"The Thrill Of Love"

by Amanda Whittington

Dir: Garry Thomas

On Stage June 8-10 & 14-17

Background
In July 1955, a blonde bombshell, Ruth Ellis, was the last woman was hanged in Britain. She was 28. As a working class night-club hostess in a club where there was more than drink on offer, Ruth Ellis had dreams about her future. She also had two children. Her passionate and tragic affair with an upper-class racing driver, David Blakely, ended in murder.

1955 was also the year when Winston Churchill resigned as Prime Minister, when Stirling Moss won the Grand Prix, when Princess Margaret broke off her engagement to Captain Peter Townsend, and when the aircraft carrier, the Ark Royal was completed. In short, Great Britain was in transition, struggling to find a new identity and to reconcile the old with the new.

The class system however, was still very evident, and it was a time of rampant sexism. Domestic violence and sexual exploitation had, as Amanda Whittington herself says “barely been named”. There was little recognition of mental health issues. Although the play tells a story, it also explores society’s perception of women, and how this affects the justice meted out to them.

This play was originally performed at the New Vic in 2013. Amanda Whittington is the author of a number of plays, including Ladies Day, Tipping the Velvet, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Be My Baby and Amateur Girl. It requires strong ensemble playing. The film, Dance with a Stranger also tells the same story, but from a different perspective.
Cast
Ruth Ellis -Samantha Raines
Vicky Martin - Libby Wilson
Sylvia Shaw - Louisa Stewart
Doris Judd - Nikki Bleyendaal
Inspector Jack Gale - Julian Anderson

"All This Intimacy"By Rajiv Joseph

Dir: Douglas Clarke QSM

Elmwood Players,
Aikmans Road

19-29 APRIL

The situation: TY has three women pregnant simultaneously - his ex-girlfriend, JEN, his married next door neighbour, MAUREEN, and his 18 year old student, BECCA. 

ALL THIS INTIMACY  illuminates the trials, triumphs, failures of TY’s life and all hell breaks loose when the three women converge and confront ... and are there just the three……..?

Cast:​
TY : Darren Sundborn
JEN : Briana VinZant
MAUREEN : Andi Arby
BECCA : Bex Manning
FRANNY : Katie Duthie
SETH : Thad Hadaway

​“HOLES” By Tom Basden
Directed by David Mitchell

An absurd, fast-paced comedy by Tom Basden, the writer of some of Britain's most acclaimed TV comedies (Fresh Meat, Plebs). Flight BA043 has crashed on an island. Stranded, three ill-matched colleagues en route to a work conference in Australia find themselves dumped in the tropics with 16-year-old Erin, whose parents died in the crash. But there’s no time to mourn Erin’s loss when there’s sunbathing to be done and other passengers’ suitcases to loot for goodies.

‘Masterclass of a show’ - (BroadwayBaby.com).

Cast
Marie: Anna Willows
Ian: Scott Morrow
Gus: Sebastian Boyle
Erin: Drew Thomas

"Winter Tales - three one act plays"



On stage Elmwood Auditorium
10th to 13th August


It is also likely that some/all of the plays will be entered in this year's NZTF Short Play Festival, so cast must be available for this.
Full details of the three plays will be updated to this page shortly.


“The Dumb Waiter” (Harold Pinter; Dir. Sonya Cameron)
Gus and Ben are on the job, waiting and listening. Into the waiting silence rattles the dumb waiter with extraordinary demands for dishes they cannot supply - and who is operating the dumb waiter in an empty house? In a while their victim will come and they will know what to do.


