The Flipside of the Male Psyche

Media Release –
For Immediate Release

The Flipside of the Male Psyche

SmackBang Theatre Company present
FLIPSIDE
Written by Ken Duncum. Directed by Charlie Unwin

SmackBang Theatre Company has rigged the sails and is swiftly sailing into 2010 with Ken Duncum’s award winning Flipside, this epic watery adventure opens on March 4th.

The capsizing of the Rose-Noelle has been part of New Zealand folklore for over twenty years; John Glennie, James Nalepka, Rick Hellriegel and Phil Hoffman embarked on what should have been a long-yet-fortuitus journey to Tonga only to be hit by a storm, tipping the boat upside down and stranding them in the Pacific Sea for a then record 119 days.

What makes’s their story riddled with unintentional comedic tragedy were the series of errors that took place throughout the ill-fated venture – a lack of experience on the boat, lack of a license to operate a CB radio and their final true whereabouts having spent four months in close confines.

However Flipside is not all about their sea adventure, it also transports the audience forward to the bedside of Rick Hellriegel as he suffers the recurrence of cancer. It shows the love and support and care he got from fellow shipmate James Nalepka. Flipside isn’t simply a tale of boys and their gung-ho, testosterone driven account of survival. Instead the work is an exploration into the deconstruction of the male psyche in terms of its sensitivity and how men bond together during moments of crisis.

Those crew members have gone on to tell their own stories, including James Nalepka’s Capsized: The True Story of Four Men Adrift for 199 Days and captain John Glennie’s The Spirit of Rose-Noelle: 119 Days Adrift; A Death Story. The story was also documented in 1996’s Back From The Dead – The Saga of the Rose Noelle.

Penned by multi-award winner writer Ken Duncum, Flipside premiered in 2000 to critical acclaim, picking up the Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for “Production of the Year”, and consequently picked up the inaugural Michael Hirschfeld Writing Award in 2001 and another Chapman Tripp award in 2003 with Cherish, which scooped “Best New Zealand Play.”

This year Duncum picked up the country’s most prestigious literary prize, the New Zealand Post Katherine Mansfield award – granting Duncum a $100,000 scholarship and the opportunity to write for a minimum of six months in the French Riviera.

Directed by Charlie Unwin (The Beauty Of It, The Play About The Baby) he brings William Wallace (The Cult) to the stage along with Matt Hudson (Christchurch productions of La Cage Aux Follies and The Producers), Phil Peleton (The Water Horse, The Hollow Men) and Phil Vaughan (Insiders Guide To Happiness, Typhon’s People).

Flipside plays
Thursday 4th March – Saturday 13th March 2010, 7pm (Saturday – 8pm / Sunday – 4pm)
TAPAC, 100 Motions Road, Western Springs, Auckland
Tickets: Booking details: www.tapac.org.nz phone 09 845 0295
$30/$25/$20 full/concession/groups

ENDS

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