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Australia Playhouse morphs into NZ Playhouse

22 July 2018

By Michael Bell, NZ Playhouse

Back in 2012, New Zealand Playhouse first stepped foot on Australian soil. We crammed a fun two-hander show into a hire car and drove it around Tasmania for two weeks. In 2013, we extended the tour to a whole term and delighted children and high schoolers across both Tasmania and Victoria. 

Some of our favourite questions to ask were “Who knows what kia ora means?”, “Who’s even heard of New Zealand?”

Meanwhile, our laid-back kiwi style hit the spot with audiences and the teachers. 

Fast forward to 2016 and we became even more adventurous. Our shows toured from Brisbane to Perth and back again over the course of the year. We employed more and more Aussies in our casts and creative teams and it made sense to split our company into two troupes – New Zealand Playhouse and Australia Playhouse. And phew, what an operation it’s been! I can’t believe how many big and small Aussie towns I’ve seen in the last few years. I’m writing this on a plane to Hobart at the moment – one of my fave cities to be in.

But it’s also been tiring. We’re literally on the road from February until December. It’s difficult too – administrating a quick solution to a flat tyre in Perth when the tour manager is in Christchurch… that has all sorts of interesting challenges. It’s nothing that can’t be done, but in 2019, we’re tightening our operation up to make life a bit easier on ourselves. We’re going back to how we used to do things in 2013, and will grow in the ways we reckon we could have done back then. There’s nothing like biting the bullet.

So while we will retain our good relationships with the Aussie creatives we work with, we’re going employ an extra cast in New Zealand for term two, relieving the load for our NZ tour which is currently at absolutely full capacity. Then this cast will bring the show over to Vic and Tassie in term three.

This means that Vic and Tassie primary schools can expect a higher ratio of Kiwi accents in the cast (still with some Aussie accents in there), perhaps a few more anecdotes from New Zealand during question time, but the same hilarious shows you’ve come to know from both New Zealand Playhouse and Australia Playhouse.

If you’re in SA or WA, please make sure you enquire now aboutour 2018 shows - Red Riding Robyn Hood for primaries or Shakespeare: As You Write It for secondaries. We’ve also got just a couple of slots left in NSW and Vic for 2018. Otherwise, our Kiwi crew will look forward to seeing our friends in Vic and Tassie again in 2019 with our primary show The Tortoise and The Hare!

Original article printed in TasmanianTimes.

Image: Red Riding Robyn Hood 

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