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.