A Timaru playwright is relishing the opportunity to unleash his creativity at a returning one-act play competition this weekend.
As part of One Act of Madness, the South Canterbury round of Theatre New Zealand’s Theatrefest, Wayne Doyle will be sharing two of his original works.
He said the first was called Lovelock and the Rose.
‘‘Not many people know that 10 years before [Jack] Lovelock there was a famous New Zealand runner called Randolph Rose who broke records left, right and centre.
‘‘He was probably faster than Lovelock, but he was lazy, he didn’t like training and he went overseas, did well but then he just gave it all up. My story is what would happen if both these guys were around at the same time and if they competed against each other, who would be the better athlete?
‘‘It’s a story about who actually deserved to go to the Berlin Olympics. We could have been talking about Randolph Rose, Olympic champion, but something happened and now we don’t even know who he is.’’
His second play, Till Death Do Us Part, is a short play about a conversation between two elderly people.
‘‘I’ve got some wonderful actors involved for that one. Anita Dawson and David Mortimer, they’re both well-known around town for being talented performers and they are just absolutely brilliant together.’’
In One Act of Madness, six South Canterbury teams will be performing one-act plays, with the opportunity to go on to compete against teams from all around New Zealand.
It is the second the time the event is taking place in Timaru, and this year’s competition will be adjudicated by Aidan Theatre’s Kimble Henderson.
A selection of the best pieces will be put forward to take part in the regional finals, and from those, another selection will be taken from the whole of New Zealand to go through to the national showcase performance.
Last year, two South Canterbury teams progressed to be selected as part of the six teams to compete at the national showcase.
Organiser TJ Ramsay said competitive theatre was important to a thriving theatre community.
‘‘It allows and provides a space for challenge at every level of theatrical endeavour.
‘‘It gives theatre practitioners a place to explore ideas which may not survive a full-length environment, ideas that even work better when forced into a shortened time frame for delivery.
‘‘Whether you’re new to the stage or have decades of experience behind you, competitive, festival theatre has something for you.’’
Mr Doyle said it was great to have an event that allowed for the opportunity to be creative, original and innovative.
‘‘There’s not many opportunities to do it in a safe environment, have a receptive audience and also gain constructive feedback too from the adjudicator.
‘‘It’s a great way for original content to get exposed and performed in public.’’
The six plays will be held over two sessions, with session one starting 3pm and session two at 7pm.
Session one will feature White Noise , a Dramatix youth entry, Lovelock and the Rose, and The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca the Goldfish, a Dramatix open entry.
Session two will include Incident at the Border, a Dramatix open entry, Till Death Do Us Part, and Perfect, a Dramatix open entry.
The event will be held on Saturday at the Playhouse on Church St.
Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15 per session or $20 for both — a $10 concession is also available for students and gold card holders.
