July 19, 2012

Rediscover our theatrical past with  
LANDMARK – New Zealand Play Reading Series 

#5: CONVERSATIONS WITH A GOLLIWOG by Alexander Guyan & WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS by Alistair Campbell 

“It’s all over. I’ve lost everything – husband, children… my mind”  – Kate, When the Bough Breaks 

Monday 30th July 

For the final evening in the Landmark New Zealand Play Reading series, we are presenting two forgotten New Zealand plays from the 1960s that both feature female leads and a theatricalisation of mental illness.

Conversations with a Golliwog by Alexander Guyan was performed in Dunedin in 1962, 1963, and 1988. Canny Armstrong is a normal 14-year-old girl growing up in 1960s Dunedin.  Normal, except that her five foot tall toy Golliwog comes to life and speaks and plays with her. Five years pass and Canny grows into a troubled young woman, longing to speak to her Golliwog again, to the distress of her family and boyfriend.

When the Bough Breaks, written by poet Alistair Te Ariki Campbell in 1969 and adapted from an earlier radio, helped mark the beginning of a new era for New Zealand plays, debuting at Downstage in 1970 as part of the Gulbenkian series which produced plays by New Zealand writers new to the stage. The play takes place in the mind of Kate in a mental hospital, and told with an experimental and non-naturalistic form as she revists moments leading up to her illness, including her strained marriage with a Maori man, Matt.

The LANDMARK New Zealand Play Reading Series, part of Director James Wenley’s Masters in Drama thesis project, hopes to rediscover these classic New Zealand plays and see how they stand up for today’s audiences. Previous Play Readings have featured The Axe by Allen Curnow, Overtime by Claude Evans, The Tree by Stella Jones, The Wide Open Cage by James K Baxter, and a Time for Sowing by Frank Sargeson.

All are welcome to attend the free play reading on Monday 30th July at the University of Auckland

Drama Studio (Level 3 Arts 1 Building)

Conversations with a Golliwog – 6:30pm

When the Bough Breaks – 7:45pm

FREE REFRESHMENTS will be served in between!

We are grateful to the Campbell Estate for permission to stage the When the Bough Breaks Play Reading