Shipwrecked

Shipwrecked

Dear Honourable Sirs & Gentlewomen,

Allow me to introduce myself; Adventurer Extraordinaire Louis de Rougemont, soon to share my Incredible Life Story with the discerning patrons of Circa Theatre!

I began life as a poor sickly child in Victorian London - yet I struggled from my bed, farewelled my dear mother, and departed my home to seek Fame and Fortune in the `Exotic Antipodes’
After many dramatic travails, my life of adventure flourished; I survived innumerable extraordinary events, becoming the Sole Human Survivor of a Shipwreck, battling with Sea Monsters and Marauding Cannibals, wooing a Native Princess, and acquiring a Treasure Trove of Pearls.

I will delight you, transfix you, and generally enthral you during the month of September with these True Tales of Adventure, which first appeared in that well-known publication; Wide World Magazine.

Your very humble and intrepid servant.
Louis de Rougemont
The Amazing Adventures of Louis De Rougemont
(As Told By Himself)
By Donald Margulies
Directed by Peter Hambleton
Starring Nick Blake
& Introducing Darlene Mohekey and Jackson Coe
Music by Gareth Farr
Designed by Andrew Foster

A Big Fat Lie Based on A True Story
28 August-25 September

Donald Margulies – Playwright
Born in 1954, Donald Margulies is an American playwright and professor of English literature at Yale University. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2000 for his play, Dinner With Friends.
Other notable works include Time Stands Still (2009), Brooklyn Boy (2004), Sight Unseen (1991) and Collected Stories (1996). Sight Unseen and Collected Stories were also Pulitzer Prize finalists.
Margulies is the recipient of the 2000 Sidney Kingsley Award for outstanding achievement in the theatre by a playwright and a member of the council of the Dramatists Guild of America.
He was inspired to write Shipwrecked! after reading a book called Imposters, which contained the story of Louis de Rougemont. He felt that here was an opportunity to write about the power of storytelling and the allure of celebrity and the public’s need to believe in stories.

Peter Hambleton – Director
One of the capital’s most well known actors, Peter has appeared in over 70 professional productions, most recently at Circa in Blood Wedding, and in Four Flat Whites in Italy.
Earlier this year he starred in The Letter Writer during the NZ International Arts Festival, and he takes the stage next in The Birthday Boy.
As a director his work includes Marathon and All The World’s A Stage in Circa Two, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wait Until Dark, and last year’s comedy hit The 39 Steps.
Peter is a Circa Council Member, a winner of several Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards, and was awarded a S.G.C.N.Z. International Artistic Fellowship to Shakespeare’s Globe in London (2002), and a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study Shakespeare productions in the U.K. (2008).

Gareth Farr – Music
Gareth Farr is a New Zealand composer and percussionist. He studied in New Zealand and New York, where he graduated, Master of Music.
Since 1993 his works have been commissioned and performed by the NZSO, the Auckland Philharmonia, the NZ String Quartet, and a variety of other professional musicians in NZ and overseas.
Gareth composed a work to celebrate the opening of Te Papa in 1998, and his two subsequent works were performed by the NZSO at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Gareth has composed music for over 30 theatre productions in New Zealand, and has been awarded three Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for the soundtracks he composed for Wit (2000), Vula (2003) and Maui (2007).
Gareth is a Fulbright Scholar, and in 2006 Gareth was awarded the Order of New Zealand Merit, for his services to music and entertainment.

Andrew Foster – Designer
Actor/Director/Designer Andrew Foster is co-founder of the award winning Wellington theatre company 'Trouble', he has become known for his contribution to the development of new works. Collaborations with some of the country's most promising young writers (including Jo Randerson, Duncan Sarkies and Oscar Kightley) have become contemporary landmarks. Andrew was Head of Radio Drama at Radio New Zealand in 2004-05 and during this time was instrumental in bringing many of the new voices of NZ theatre to radio, including The Flight of the Conchords, Te Radar and The SEEyD Trilogy, which won Best Radio Drama at the 2005 NZ Radio Awards. His design credits include, The Raft (Downstage), Blood Wedding, The 39 Steps, The Vertical Hour at Circa, and most recently, Romeo and Juliet (ATC) and Vernon God Little (Downstage).





Nick Blake – Louis de Rougemont
Nick has a Diploma of Fine Arts in painting and stage design, trained at the National Circus School of France, and in puppetry with Philippe Genty and mask in Bali. Nick worked as an actor at the Court Theatre and in England in the 1970’s, then later as a clown and comic acrobat in France. He was also a founder of the pioneering physical theatre company Dramadillo in the 1980’s.
Nick appeared in The Underwater Melon Man and directed the Golden Holden, for the International Festival 2002. He also appeared in Indian Inks’ The Pickle King. In 2002 Nick received nominations in the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for Best Supporting Actor for Sand, Best Director for Black Comedy, and Best Actor for Yours Truly and has received several nominations for Most Original Production. In 2005 he worked for Weta Productions as a motion-capture artist in the animated TV series Jane and the Dragon, and played the name role in TVNZ’s The Killian Curse. He wrote and directed Dr Buller’s Birds for the International Arts Festival 2006 (nominated most original production, won best sound design). Plays at Circa include Two Brothers, Blackbird, Dick Whittington and Mary Stuart.

Darlene Mohekey
Darlene is a singer, actress, voice-over artist & impersonator. Her work credits include 3 series of TV1’s Facelift; a political satire in which she played 20+ characters including Helen Clark, Suzanne Paul, Nicky Watson & Jason Gunn. She regularly voices radio and television commercials, and performs live as Marilyn Monroe, Barbara Streisand & numerous other self devised characters. For the last four years Darlene has performed street theatre for Nelson’s Buskers’ Festival, and she annually co-hosts the lip-sync competition for the Arts Festival. This is Darlene’s first production with Circa.


Jackson Coe
After watching diligently for several years, Jackson is relishing his first chance to perform at Circa Theatre. He has written and acted for the Wellington Fringe Festival, directed explorations of Antonin Artaud, and last year performed in two full-length Shakespeares, Henry V and Henry VI: Part 1. Jackson will next be seen onstage in Paul Rothwell’s No Taste Forever, at BATS Theatre, in January.

Performance times:
Tuesday - Saturday 7:30pm
Sunday 4.30pm
Tickets: $18 - $38
Fri 27 August $20 preview
Sun 29 August $20 special
Tues 31 August Talk Back in the presence of
Sylvie Haisman, author of This Barren Rock: a true tale of shipwreck & survival.

Bookings: Circa 801 7992
or www.circa.co.nz

Pre-show dinner available at Circa Café and Bar – phone 801 7996

BOOK BEFORE 20th AUGUST and go into the early bird booking draw to win
Bubbly on the Boat
The winners will spend a few leisurely hours on a launch on our beautiful harbour in the company of Peter Hambleton
Guaranteed no Shipwreck!

ends