The Tide Turns On The Great Kiwi Family Bach Tradition In Engaging New Play

Turning Tide Theatre presents
RANGITOTO
A new play by Geoffrey Clendon

The rich stories and eccentric characters from kiwi bach culture in a changing NZ, underpin a comic drama from writer, director, actor and teacher Geoffrey Clendon for the premiere season of Rangitoto playing in Takapuna at The Pumphouse Theatre from 23 February – 5 March and Waiheke at Artworks Theatre 9 – 12 March.

When two families, from different walks of life come together for a Christmas holiday they are both determined to have a good time on the island paradise. Will progress bring new organisation to the island or will the simplicity of the past keep community spirit alive? Add to the mix the plight of the eccentric cave dweller, the shenanigans of Lovers Lane and all the drama of a New Year’s Eve party and you have a tale that will take you on a journey that is both funny, nostalgic and quintessentially kiwi.

The first in a trilogy of plays that centre around life in the Hauraki Gulf, Rangitoto revolves around the bach community of Rangitoto Island during the Great Depression. Set in the same time as Bruce Mason’s The End of the Golden Weather, Rangitoto is born of Clendon’s personal experience, extensive research and a fascinating thesis by Susan E Yoffe.

Growing up on Milford beach, Clendon has had a life-long love affair with Rangitoto Island. After school, he would row across to the island and spend time camping in a cave there. He became fascinated by the idiosyncratic baches and their equally quirky occupants. His grandparents owned a fruit shop in Takapuna, Clendon’s Fruit Store that Bruce Mason and Frank Sargeson would visit. He’s hugely passionate about the area and the stories and place in history that it offers up as a microcosm of a changing NZ society.

When Clendon read Susan E Yoffe’s thesis entitled Holiday Communities in Rangitoto Island he was inspired as to how her research captured the essence of this cultural sea change beautifully. “I was completely absorbed by her thesis which presented the findings from her in-depth interviews with nineteen members of the original community. There was so much to digest. It was a real change in the guard moment from 1920’s collectives to the classism that was born in the 30’s” says Clendon.

Clendon has brought together an amazing cast for this premiere season including Geoffrey Snell (Underbelly, Hercules), Joseph Wycoff (Pardon Me Alan Turing, Ash vs Evil Dead), Joseph Rye (Alien vs. Predator, V For Vendetta), and Elizabeth Tierney (Shortland Street, A Lion in the Meadow), alongside Denise Snoad (Life Is Easy, The Adventures of Voopa the Goolash), Johnson Manukau (The Mooncake and the Kūmara, Ahikāroa) and Harry Casey (Love's Labour's Lost, A Doll's House). Arts Laureate, award-winning set designer and potter John Parker joins the team as set designer, with Kristen Sorrenson as costume designer and construction, and Andrew Potvin as lighting designer.

Clendon has had a long career in the performing arts scene. Cutting his teeth as an actor in the eighties, he graduated from NIDA one year above Mel Gibson and Judy Davis. He then went on to work with major theatre companies in Australia and New Zealand, and in film and television. He’s played everything from Shakespearean roles on stage to characters in Shortland Street. With 40 years of experience under his belt, his focus is now on writing and producing theatre. The two plays to follow in the Hauraki Gulf trilogy after this premiere season of Rangitoto are Waiheke Dark ‘n’ Stormy (a present-day comedy set on Waiheke) and Great Barrier to Pigeons (about the Great Barrier Island Pigeon Post).

RANGITOTO plays
23 February – 5 March
The PumpHouse Theatre, Takapuna
Book at pumphouse.co.nz

9 – 12 March
Artworks Theatre, Waiheke
Book soon at artworkstheatre.org.nz

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