Also written by Miryam Jacobi
Miryam Jacobi / 2 Mar 2018
Miryam Jacobi / 18 Dec 2017
Miryam Jacobi / 4 Dec 2017
Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) will present an annual youth theatre festival, Here & Now, in April.
Here & Now is a four-day takeover of the ASB Waterfront Theatre featuring some of the most exciting emerging talent in New Zealand Theatre.
Now in its second year, Here & Now 2018 follows on from the success of last year’s festival which premiered Eleanor Bishop’s BOYS, a production Metro Magazine described as one of the best and most important of 2017.
The first show in the Here & Now 2018 line-up is TENDER, devised by the cast under the masterful direction of Benjamin Henson (Red Speedo, Titus, The Importance of Being Earnest) alongside first-time director Ana Scotney (The Breaker Upperers, The Contours of Heaven). With defiant honesty, 10 young Aucklanders invite the audience in for a chat about love, sex and relationships, opening their hearts and encouraging all of us to try a little tenderness. In our ‘woke’ world, these young people explore the realities of love.
Next up is YOU FIRST, a new play by emerging writer Billie Staples (When the world was wide, BRAVADO!), directed by ATC’s Associate Director Lynne Cardy and starring a cast aged 13 – 25. Cardy, was in the casting team for the children in ATC’s production of Billy Elliot the Musical and recent Auckland Arts Festival hit 1984.
In the near distant future, a cataclysmic storm has levelled Aotearoa, forcing millions to move and toppling society. Teenagers are rounded up and forced to live underground under a ruthless regime where they must complete dangerous dares or disappear. Dan Williams (When Sun & Moon Collide, Boys, The Pitchfork Disney) will create the dystopian world with his evocative set and costume designs. Black Mirror meets Hunger Games in a production which depicts our beautiful country after an environmental catastrophe.
Here & Now will also feature ALICE, a devised work directed by Leo Gene Peters (Don Juan, Jekyll & Hyde, One Day Moko, Basement Christmas show) in his trademark intimate yet playful style. The cast include emerging professionals such as Ava Diakhaby and Tatum Warren-Ngata (BOYS), alongside many recent graduates from New Zealand’s top drama schools.
A group of ordinary friends are thrust into a strange mystery that takes them into seedy clubs, the supernatural underground, a secluded DOC cabin and to the most sinister place of all: Sylvia Park. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the films of David Lynch and the urban landscape of Auckland, Alice is a funny, anarchic, thrilling and imaginative celebration of how ridiculous and beautiful our lives can be.
Other events in the Here & Now festival include The Big Schmooze - a beginners guide to working in theatre, and Play Lunch - an opportunity to hear new scripts in development from young writers. With performances galore, acoustic sets in the Atrium every evening and an array of events, Here & Now festival is an exciting celebration of exceptional talent.
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SHOW INFORMATION
Here & Now Festival 2018
ASB Waterfront Theatre: 20 – 23 April 2018
https://www.atc.co.nz/creative-learning/here-now-festival/
Tender
Friday 20 April - 6:30pm
Saturday 22 April - 6pm
Sunday 23 April - 3pm
Monday 24 April - 6.30pm
You First
Friday 20 April - 8pm
Saturday 22 April - 7:30pm
Sunday 23 April - 4:30pm
Monday 24 April - 8pm
Alice:
Friday 20 April - 9:30pm
Saturday 22 April - 9pm
Sunday 23 April - 6pm
Monday 24 April - 9.30pm
TENDER
CREATIVE TEAM
Directed by: Benjamin Henson & Ana Scotney
Written by: Devised by directors and cast
Costume & set designer: Amy Snape
CAST
Augustine Dube
Zoe Fong
Muna Arbon
Sean Farrell
Wumi Amokeodo
Emily Smith
Murdoch Keane
Catherine Yates
Jess Bennett
YOU FIRST
CREATIVE TEAM
Written by: Billie Staples
Directed by: Lynne Cardy
Costume & set designer: Dan Williams
CAST
Dylan Thuraisingham
Leonardo Gunter
Erica Harrison
Kiri Naik
Oli Mathiesen
Emma Campbell
Karlton Laing
Doug Grant
Queenie Samuel
Madi Hewett
Emma Buckley
Julia McDonald
Opara Panagoda
ALICE
CREATIVE TEAM
Directed by: Leo Gene Peters
Costume & set designer: Amy Snape
Devised by: the cast
CAST
Georgia Hoskins-Smith
Ava Diakhaby
Rob Harper
Asha Haines
Tamara Gussy
Tatum Warren-Ngata
Phoebe McKellar
Josh Metcalfe
Carrisse Utai
Lydia Buckley
Ruby Love