Season has now concluded
Christmas pseudo-Pantomime

Celebrate Christmas by getting involved in a Christmas mystery for kids. The warmest comedy this year from the North Pole.

'Who Stole Father Christmas?'Written & directed by
Sam Fisher

Synopsis
When Father Christmas vanishes along with the contents of the safe Senior Detective Constable Sergeant Inspector Kris Kringle of the North Pole Special Branch Police Constabulary is on the scene to solve the mystery.

By deputising the audience and singing lots of songs Kris Kringle sorts through the facts. Was it Wonky or Flippin Elf? Or Little, Littler or Oddly Elf? How about Mrs Christmas? Or the representative of the Asia Toy Company? Someone knows more than they're letting on as the blizzard has stopped any escape for the villain.

Cast:

Father Christmas/Oddly Elf
Tom Vavasour

Wonky Elf
Erin Williams

Flippin Elf
Sophie Rea

Mary Christmas
Holly Loughton

Busy Lee
Cushla Parker

Detective Kris Kringle
Braydon Priest

Little and Littler Elves
Emily Harrison, Georgia Mangelsdorf

Season dates: 17, 18, 19, 20 December

Season has concluded
"What The Butler Saw"
By Joe Orton
Directed by Garry Thomas
Performance Dates(All performances start at 7.30pm)

Thursday 1st October
Friday 2nd October
Saturday 3rd October
Wednesday 7th October
Thursday 8th October
Friday 9th October
Saturday 10th October

Libidos run rampant in this breakneck farce about licensed insanity, from the moment when Dr Prentice, a psychoanalyst, instructs a prospective secretary to undress.

 Joe Orton's last play before his tragic death, "What the Butler Saw" is hailed as a classic modern comedy.
​
Cast & Crew:
Dr Prentice
Danny Broom

Geraldine Barclay
Courtney Shaw

Mrs Prentice
Rebecca Taylor

Nicholas Beckett
Nik Rolls

Dr Rance
Steve Millar

Sergeant Match
Braydon Priest

Stage Manager
Susan Cameron

Director's Assistant
Jayde Braxton

The Season has now concluded
Love Bites - One Act Plays
Performance Dates Wed June 17th - Sat 20th

Synopsis & Cast lists

Fault, by Sam Fisher; director: Marilyn Ollett
Alistair and Jane have not seen eye-to-eye for a quite while, and their views of what is wrong in their relationship are wildly different. Showing both perspectives of who may be at “fault”as the relationship begins to crack, this one act comedy allows the audience to make up its own mind. Qualified for the South Island Regional Festival on 6 and 7 June.
Jane
Aimee Borlase

Rachel
Jo Owsley

Alistair
Jesse Hobbs

Jason
Andy Fidow

Swiss Cider, by André Surridge; director: Garry Thomas, assisted by Sarah Coursey
New Zealander Christine is a professional actor working in Britain, and on the verge of making it big on the West End. Yet her life could so easily have ended by her own hand while a teenager living in the Waikato. "Swiss Cider" tackles the difficult subject of teenage suicide using flashbacks to recall how Christine survived the pressures of her earlier life.
Written at a time when New Zealand had the highest suicide rate in the Western world, Surridge’s exploration of teen angst picked up the 1995 Minolta Playwrights' Association of New Zealand playwriting competition.

Christine
Georgie Stylianou

Mo'/Sally
Carole Anderson

Ben/Brian
Braydon Priest

Mother
Sarah Hollander

Father
Richard Hensby

Rob/Psych
Steve Millar

Desperate and Dateless, by Neil Troost; director: Kris Vavasour
Appearances are everything, especially when you are running a dating agency - or for that matter, if you want to get a date. Roger enters Camilla’s dating agency to “find himself a woman” and meets severe criticism. Will Roger really convince Camilla to have dinner with him, or will her business-like attitude prevail? Join these two characters as they let their masks down.

