Bloodshed, bullets and good old-fashioned love were seen out in the streets of Timaru this week as a filmed segment for the production of Popcorn got under way.
The South Canterbury Drama League, with support from Little Theatre, will stage the R16 Ben Elton play — described as sharing themes with a number of 1990s movies such as Natural Born Killers, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs — next month.
The filmed segment focused on lovers Wayne (played by Cameron Lines) and Scout (Hannah Harris), who are also known as the Mall Murderers, inflicting terror on passers-by.
Director TJ Ramsay, who directed Run For Your Wife last year, said it was exciting and awesome to be able to bring the show to the Timaru stage.
‘‘I have always wanted to do it and being able to do this for the first time is really cool.’’
Ms Ramsay said she had done a short film before in Nelson but not like this.
‘‘It’s super cool including people in this project who haven’t done anything like this before. Like Hannah Harris, who said she is not built for this, but she is. She’s doing it. This is why stuff like this is so important.’’
She said the cinematic part of the show would add drama and technical impact to the overall production, and they were also looking at using CCTV and drone footage, too.
‘‘A show like this hasn’t been done before and there is talk around Timaru about it already as people haven’t seen anything like this before.’’
One of the things on her mind was how audiences would react to a show like Popcorn.
‘‘The actual rehearsals and directing of the show is easy for me, but in the back of my mind is how people will react, and it will be like that until opening night when you finally get feedback.’’
Ms Ramsay said she had been well supported but there was a percentage of people who were against the show.
‘‘We have been well supported by those who see the need for it. I think shows should offer challenges for the audiences and make the audiences say, ‘oh that went a bit far’, and challenges for the actors. There are many actors who have only done musical theatre and have not been in anything like this.
‘‘I think theatre shouldn’t just be comfortable, theatre can be confronting as well — [it] is a safe space for confronting stuff to be performed.’’
Popcorn is rated for audiences 16 and older and will be run at the Playhouse from April 15 to
22.
