News: News

Auckland’s leading children’s theatre company, Tim Bray Productions presents Spike Milligan’s all-time favourite story Badjelly The Witch!

Millions of children worldwide have grown up with the story of Tim and Rose’s madcap adventure through the great black forest and into Badjelly’s castle, and in New Zealand it regularly featured on morning radio with the album selling more than 40,000 copies and achieving double platinum status.

Originally written by Milligan for his children, it was adapted for the stage by Tim Bray, QSM in 2010 and returned in 2016.

“We’re delighted to be bringing it back again for 2018 due to popular demand,” says Tim Bray. “This is a classic piece of theatre – and the adults enjoy it as much as the children.”

Badjelly, Tim Bray Productions, Pumphouse Theatre, Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand, Friday, July 01, 2016. Photo: David Rowland / One-Image.com

The show features The Goons’ ‘Ying Tong’ song along with Monty Pythonesque comedy and Tim hopes audiences will once again join in the fun and cheer as Tim and Rose set off to search for their beloved lost cow Lucy, laugh with the enchanted characters Dinglemouse, Mud-wiggle and Binkle-bonk, and boo at Badjelly when she captures Tim and Rose and threatens to turn them into sausages.

Well-known Tim Bray Productions’ actor Tim Raby reprises his role as Badjelly, with Jessica Hunt as Rose, Jacob Dale as Tim, Donogh Rees as Dinglemouse (and other roles), Dylan Underwood as Mud-wiggle (and other roles), and Jeff Szusterman and Charlotte Heath playing a variety of roles. Music will be performed live by Nick Garrett.

Children are encouraged to dress up as a character from the show for the onstage Costume Parade at the gala and every school holiday season performance.

Badjelly runs from Saturday 22 September to Saturday 13 October. Book Tickets Today!.

Community theatre group Shoreside Theatre attracts hundreds of talented individuals, who inspire to get involved with the Performing Arts. They are in a unique position to provide those interested with opportunities to get on stage or backstage, to simply ‘give it a go’ or to take on roles that will help further their professional career.

Known mostly for producing the Outdoor Summer Shakespeare season each year at The PumpHouse (for the last 22 years) and the Mid-winter Murder Mystery, Shoreside is excited to add to their repertoire a One Act Play Festival this Spring. This combines many of Shoreside’s growing initiatives as a Community Theatre Company – producing diverse exciting theatre for a wide audience, offering experienced and inexperienced cast and crew much valued and rare live stage experience, and utilizing some of North Shore’s best theatre venues.

The One Act Play Festival consists of:

THE ACTORS NIGHTMARE
By Christopher Durang
Directed by Catherine Boniface
One man. No lines. What could possibly go wrong?

&

THE ZOO STORY
By Edward Albee
Directed by James Bell
Peter and Jerry meet on a park bench. Peter is a wealthy publishing executive.  Jerry is an isolated and disheartened man, desperate to have a meaningful conversation with another human being.

& 

THE LADY’S MAID’S BELL
By Edith Wharton
Directed by Jason Moffatt
A classic ghost story. Alice Hartley is the new lady’s maid at gloomy Brympton Hall. But why won’t Mrs. Brympton use the servant’s bell that connects with the room of her new lady’s maid?

This line up of plays offers something for everyone whether you be a seasoned patron of the arts, or someone who has never seen a play before.

26 September – 13^th October
The Coalbunker Studio @ The PumpHouse Theatre

View the event page here.

Committed to Making a Difference

The Auckland Girls’ Choir nurture young ladies, 9 to 16 years of age from the wider Auckland community. They are tutored by Founder and Musical Director, Mrs Leonie Lawson MNZM. By perfecting their voice, pitch, diction, projection, and presentation, these young women learn the discipline they need to enhance their self-worth, confidence, and team spirit. We provide a safe haven for young girls of different ethnicities to come together for the love of music and choral singing.

The choir was created to bring together girls from any Auckland school whether they have musical training or not. If we see a spark of talent, they are mentored and coached in all areas of choral singing and music.

The Auckland Girls’ Choir Farewell Tour
Sat, Sep 15 – 7:00pm

This concert is the show-stopping finale of months of preparation for the Choir. One week later they will fly out to Los Angeles to sing around California, including concerts in Disneyland and San Diego, mentored and conducted by Leonie Lawson MNZM.

They choir will be entertaining the crowds with music from across the world and ages, including a phenomenal ABBA medley.

The choir is in hot demand for performances at major Auckland Events and Community Centres, and are frequently heard on TV One Praise Be! In the World Projects International Music Festival in Sydney, 2016 they were awarded a silver award and received a standing ovation after their performance in the Sydney Opera House.

As a 100% not-for-profit organisation, please come and support our city’s future musicians and help raise money to send them to LA and allow them to continue as ambassadors for Auckland across the World.

They are delighted to be joined by The Connolly School of Irish dance which is one of the oldest dancing schools in New Zealand. Throughout the last four decades, the Connolly School has competed and performed locally, nationally and internationally. Their Director, Siobhan Connolly spent 11 years in Michael Flatley’s ‘Lord of the dance’. Their dancers will be showcasing some of their top performances to round off an amazing show.

Book Tickets.

To celebrate the end of a year-long endeavour to provide a showcase of Māori theatre on the North Shore, The PumpHouse is delighted to confirm that they will once again be joining forces with the inimitable Rawiri Paratene for Kōrero Pūrākau from September 6-8.