Camilla
Marilyn Ollett

Roger
Klaus Hermanspahn

Season has now concluded.
Waiting for Godot

Samuel Beckett's classic "Theatre of the Absurd" play to be staged at our Elmwood Auditorium.

Performance Dates

January 22-24 & 29-31, 7.30pm

Audience Reaction...

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your production of "Waiting for Godot". I was a bit nervous in advance that the play would be inaccessable, but in the event I found it the most enjoyable theatre I have been to - well for some years (and that definitely includes professional productions). I enjoyed it so much that in addition to recommending it to others I am returning myself. In addition to choosing a brilliant play I would like to congratulate the company on all the actors, who were perfect for their parts.

best regards...

Ed comment:
I saw the play last night (Friday) and I agree with this correspondent. Not only were the performances superb but the lighting sound and set were absolutely spot on, you should not miss this theatre event!

About the Play

Waiting for Godot follows two consecutive days in the lives of a pair of men who divert themselves while they wait expectantly and unsuccessfully for someone named Godot to arrive.

They claim him an acquaintance but in fact hardly know him, admitting that they would not recognise him were they to see him.

To occupy themselves, they eat, sleep, talk, argue, sing, play games, exercise, swap hats, and contemplate suicide — anything "to hold the terrible silence at bay".
Waiting...If it were measurable, we might just find that waiting is the nation's single biggest pastime. We all find ourselves waiting for someone or something every day of the year, from buses to helpdesk operators, in supermarket & bank queues everywhere. Almost everywhere you go, you can see people waiting.

We've all seen someone who, at the merest hint of some idle time, whips out the knitting needles and the current work-in-progress. Today it is more common to see people playing soduku or simply plugging in headphones to the flavour-of-the-month electronic device and closing off the outside world entirely.

In the age of instant gratification, is waiting a lost art?

Originally written in French by an Irishman living in Paris, Waiting for Godot takes place in a simpler time – before the advent of cellphones and the internet – but its theme is well known to us all.
It was once famously described as "a play in which nothing happens, twice", by Vivian Mercier in the Irish Times (Feb 1956).

Elmwood Players is thrilled to be presenting this classic play to round out their 60th year. Waiting for Godot was written around the same time that Elmwood Players started holding play readings and performing short sketches. Director Tom Vavasour is no stranger to the Elmwood stage, having acted and directed for the society many times over the past 17 years. He is looking forward to the challenge of making sense of the play's circularity and absurdities, and of the waiting game we all play.

Editor's note:
Script available online at:
http://samuel-beckett.net/Waiting_for_Godot_Part1.html

Cast:

Estragon
A tramp
Tom Vavasour

Vladimir
A tramp
Stan Hood

Pozzo
Middle class & pompous
Sam Fisher

Lucky
Pozzo's Servant
Neil Hurst

Boy
Messenger from Godot
Campbell Wright

Season Has Ended!
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Director Sam Fisher

Performance dates are 6th-9th and 13th-16th August 2008.

By the pricking of my thumbs…
Something wicked comes to Christchurch this winter season as Elmwood Players delves into the waking nightmare of Scotland’s most infamous hero.
More than 400 years of history have not diminished the engrossing power of Shakespeare’s darkest and bloodiest work: Macbeth has fascinated and enthralled every generation with its gripping depiction of the pitfalls of rampant power-lust and ambition.

This new interpretation, directed by Sam Fisher, combines a contemporary context with all the fascinating drama of a medieval horror. Commander of the modern-day Scottish forces in Afghanistan, a heroic and victorious Macbeth finds himself suddenly plunged into a phantasmagoric realm of witchcraft, carnage and madness that takes him right back to the dark ages — the dark ages both of time and of his soul.