“Cosmic Fruit Bowl” (Rosemary Frisino Toohey; Dir. Anna Willows)
Think living in a fishbowl is tough? Try a fruit bowl. Talk about tension! There’s Orange, the self-centred star, Apple, the guy hiding a secret, and Banana, bruised by self-doubt. Is the focus on looks? Or what’s inside? Appeal? Or a peel?
The arrival of a strange fruit from down under only ups the ante. Is Kiwi truly a fruit or---horrors!---a bird? And will she be accepted, or will one of the regulars be rejected? There’s lots more than seeds and juice in this fruit bow
“A Night Out” (Frank Vickery; Dir. Shani Annand-Baron)
Seizing the opportunity, while her parents are out, Doreen decides to invite round Eric, her boyfriend. However, the evening is doomed to failure for all concerned: Doreen tries to calm Eric's passions while Mam and Dad overcome a ruined hair-do, the losing of all-important tickets and the car's flat battery only to find that they have the wrong night.

​“Bouncers”by John Godber


Directed by Susan Cameron


Performance Dates

Wed 8th June-Sat 11th June,
Wed 15th June-Sat 18th June.


Bouncers can make or break your night – just by one simple lift of their arm the hand will either beckon you inside or stop you dead in your tracks.

Whatever the outcome you know that you don’t want to mess with them.


Have you ever given a thought to the lives that these men lead, the things that they see, the worries they have and what fantasies they lose themselves to.


Well set ‘oop north’ in a nightclub called Mr Cinders you are about to find this all out.

“Jumpy”
By April de Angelis
Dir: Garry Thomas


Performance Dates

Wed 20th April-Sat 23rd April,
Wed 27 April-30 April.


“I don’t look 50. I don’t act 50. I could get away with … 43?”


Hilary, an anguished north London heroine, has made it to 50 with not nearly enough to show for it: her ever-texting teenage daughter is in a state of perpetual, highly sexed rebellion,her marriage has sagged into severe disrepair and her worthy job on a local ‘reading support’ unit is falling prey to the cuts.
​
Cast:
Hilary
Anna Willows

Mark
Rob Smith

Tilly
Stella Cheersmith

Frances
Amanda Shields

Lyndsey
Jordan Knight

Bea
Ursula Cheer

Roland
Barry Tomkinson

Josh
Brett McPhail

Cam
Sam Primrose

“It’s funny, deliciously rude and at times piercingly moving…” The Guardian

By Anna Longaretti
Dir: Marilyn Ollett

In a busy call centre, the four female employees of Aphrodite, a sex toy manufacturer, take telephone orders for Teasey Maids, Titivators and rotating pearl g-strings. Beneath the cheerful customer service and easy banter, however, these very different women nurse their own desires and disappointments.

Sylvie is desperate to have a baby, but her single-minded approach is taking its toll on her marriage and causing friction with her co-workers.

With five children, Janice rarely finds time for herself or her husband. Tiffany is young and single, looking for ‘the one’, but wary of sacrificing her independence.

Star employee Lily, meanwhile, is stuck in a loveless marriage and estranged from her son, but buries her pain in wisecracks and work.

Their gentle and innocent manager Mr Causeway attempts to diffuse the tension between his staff while suppressing a longstanding crush on the oblivious Lily. Sex Cells is a very funny, poignant play about motherhood, friendship, love and loss

Cast

Lily ... Amanda Shields
Sylvie ... Sam McKinnon
Tiffany ... Shani Annand-Baron
Janice ... Jamie Lee
Mr Causeway ... John Boyce

“Carol & Nev”
By Phil Ormsby
Dir: Steve Millar

It’s the great Kiwi road trip. Straight down the Island, across Cook Strait and on to the bach. Five toilet stops, lunch on the road, sleep on the Ferry and straight on ‘til morning. Carol and Nev are on the road, taking the family campervan to their daughter’s wedding at the bay. Only catch is Carol died in 1984.

“Instinct"
By April Phillips
Dir: Fiona Bennetts

Two ordinary, everyday women stand before a bound hostage in an abandoned warehouse. They are armed with a gun, a knife and a video camera. Barbara is overwhelmed by suspicion and doubt. She wants answers. Carol is bitter, calculated and steadfast. She wants justice, and perhaps revenge.

“The Death Of Katie Myers”
By David Mitchell
Dir: David Mitchell


A Young couple explore an empty theatre – or is it? What is Katie Myers secret?