Control Z
Red Door Theatre, 95 Atawhai Drive, Nelson
16/03/2024 - 19/03/2024
Production Details
Written, directed, and created by teen scriptwriters:
Ariana, Kyra, and Malachi Ng, Harry and Jessica Playford, Maya Dalton, Moana Williams, Ruby Hardy, Yasmin Skevington.
Facilitated by Kate Ng.
Control Z
What makes a play come to life?
From the creators of The Waiting Game, Control Z explores the behind-the-scenes of creating a play in a way that is hilarious and unique.
Join two students in their attempts to create the perfect play by giving power back to iconic villains. But maybe teaching villains to be villainous is more dangerous than it seems, and the duo may have unleashed something they could regret.
Control Z is a group of enthusiastic teen theatre performers who have too much creativity to only be performing other people’s work. The group has successfully created and performed The Waiting Game in 2022 and was working to complete their first one-hour play The Art Heist when they got side-tracked by the opportunity to bring Nelsonians their latest and greatest idea at the 2024 Nelson Fringe Festival.
Control Z is a mixture of scripted and improv content, and a team of actors that have been on stage at every opportunity, Nelson is in for a treat!
Red Door Theatre Nelson
16th, 17th, and 19th of March, 2024
16th: 4-5pm
17th and 19th: 6-7pm
$10.25 per person
https://nelsonfringe.co.nz/event/control-z/
Performed by:
Ariana, Kyra, and Malachi Ng, Harry and Jessica Playford, Maya Dalton, Moana Williams, Ruby Hardy, Yasmin Skevington.
Comedy , Family , Pantomime , Theatre , Youth , Improv ,
1 hour
Original, fun and engaging theatre
Review by Tami Mansfield 17th Mar 2024
Control Z performs in the Nelson Fringe Festival, 16 March 2024, to an enthusiastic and supportive audience at Red Door Theatre at Founders Park. The group is made up of 9 youth actor-writers who, through devising and rehearsing up to 4 times per week, create original plays. Control Z is their third play performed in Nelson and first time in the Nelson Fringe.
The story begins with two writers, played by Jessica Playford and Malachi Ng with energy and comedic naturalism. The writers face a time dilemma which is to enter a play into a contest in just one hour. Still in pyjamas, these charming actors use the command ‘Ctrl + Z’ on their laptop to erase and change ideas. Meanwhile, the fairy tale characters they re-create come to life on the stage behind them.
Part of the charm of this play is the theatre conventions used to add creativity and humour. For example, when the writers use the command ‘Ctrl + Z’, the actors playing the characters, in the play within a play, freeze into tableaus, then reverse action like a mini flashback. This is all done using a split stage convention.
All the lighting and sound cues were decided by this youth theatre troupe and are executed brilliantly by professional designer Robbie Burns (who works for The Nelson Fringe Festival.)
The costumes and props add to the entertainment and come from Nelson Youth Theatre which is the community group Control Z was formed from.
More standout acting comes from Moana Williams, who plays a hilarious Captain Hook. This character is a big hit with the audience.
The students who make up Control Z are: Maya Dalton, Ruby Hardy, Harry Playford, Yasmin Skevington, Jessica Playford, Moana Williams, Malachi Ng, Ariana Ng and Kyra Ng. These youth theatre students must keep going! They are creating original, fun and engaging theatre, and it’s an inspiration to watch.
Copyright © in the review belongs to the reviewer
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