Come in, come in to this dark and forbidding castle on the wild Scottish heath, where fair is foul and foul is fair and all manner of mysterious things hover in the murky air, and watch this pageantry of hell unfold…

For a full and continuing update on the director's vision see,

www.barcodemacbeth.blogspot.com

Cast:
Duncan (King of Scotland)
Ian Beswick
 
Malcolm (Duncan's Son)
Mike Jamieson
 
Macbeth (General of the King's Army)
Chris Domigan
 
Banquo (General of the King's Army)
Will Wright
 
Macduff
Ross
Angus (Noblemen of Scotland)
Klaus Hermanspahn
Eric Owsley
Sophie Rae
 
A Porter
Ben Allan
 
A Scots Doctor
Neil Macbeth
 
Seyton
Jonathan Fisher
 
Lady Macbeth
Nikki Conyers
 
Lady Macduff / Apparition 2
Sandi Ward
 
Witch 1
Bailey Hunt
 
Witch 2
Jess Stringer
 
Witch 3
Jo Owsley
 
Hecate / Gentlewoman
Chanel Hughes
 
Apparition 1 / Soldier
/ Murderer
Taylor Hagen
 
Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Murderers, Attendants and Messengers. ​

Season Now Ended
My Mother said I Never Should by Charlotte Keatley
Director Doug Clarke QSM

Doris, born in 1900, abandons teaching for marriage and motherhood, nurturing young daughter Margaret through the Blitz. To her mother’s disappointment, Margaret marries an American and becomes a typist, but then meets challenges of her own in her archetypal ‘60s rebel daughter Jackie. Aspiring artist Jackie sacrifices motherhood of Rosie to complete her studies and pursue a glamorous career.

A spirited child of the ‘70s, Rosie, is more than ready to forge her own path through the entrenched family secrets, but how much will it cost?
As each of the women, sometimes hesitantly, sometimes boldly, negotiates their way through the social mores of their time, they will find their greatest strength - and their greatest vulnerability - in these maternal ties.

This warm and tender play weaves back and forth in time, depicting pivotal moments in each of the women’s lives, creating a rich and engrossing family history that will make audiences both laugh and cry.

My Mother Said I Never Should marks a return to an old favourite for director Doug Clarke QSM, who has directed the play twice before. Clarke says he has changed his thought processes, however, and is “treating it as a fresh production”, inspired by Elmwood theatre’s unique staging possibilities

My Mother Said I Never Should has proved a tremendous hit with audiences since its premiere in 1987 at Manchester’s Contact Theatre, where it instantly launched its young author into the ranks of the UK’s top writers and won both the George Devine Award and Manchester Evening News Best Play award.

Elmwood Players encourages all sons and daughters to bring their mums to see this special Mother’s Day treat.

Take advantage of Elmwood’s Mother’s Day ticket special of two for $25 on Sunday 11 May.

Performance Dates

1st Week Wed 7th May - Sat 10th May 7:30pm all performances

Sunday Mother's Day Special 11th May 6:30pm

2nd Week Wed 14th May - Sat 17th May 7:30pm all performances

Characters & Cast List
Doris, born 1900 - mother of Margaret
Felicity Watson

Margaret, born 1931 - mother of Jackie
Marilyn Ollet

Jackie, born 1952 - mother of Rosie
Helen Cooper

Rosie, born 1971
Aimee Perry

...Fred...
by Beatrix Christian (Aus)

Director: Anita Hallewas
Season Ended

RATED M – This play contains strong language and adult themes including sex, drugs and rock'n'roll!

Pamela Maude is deeply affected by her discovery of a corpse under the Hills Hoist.

This find catalyses a hilariously manic succession of events: suicides, sibling rivalry, sexual coupling, a mysterious double-pregnancy and an uncloseting...

With the help of her actress sister, a used Porsche salesman, a futures broker and a confused detective, Pamela Maude must resolve the mystery of the unidentified cadaver, so she can find the key to happiness for them all.

Casually demented but seriously funny, 'Fred' has played to sell-out seasons throughout Australia.

