2007: The New Zealand Post Season of The Next Stage
Above: Nora Aati and Robbie Magasiva relax during rehearsals for the Next Stage presentation of WHERE WE ONCE BELONGED (see below for details).
"I was at Mike and Virginia last night. What a great show! The cast was excellent, with special nods to Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Stephen Papps who, despite their smaller roles, brought great comedic energy to the play every time they were on stage."
Susan Sanders
Mike and Virginia
By Kathryn Burnett and Nick Ward
Director: Peter Elliott
Cast: Ian Hughes, Stephen Papps, Bonnie Soper, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Tandi Wright
"Let us consider the ludicrous nature of Romantic Comedy..." So begins this romp of play from two of New Zealand’s busiest screenwriters. Burnett and Ward have set out to explore and subvert every romantic comedy convention in the book. Mike and Virginia are both lecturers in film studies. Her specialty is romantic comedy, his is monster movies. But what happens when the monster is Love? The result is a funny, fast moving and surprisingly tender love story.
Where We Once Belonged
By Dave Armstrong
Director: Dave Fane and Colin McColl
Cast: Nora Aati, Fasitua Amosa, Goretti Chadwick, Robbie Magasiva, Anapela Polataivao
Lively, spirited and fiercely written, Where We Once Belonged is a starkly honest, sometimes brutal, yet often wildly funny coming-of-age story. As young Alofa Filiga navigates the mores and restrictions of her Samoan village, she begins to come to terms with her own changing sense of identity and the price she must pay for it. Dave Armstong, co-writer of the hit comedy Niu Sila, has skillfully adapted Sia Figiel’s award-winning novel.
Station To Station
By Michael Galvin
Director: Paul Gittins
Cast: Rachael Dyson-McGregor, Taungaroa Emile, Mark Ferguson, Annie Whittle
Led by a charismatic television presenter turned religious zealot, Mother and Son share a rollercoaster journey from drab Kiwi suburbia to gaudy shopping mall to Jerusalem and a devastating act of terrorism and beyond…Trapped by the dream-like logic of their story, bickering as they go, they negotiate a confusing world in which nothing is quite what it seems. Tinged with dark comedy, Station To Station marks another adventurous departure for one of our most original writers.
