August 21, 2006

The Tenth Adam Playreadings
Sundays, 3pm
August 13 – September 3, 2006
Downstage Theatre

Organised by Downstage Theatre Society, Playmarket and Downstage Theatre with the support of the Adam Foundation.

His Mother’s Son
by Leilani Unasa
13th August 3pm

The Cape
by Vivienne Plumb
20th August 3pm

The Human Engine
by Philip Braithwaite
27th August 3pm

Finding Murdoch
by Margot McRae
3rd September 3pm

Tickets $8.00
Downstage Theatre. Corner Courtenay Place and Cambridge Terrace, Telephone 801 6946, www.downstage.co.nz

Image: Publicity image for premiere production of The Human Engine by Philip Braithwaite, 16th Avenue Theatre, Tauranga

 

His Mother’s Son
by Leilani Unasa
Sunday 13 August 3pm

Directed by Ellie Smith

Here is a play that is funny and tragic in equal parts. His Mother’s Son is a portrait of an ordinary but troubled Samoan family at a time of crisis. Their authoritarian family patriarch, Tasi, has successfully alienated the people he loves most in life and faces the consequences of this. The question is, will they come to him in his hour of need?

Leilani Unasa is a Wellington-based writer of Samoan and Palagi descent, part of the wave of excellent Pacific Island writers that brought us Fresh Off the Boat and Niu Sila, whose skills exploring their own culture are an inspiration to all New Zealanders. His Mother’s Son is Leilani’s second play and will be produced in January 2007. Aside from theatre, Leilani is developing work for film and radio.

The Cape
by Vivienne Plumb
Sunday 20 August 3pm
Directed by Jean Betts

It is 1994 – the year Kurt Cobain died, it is pre ‘P’ and mobile phones are still clunky and enormous. Four teenagers, Arthur, Jordyn, Mo and Eb are on a road trip to the Cape. They all have their own reasons for going their own secrets and their own agendas. This fast-paced piece depicts young New Zealand teenagers who are about to grow up into young New Zealand men.

Vivienne Plumb is a Wellington writer who has won awards in for poetry, prose and drama. Her awards include the Bruce Mason Playwrighting Award, first prize in the Manawatu Women Writers’ Competition 2005, and a writers’ fellowship at Varuna, Australia. In 2006 she is writer-in-residence at Massey University in Palmerston North. She has an M.A. from Victoria University, and is a founding member of the Women’s Play Press publishing collective. Funding assistance for the writing of her playscript, The Cape, came from Creative New Zealand.

The Human Engine
by Philip Braithwaite
Sunday 27 August 3 pm
Directed by David O’Donnell

Philip Braithwaite has written a hard-hitting drama about the troubled life of ex-criminal Robbie, charting his relationship with the daughter from a Pakeha family from the other side of the tracks. Robbie, who is part Mâori, struggles with his cultural identity and what it means to be a father in this moving and accomplished piece from one of New Zealand’s emerging young playwrights.

In 1999 Philip Braithwaite won the New Zealand Young Playwrights’ award for his play, Seven Days Alone With Rebecca. In 2001 he won the BBC World Service/British Council International Radio Playwriting Award for his play, Blood, later revised and performed on stage as The Human Engine. This year The Human Engine was produced for Radio New Zealand by Hone Kouka.

Finding Murdoch
by Margot McRae
Sunday 3rd September 3pm
Directed by Sarah Delahunty

Margot McRae grew up in Christchurch and has a BA in English from Canterbury University and a Diploma in Journalism. She studied drama with Mervyn Thompson and took part in some of his productions. Her career in journalism eventually led to research for television documentaries.

In 1990 Margot was asked to track down All Black Keith Murdoch for a television programme which led to Finding Murdoch, her first play. On one level it traces the story of his expulsion from the team in 1972. It also examines the power of the media, the right of privacy and the cult of the celebrity. Her writing has mainly been film scripts but she also has credits for episodes of Street Legal and Mercy Peak.

The Tenth Adam Play Readings

The aim of the play readings is to provide a bridge between new New Zealand plays and their eventual production on the Wellington stage, assisting in both their development and promotion.

Many scripts are submitted to Playmarket each year for this competition, and four chosen, by Playmarket, Downstage and the Downstage Theatre Society. Each play has been matched with top professional actors and directors, who will spend two days rehearsing and presenting each reading of the play. Each reading will end with a talkback session with the audience.

The readings have been organised by Downstage Theatre Society Inc, Playmarket and Downstage Theatre, who gratefully acknowledge the continuing support and interest of Denis and Verna Adam through the Adam Foundation.

From the Adam Foundation
My wife Verna and I, through the Adam Foundation, try to encourage New Zealand’s promising practitioners in many artistic fields. As avid theatre-goers, we have a special interest in giving New Zealand plays an ‘airing’ at play readings. We wish Downstage and all involved every success. – Denis Adam

2006 Play Readings
All readings start at 3pm and are followed by a talkback session on the play. Directors are provisional and subject to confirmation.