Book now Limited Season
(Phone Bookings 355 8874)
Performance Dates
1st Week Wed 26th March - Sat 29th March 7:30pm all performances

2nd Week Wed 2nd April- Sat 5th April7:30pm all performances
at Elmwood Auditorium

Ticket pricesSingle Night Tickets (Week one or two).
$18.00

(Member's concessions apply)

Hard Stuff (1st Week)
By Jules Tasca; directed by Garry Thomas
Jamie Billings, Eric Owsley.

The Play Reading (1st Week)
By Joan Honey; directed by Deirdre Tucker
Beth Hobbs, Maryanne Cathro, Sandi Ward, Ruth Savage, Deidre Tucker, Chanel Hughes.

Computer Pals (2nd Week)
By Hindi Brooks; directed by Kris Vavasour
Steve Millar, Victoria Morgan

Curses! Foiled Again (2nd Week)
By Evelyn Hood; directed by Heather Giles
Felicity Watson, Graham Mayes, Anita Hallewas, Nikki Conyers, Lynley McFaull, William Wright.

Silly Cow
Season has ended! Sorry if you missed it!
See our next production
Lounge Suite
By Ben Elton
Directed by Maryanne Cathro

Performance dates

(26 September to 6 October)
Performances:
7.30pm, 26-29 September &
3-6 October 2007;
Earlybird Show: 6.30pm Tue 2 October
Tickets:
$17 ($12 special on 3 October)
Booking Office:
The Court Theatre, ph: (03) 963 0870 or 0800 333 100

Silly Cow
​A comic revenge tragedy from the master of comedy

Doris Wallace, bitchy queen of the tabloid press, is on the verge of a glorious venture in TV. She’s not going to let anything get in her way, not even the “silly cow” suing her for libel. Any skeletons she may have in her cupboard are, like her bondage gear, firmly locked up — or so she thinks.

Wickedly funny satire
Ben Elton’s wickedly funny satire on the slick and savage world of the tabloid press portrays a protagonist who has clawed her way to success and celebrity as a merciless and vicious critic. No star of the stage is safe from the barricade of barbs unleashed from her smoking keyboard; the bold and brassy Doris takes no prisoners, and makes no bones about it — “When the dogs are eating the dogs you have to make damn sure you’re the biggest bitch at the table”.

Machiavellian plot brewing
Every dog has its day though, and Doris, who’s practically self-tanning in her own reflected glory, is in for a surprise. Coolly unconcerned by the libel suit brought by one of her hapless victims, she swans about her apartment like a queen amongst her retinue of sycophants, swapping insults with seedy editor Sid, patronising her Latino toy boy and being organised by her overly officious secretary and accountant. Even she cannot comprehend the truly machiavellian plot brewing in the wings.

Classic Elton
Described by its author as a “comic revenge tragedy”, Silly Cow is classic Elton — a fast-paced, rapid-fire rollick. The characters spar with such eviscerating wit it’s a wonder they don’t cut themselves.

Director says
“I love this play,” says director Maryanne Cathro. “I seeth at the stupidity of the tabloid press who make their fortunes sticking cameras up celebrity skirts, so Silly Cow is almost an act of catharsis for me. Plus it’s really, really funny. It is Ben Elton as we love him best — the Young Ones and Blackadder sort of comedy that my generation grew up with.

Cast:

• Doris—Angela Reeves ;

• Sid—Danny Broom;

• Eduardo—Jesse Hobbs;

• Peggy—Marilyn Ollett;

• Douglas—Peter Miller.

Performance Times & Dates:
7.30pm, 3-5 & 8-12 May; Earlybird Show: 6.30pm, Tue 8 May

Hall Still Fond of First Major HitElmwood Players hits the stage this week with iconic Kiwi classic, Glide Time, by

Roger Hall. Don't miss it!
Now celebrating its 31st anniversary, this deliciously awkward satire on the banality of office life is still captivating audiences, maintaining its reputation as one of the most performed works on the New Zealand stage.

