At the Wake

By Victor Rodger

Directed by Jane Yonge

Company: FCC

Circa One
21 – 31 March
Tues – Thurs 6.30pm, Fri – Sat 8pm,
$25 – $52

From the award-winning Kiwi/Samoan playwright of international festival hit Black Faggot, comes the Wellington premiere season of AT THE WAKE. 

Chain smoking, booze swilling Joan (Lisa Harrow in her Wellington theatre debut) holds court at her daughter’s funeral. Keeping it together with the help of a $300 bottle of Johnny Walker, this fading diva is thrilled to see her gay grandson Robert but apoplectic when his estranged Samoan father, Tofi, turns up to pay his respects. Nobody is safe as Joan unleashes hell at the wake. Family drama erupts as these unforgettable characters deal with loss, love and misunderstanding.

Lisa Harrow’s long and storied career has spanned film, television and theatre around the world. From the cult hit 70s British-German TV series Star Maidens to the NZ hit series Step Dave, Harrow has also featured in films like Omen 111: The Final Conflict and The Last Days of Chez Nous (Best Actress AFI Awards).

Penned by award winning Kiwi/Samoan playwright and screenwriter Victor Rodger, AT THE WAKE was inspired by Victor's own family background, when he asked, “What if my estranged Samoan father, my Scottish grandmother and I were all in the same room?”

Dubbed the “enfant terrible of New Zealand script writing” by The Listener, Rodger is known for creating vivid characters and complex relationships in a series of hit plays including Sons, Ranterstantrum and My Name is Gary Cooper. His hit comedy Black Faggot swept the 2013 Auckland Fringe Festival awards and toured internationally to Melbourne, Brisbane, Wellington, Auckland and Edinburgh winning rave reviews from critics and audiences.

“A Black Comedy with brio, attitude and guts” - NZ Listener

“…has the force of a volcanic eruption that blows away the veneer of social convention to release layers of pent-up emotion and deeply embedded pain” - New Zealand Herald

Details:

At the Wake

By Victor Rodger

Directed by Jane Yonge

Circa One, 1 Taranaki Street, Wellington

21 - 31 March, 2018

Tues – Thurs 6:30pm/ Fri & Sat 8pm/ Sun 4pm

TICKETS: $25 - $52

FRIENDS OF CIRCA DEAL: $38

BOOKINGS: 04 801 7992 / www.circa.co.nz / 1 Taranaki St, Wellington