Auckland Playwrights Presents "Motel Nights"

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Who : Auckland Playwrights Collective

What : "Motel Nights" – An evening of short plays.

When : Tuesday 26 June to Saturday 30 June 2007, at 8pm

Where : The Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland CBD

Cost : $28, $20 (handling fee may apply)

Booking: 09-307-5000, www.ticketek.co.nz

Auckland Playwrights Collective Presents "Motel Nights"

A sleazy motel - teacups stained, sheets iffy, train thundering by in the dead of night.

Welcome to the Sea Breeze Motel, Room 9.

Performing in Auckland from Tuesday 26 June until Saturday 30 June 2007 at the Herald Theatre, Aotea Square. The play begins at 8pm, and is brought to you by STAMP at The Edge.

Eight writers, eight plays, 23 characters and only four actors. "Motel Nights" presents a welcome challenge for actors Tom Kane, Tracey McGuire, Marion Shortt and Jared Turner.

"The range of styles and characters in the eight pieces means the actors have to really stretch themselves, and the challenge was finding actors with the requisite versatility," says director Tony Forster.

Forster has been working with Auckland Playwrights Collective writers over the past eight months to develop the scripts for "Motel Nights", thanks to funding from Playmarket and Creative Communities.

Having spent most of the last 20 years working in film and television, Forster was keen to return to directing for the stage in Auckland.

"It's exciting to have the chance to direct not just one, but eight totally different flavours of play all at once", says Forster.

All eight pieces in "Motel Nights" are set in the same dilapidated motel room. They follow the fortunes of thwarted honeymooners, a pregnant schoolgirl, a faded rock star, an ex-con and even a rugby player, as they find themselves in situations that range from drama to comedy to farce.

The presentation of short plays is an emerging trend in theatre worldwide. Its popularity is increasing in direct proportion to the phenomena of shrinking attention span.

"It's a bit like having a remote control and channel surfing in the theatre," says Forster, "with something new every ten minutes".

"Motel Nights" is the first production from the Auckland Playwrights Collective. The eight playwrights, Rex Armstrong, Laurence Dolan, Bronwyn Elsmore, Patrick Graham, M.E. Macdonald, Thomas Sainsbury, Brett Simpson and Sally Sutton, formed the Collective in 2006 to develop and produce new work.

The Collective also runs "Read Raw", a series of monthly public readings of full length plays in development.

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