SkillWise Mixed Ability Drama Production

SkillWise Mixed Ability Drama Production

The Skillwise Mixed Ability Drama Group is pleased to announce its latest production, New Zealand Goes to War. Following last year’s very popular public season of Peter Pan, the cast of mainly adults with intellectual disabilities returns to The University Theatre, with a grown-up story they have created themselves.

The piece focuses on ordinary New Zealanders and their experiences at home and in Europe following the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

It includes characters and family stories created by the company, radio broadcasts and songs and dances of the period, with backing tracks by Michael Bell of Orange Studios. Follow the fictional group of small-town New Zealanders as they hear the news of war, come to individual decisions about how to respond, and deal with the consequences for families and work-mates left behind, including Auntie Gloria in the Post Office, Syd the conscientious objector and gentle Margaret, whose son and husband are both at the front.

The war forms an increasingly grim backdrop to events, but there are moments of great humour, sparked by, for example, Maria, the ferocious Fairlie publican, the trainee nurses’ first attempts at speed sheet-folding, and the soldiers’ attempts to teach Micheline, the French hospital administrator, how to cook a good Kiwi meal.

The final reconciliation of returned men and women with their families is bittersweet, coloured by the awareness of death, damage and loss. But Maria the Ferocious Fairlie Publican is determined to host a special occasion, and even members of the audience may be invited to dance …

The play, suitable for all ages, will run for a limited season at The University Theatre, Rolleston Ave, with performances on:

Thursday 27th November at 7.00pm
Friday 28th November at 7.00pm
Saturday 29th November at 2.00pm

Tickets: $7
Bookings at the Court Theatre, 963 0870, from 1 November.
Limited Door sales available.

ENDS

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