Touch Of The Sun
Caroline Harris has recently died. Her daughters, Margaret Rose (Mugro) and Elizabeth (Lillibet), find that sorting out her belongings brings some curious information to light. (more…)
Wednesday to come
The first play in the trilogy Wednesday To Come
What do you know about the Depression of the thirties? In history books you will find little even about the notorious unemployment relief camps; about the effects the Depression upon family life you will find next to nothing. (more…)
Song of the Shirt
Three One-act Plays for young actors.
Paula Boock
Renée
Fiona Farrell
Young actors rejoice — at last a collection of plays by noted New Zealand writers aimed especially at schools and youth theatre.
In the play Song of the Shirt a group of struggling seamstresses overcome the “Sweating Crisis” of 1889 to establish the first women’s union in New Zealand; in Form a classroom project on famous New Zealanders is gate-crashed by long-forgotten ancestors who challenge our view of history; and in Airwaves an ordinary average night of an ordinary average family becomes a multi-media extravaganza complete with Heavenly Choir, aerobics and Shakespeare.
Each play is complemented with work exercises, topics for debate and ideas for further research. And all three can be experimented with in full or small-scale production.
At turns hilarious, poignant and arresting, these plays explore themes close to all New Zealanders, providing parts of depth and scope for both genders and many cultures.
Cover design Jenny Cooper; cover illustration by John Robinson, Cat in a Hot Garden, hand colored lino-cut 1991.
Pass it on
The second play in the trilogy, Wednesday to Come.
It is a generation since Wednesday to Come, and the 1951 Waterfront Lockout has replaced the Depression as New Zealand’s major social political battleground. (more…)
Shall We Gather at the River
In this play, Rusa struggles to deal with tragedy and a long-held secret. Into her grief and desire for solitude come the two people in the whole world she least wants to see. The result is both funny and touching. A play about revenge, reconciliation and love. (more…)
Jeannie Once
Part of the trilogy Wednesday to Come.
The first part of the trilogy “Wednesday to Come” and “Pass it On.” Jeannie is in Victorian Dunedin and her hopes are raised when Mrs Wishart arrives with her Maori servant Martha to commission a gown. But her Calvinistic husband, the Reverend Wishart, doesn’t approve and his punishment involves having Martha being interned in the local mental asylum. (more…)
