World Premiere Of A Powerfully Personal Play

World Premiere Of A Powerfully Personal Play

DON’T MENTION CASABLANCA is playwright Michelanne Forster’s powerful true story of the explosive love affair between her Jewish grandmother and her famous grandfather Michael Curtiz, the director of Casablanca and many other Hollywood classics.

Making its world debut on The Court Theatre’s stage on 11 September, DON’T MENTION CASABLANCA reveals a journey of love, determination and sacrifice as it follows Forster’s grandmother Thilde and her son to Curtiz from Vienna to Hollywood, as the shadow of Hitler falls across Europe.

Mihaly Kertesz left Europe in 1926 having made 70 films. Once in Hollywood, working for Warner Brothers as Michael Curtiz, he made an additional 101 films, including the Oscar winning Casablanca. Thilde Foerster, a screenwriter in her own right, battled with Curtiz across continents and going to extraordinary lengths to gain child support for her son by him.

“My father only gave me his blessing to write DON’T MENTION CASABLANCA after I convinced him the story about his mother was an heroic one,” says Forster. “Without taking the risks she did, Thilde, her brother Ludwig and my father could have ended up in a gas chamber like 70,000 other Viennese Jews. Kertesz may have won Oscars but my grandmother kept the family alive.”

Artistic Director of The Court Theatre Ross Gumbley is proud that The Court is presenting the world première of Forster’s “best work yet”. Gumbley says, “An early version of DON’T MENTION CASABLANCA was presented as a rehearsed reading in The Forge last year, and it was clear from the quality of the work and the audience response that we had to put on this play It has been an honour bringing this work to life on the stage.”

Lara Macgregor plays Thilde, who “goes from being an unconventional and rebellious girl with conservative Jewish parents to an unmarried mother striving to secure a future for her family. She is a remarkably complex woman who makes choices of incredible bravery.”

Paul McLaughlin plays Curtiz, who has found “the mix of humour (Curtiz was known for his bombastic outbursts and mangling of English sayings) and intense flaws a brilliant character to play.”

“DON’T MENTION CASABLANCA has fulfilled a dream of mine to pay homage to my grandmother, my father and our collective past,” says Forster, “I believe familial love with all its imperfections must be cherished."

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• This is Jake Metzger’s professional debut at The Court. He is a student at St Bede’s College.
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• Paul McLaughlin last appeared at The Court in DOUBT (2006) and recently completed an Artistic Direction internship at Auckland Theatre Company.
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• Lara Macgregor made her Court stage debut in FOUR FLAT WHITES IN ITALY last year and is Associate Artistic Director of The Court Theatre.
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• Michelanne Forster has written a number of plays inspired by real events, including DAUGHTERS OF HEAVEN (adapted into the film Heavenly Creatures), LARNACH – CASTLE OF LIES and MY HEART IS BATHED IN BLOOD. She has also written extensively for television and published five books.
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• Luke DiSomma recently returned to Christchurch from the TISCH School of the Arts in New York and is proving the original score. This will be his and Ross Gumbley’s fourth collaboration at The Court, most recently Luke provided the original score for THE GREAT GATSBY.
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DON’T MENTION CASABLANCA by Michelanne Forster
Directed by: Ross Gumbley

Venue: Court One, The Court Theatre, Christchurch

Cast: Lara Macgregor, Paul McLaughlin, Steven Ray, Jonathan Martin, Sandra Rasmussen, Tim Bartlett, Jake Metzger, Georgia-Kate Heard

Production Dates: 11 September – 9 October 2010
Performances: 6pm Monday / Thursday; 7:30pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (no show Sundays).

2pm matinee Saturday 18 September

Tickets: Adults $45, Senior Citizens $38, Tertiary Students $26, School Children $15, Group discount (20+) $36, Matinee $29 (18 September only)

Bookings: The Court Theatre, 20 Worcester Boulevard; 963 0870 or www.courttheatre.org.nz

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