Glide Time has Timeless Quality
Hall says that while much of the content is now dated (set firmly as it was in the 1970s) the play also has a timeless quality that continues to resonate with audiences.
“A middle-aged audience or younger finds it both historically quaint but also appallingly familiar. Bureaucracy usually remains a thorn in everyone’s side from whatever era, and in the end it is about very real characters that everyone recognises.”

Lots of Laughs
“And, if I may say so, it does have a lot of laughs in it — and audiences do love to laugh.” Which is something that still gives the playwright an enormous sense of satisfaction: “There is nothing nicer than sitting in a theatre hearing people laugh at things one has written.”

Hall Still Going Strong
Hall, who has three new plays being presented this year, says it feels “terrific” to be celebrating the 31st anniversary of Glide Time. He still feels a huge fondness for the play that was his first major hit. “I had been writing for 15 years or so and had had some success with stage revues and had had some plays on television. And it had been a struggle. And then Glide Time changed my life.”

Glide Time history
Enjoying several back-to-back seasons in each of the cities it was first performed, it became the basis for highly successful ‘80s TV series Gliding On and the sequel Market Forces.

Great trip down our Kiwi Social History
Now Elmwood is enjoying the opportunity to bring to life New Zealand’s favourite public servants; the long-suffering John, Hugh, Jim, Michael, Wally and Beryl.
Director Garry Thomas says both cast and audiences are enjoying the freedom of expression in the more scandalous humour of the un-PC” ‘70s.
“It’s a great opportunity for the older audience members to re-live something of the ‘70s and for the younger to understand what living at that time was like. It’s a real slice of Kiwi social history.”

Before The Office there was this office…
Ah yes, life in the stores board of a New Zealand government department during the 1970s…. Which department? — who knows, but it’s all so terribly familiar. Thirty years on, Roger Hall’s deliciously awkward satire on the banality of office life is as funny and painfully truthful as ever.

Office Politics
The officiousness, the creative allocation of little pools of time to quintessential nothingness, the gossip, office politicking, and all those other things that are done to avoid actually working, have managed resolutely to persist, in spite of all manner of perceived improvement and technological sophistication.

Social History
Elmwood Players is revelling in the opportunity to excavate the social history of this iconic Kiwi play, which at its premier in 1976 first held aloft a mirror to the dull daily routine of contemporary working life with astonishing success. Glide Time became an immediate and major hit for Hall.
Presenting the routine activities of one working day, spread over several weeks, Glide Time’s heroes are seven public servants who create all manner of diversions to escape the fact that none of them particularly likes their job — or each other.

Director's Comments
Director Garry Thomas applauds Hall’s superbly written script. Having worked in a government department himself during the 1970s Thomas says “the humour definitely has an element of truth”.
And with the passage of time the comedy just keeps on getting better. “Set firmly as it is in what we now see as the very un-PC world of the mid-‘70s it has provided the cast and crew with plenty of laughs during rehearsals, which we’re looking forward to carrying into the performances.”

Walk shorts knee high socks, tea breaks
With the relative comfort of hindsight, today’s audiences can laugh with even greater appreciation at the disturbing prevalence of beige, walk shorts and knee-high socks, and the intrays and filing cabinets that bulge with the volume of small forests.
Perhaps we shouldn’t laugh too hard though; let us not forget that it was also the halcyon era of the sacrosanct morning and afternoon tea break, when the official working day did not exceed seven hours and thirty-five minutes, the word “weekend” had a more literal translation, and the micro-pause was the stuff of science fiction.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see vintage Kiwi comedy at its best.

Glide Time Cast List
Director: Garry Thomas
John
The tokenist
Jamie Billings

Hugh
The Welshman in a new land
Ian Lester

Beryl
The jolly dear in the corner
Sarndra Preston

Jim
The opinionated loud mouth
Phillip Lee

Michael
The nervy new boy
Reece Paterson

Wally
The overly officious maintenance man
Steve Millar

Boss
And I mean the By-the-Book Boss.
Ray Williamson