writer and performer, Michael Downey, met when he worked as an orderly at Auckland's North Shore Hospital.Peter, a small and frail man, was an orderly during the week and fought as a Viking in the weekends as the member of the historical re-enactment group, the Auckland Norse.

Peter and Downey met in one of life's random encounters and shows that no matter how insignificant your job may seem there is no way of knowing whether a play will be written about you. Look behind you, an upcoming playwright might be there, as you read these words, seeing the basis of his future play take shape.

In the fringe world of medieval re-enactment Peter is an orderly during the week and a ferocious warrior in the weekend. As he prepares for the weekend's big battle against the notorious Vikings a long day at work changes his life. Time flickers, empty hospital wards turn into long forgotten battlefields, everybody fights for their lives. The Orderly is a funny and moving insight into the heart of one of life's foot soldiers.

In The Orderly's mix of the world of the hospital with that of an ancient battlefield, Downey takes on all the parts of the play; ranging from the gorgeous nurse Donna to a semi nude Viking berserker high on mushrooms and lust for blood. The Orderly is The Rebel Alliance's most successful productions. It enjoyed a successful run at last year's Wellington Fringe Festival and was subsequently commissioned by Radio New Zealand. This year it will tour regional New Zealand.

2006 was the year where The Rebel Alliance burst onto NZ theatre scene with two plays that were impossible to ignore. Their critically acclaimed March 2006 debut The Orderly was followed up by A Night of French Mayhem. Featuring an unknown cast, and unknown director and produced by a company that is here to stay, the season was an unprecedented success that scored rave reviews and was seen by more than 1000 people.

The last Auckland season of The Orderly sold out so be in quick and book a seat to one of this year's solo theatre highlights.

Reviews

"A touching slice of an interesting life" (Scoop)

"Quality work - solo theatre as it should be." (Capital Times)

'A small and surprising gem' (Natasha Hay, theatre reviewer for The Listener)

"The Rebel Alliance is establishing itself as a company to watch." (NZ Herald) Last year their third original production The Bomb solidified The Rebel Alliance's position as one of the most exciting emerging new theatre companies in Auckland. "Long may the force be with them" (Theatreview)

More information

Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, THE EDGE
The Orderly written and performed by Michael Downey
May 12 - 18 (all performances at 8pm)
Tickets: You decide the price. See the play and pay what you think it was worth.
Call (09) 360 1499 or email anders@therebelalliance.co.nz to secure a seat. Booking is essential.

03/05/08