Firing The Canon Pays Tribute To Aotearoa New Zealand’s Playwriting Icons

New Zealand’s most famous office comedy, a raucous play about rowdy high schoolers, a West Auckland tribute, a lesson on how to make rēwena, and a story about a girl who wants to make a cow out of leaves make up the five plays in this inaugural season of Firing the Canon, a series of five free playreadings at Basement Theatre that runs from July 8 - 12.
 
Firing the Canon presents five readings of plays from Aotearoa New Zealand’s massive back catalogue – plays that are important to our history, plays that represent the best of the best, and plays that are just plain cool – and pairs them up with Basement Theatre artists new and familiar. Some of these plays are having their Auckland debut, some their Basement Theatre debut, and some are old favourites having fresh and exciting new outings. The common theme? They're all from New Zealand, they speak to the history of our theatre, and they’re free to attend.
 
Firing the Canon will bring over 35 performers from Basement Theatre’s past, present and future together between July 8 - July 12 to breathe new life into stories that have lost none of their potency, vibrancy and humour since their premieres. It will also give audiences the opportunity to engage with stories that are foundational to New Zealand’s storied history of playwriting.
 
The five plays being read are:
 
Glide Time by Roger Hall, directed by Sean Rivera on Tuesday July 8. A ground breaking comedy that changed the course of New Zealand theatre when it premiered in 1976. It follows life in the stores board of a department of the NZ Public Service, and examines the lives of those forced to work with each other every day in a job none of them likes. This reading will be Sir Roger Hall’s Basement Theatre debut, and the first time that Glide Time has been performed in Auckland since a Silo Theatre production in 2006.
 
Smashed by Tāwhi Thomas, directed by Mark Chayanat Whittet on Wednesday July 10. A spunky crew of teens work, groove, laugh and fight their way into the future in a punchy series of short theatrical vignettes with a theme of kids under pressure. Thomas is best known for plays Have Car Will Travel and Hui, and this marks this play’s Basement Theatre debut.
 
Rēwena by Whiti Hereaka, directed by Katrina George on Thursday July 10. Maggie, the proprietress at the local gastro pub, The Thymus of the Lambs, is holding a class in Rewena making on the night of the final of popular reality TV series A Baker’s Dozen. Rumour has it that the local boy finalist, Neill, was taught to cook by Maggie in this very kitchen; but Maggie’s not one to gossip. Whiti Hereaka is an award-winning playwright and novelist, winning the most prestigious award for playwriting in New Zealand (the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award) and for fiction (the Ockham Prize for Fiction for Kurangaituku). Rēwena premiered at Centrepoint Theatre in 2013 to rave reviews.
 
The Packer by Dianna Fuemana, directed by Shay McKendrick on Friday July 11. A play about Shane, a white trash 'westie', is an unflinching look at suburban life 'in the hood'. Gin, weed, speed - everyone's got their poison - and mixed up with their culture clashes, next-door neighbours and sexual politics, it's a potent combination. The Packer premiered in 2004, and it has received acclaim in New Zealand, Edinburgh, Melbourne and Sydney.
 
Cow by Jo Randerson, directed by Nī Dekkers-Reihana on Saturday July 12. All Beth wants to do is make a cow out of leaves, but her efforts are thwarted by, amongst others, a father who thinks he's a cat, an interfering yuppie couple and a loud American tourist. A black comedy set on a farm. Cow returns to the Basement Theatre stage after a season in 2011 as part of Auckland Theatre Company’s Young and Hungry programme.
 
This series is curated and produced by award-winning playwright and journalist Sam Brooks (Burn Her, Riding in Cars with (Mostly Straight) Boys). He says, “New Zealand has a massive and mighty canon of playwriting that punches well above its weight. Many of our plays are studied and performed in academic contexts but so rarely get seen professionally performed – or even read. This inaugural series of Firing the Canon will not only give an outing to work that has been so vital to the history of theatre, but a chance for artists and audiences to wrangle with it.”
 
All playreadings are free to attend.
 
This series is produced by Smoke Labours Productions.
 
All these readings are free, produced by arrangement with Playmarket NZ, and proudly supported by Auckland Council and the City Centre Targeted Rate.

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