Kia ora!

Ross Gumbley

October is that month where we all breathe in and brace ourselves for the holiday season which is now just around the corner and approaching faster than Aunty Pru towards the sherry.

Hudson and Halls Live carries on its brilliant run for the first two weeks of the month.  If you haven’t seen this slice of rum soaked kiwiana I can fully recommend it.  It has been a delight to host Silo Theatre from Auckland and bring this powder keg of a show to Christchurch audiences.  Directed by Kip Chapman this is audacious kiwi comedy at its best.

Following Hudson and Halls Live on the main stage is David Ives’ superb play Venus in Fur, an intriguing and beguiling treatise on the nature of identity and mixed in with, maybe not quite 50, but quite a few shades of grey.  As a script Venus in Fur is literate, smart and funny and should appeal to those who like it with extra spice.

This school holidays the Ugly Duckling lands on our stage.  His journey from low self-esteem to king of the pond is told entirely with puppets created by the uber talented Stephen Robertson.  It is enchanting and with Daniel Pengelly at the helm that is hardly surprising.  Daniel used to be Associate Director at The Court and is now the Creative Director at Centrepoint Theatre in Palmerston North.

Our holiday programme is set to kick off.  Holiday Intensives are a week of exploring drama and performance skills, working with a professional artist to produce a piece of theatre for friends and family at the end the week. The junior programme will attend the performance The Ugly Duckling and take inspiration from the puppetry and the themes and ideas within the performance to inspire their own work. The seniors will be working on exploring the idea of stories driven by a clear lesson or moral, and how these can be presented in performance, they will use this starting point to create their own original work. These holiday programmes are very popular so if you have missed out for October make sure you book for January.

I hope we will see you at The Shed this October and share a theatrical experience that will reach out and make you laugh, think or feel.

Ka kite

Ross Gumbley

Artistic Director