A beloved hero of the screen and stage in Aotearoa, Paratene (Ngāpuhi) has devoted his career to amplifying the voices of Māori performers. The 2018 season marks the second time that he will work with The PumpHouse on Kōrero Pūrākau, acting as mentor, director and storyteller for a group of students to devise a staged retelling of local Māori legends.

Four drama students from Birkenhead College and Takapuna Grammar will collaborate with the legendary performer to develop their skills to create a bi-lingual work involving te reo, waiata, storytelling, and audience participation. The result will be a brand-new piece of theatre that will be performed in a strictly limited six-show season.

Passing through the ancient cultural tradition of oral storytelling to a new generation of Māori talent, the students joining Paratene on this journey of exploring their local kaupapa are Ivy Pondman-Carmont, Skye Murphy, Zebion Te Kauru, and Giorgia Doughty.

Timed to coincide with the inaugural New Zealand Theatre Month, Kōrero Pūrākau marks the final production of The Pumphouse Toi Takapuna season – a year-long programme of Māori works performed at The PumpHouse, aimed at championing and amplifying Māori work in a suburban setting. Working with a variety of Māori theatre makers, the season has also included performances of Shot Bro, Rob Mokaraka’s personal story about depression and redemption; Heaven and Earth – Rangi and Papa, a magical glow-in-the-dark Matariki puppet show; and Te Rerenga – The Flight, the world’s first Maori rock-art puppet show. Toi Takapuna has also played host to four workshops sharing fundamental aspects of Māori culture and craft including Harakeke weaving, Poi and Waiata.

With an ongoing commitment to increasing the number of events with a Māori kaupapa, The PumpHouse hopes that both audiences and artists will consider the venue as having tikanga Māori values at the core.

Kōrero Pūrākau is the final production for ‘Toi Takapuna 2018’.

6th – 8th September.
Book Tickets.

After seeing my first Shakespeare at The PumpHouse age six I dived into theatre, with a passion, seeing as many productions as I could.

In 2016 I made the leap into acting and working behind the scenes. I’ve now begun a degree in costume and production design and hope to work in theatre in the future.

When I was young I would be with my family or at my marae frequently, however this changed when my parents separated, and we gradually grew apart. Since then I have been in a sort of limbo, trying to connect to my Maori culture but finding barriers in place preventing me from taking up a lot of opportunities.

“To be Maori and see Maori stories presented by Maori people makes me feel a sense of pride.”

I’m proud that this year, The PumpHouse Theatre, where I work, is presenting a year-long season of uniquely Maori theatre.  With Maori theatre so close to me I have a place where I can feel and express my culture with others through theatre, a passion of mine.

The season has included performances of Shot Bro, Rob Mokaraka’s personal story about depression and redemption; Heaven and Earth – Rangi and Papa, a magical glow-in-the-dark Matariki puppet show; and Te Rerenga – The Flight, the world’s first Maori rock-art puppet show.

Te Rerenga felt like home to me, the sharing of knowledge, music and whole families joining in really made this show as fantastic as it was.

I connected to Shot Bro on a bit of a different level. Within Maori families, particularly mine, the presence of mental health related illnesses is something rarely touched upon, more often dismissed than discussed.

Rob brought his struggles to the stage, and held a korero afterwards with a whole room of people – digging deep and sharing things they once thought they couldn’t. It meant so much to me and showed that there is potential for more sharing and expression to be communicated by Maori through art.

Being able to come along to a workshop and learn about Harakeke on a Saturday morning and bring home pieces that I had made felt amazing.

To be Maori and see Maori stories presented by Maori people makes me feel a sense of pride. It sparks my creativity and pushes my mind into thinking of all the ways theatre can grow and develop using Maori influence.

“The experience is personalised to the audience and woven with traditions and customs. It is warm and nurturing, like family.”

For me, Toi Takapuna provided a place close to me where I could feel Maori, and surround myself with others sharing my culture. I don’t have access to any place for that in my personal life. I didn’t need to be fluent in Te Reo to come and see these shows, I didn’t need to be a history expert, I just needed to be open, to want to learn, and to listen.

The environment of these shows cannot be compared to regular theatre.

They aren’t ‘typical’ in the sense of turning up, seeing a nice show and heading home. Instead, you are welcomed and made a part of the show.

The experience is personalised to the audience and woven with traditions and customs. It is warm and nurturing, like family, with the sole objective of sharing stories and history together, presented in such a way that they can be enjoyed by anyone.

Afterwards everyone can stay and korero, share kai and digest the performance – audiences and performers together.

Integrating this culture into our community events and theatre should be encouraged and Toi Takapuna is a great step towards that goal.

Coming up next as part of Toi Takapuna is Kōrero Pūrākau – Maori Storytelling.  I’m so excited to be able to experience the legendary Rawiri Paratene acting as mentor, director and storyteller alongside young people just like me, working together to create a brand new, and uniquely New Zealand, piece of theatre.

I truly believe that anyone would benefit from coming to see this show. It is exciting, beautifully told and an experience like no other in the world.

Aria is from Ngati Raukawa and her marae is Tangata Marae, Matamata. She is a costume designer and actor, studying production design and management at Unitec, and works in The PumpHouse Box Office.

Kōrero Pūrākau is a short season of Maori storytelling in English and te reo Maori for tamariki and rangatahi at the PumpHouse in Takapuna, from Thursday September 6 to Saturday, September 8.

Post Credit, The Big Idea.

Members of the North Shore Concert Band are celebrating the group’s 40^th anniversary this year with a special concert at the PumpHouse Theatre on Sunday 5^th August.

The band was started in 1978 by three musicians who realised that there were very few opportunities for musicians to perform in a band once they had left school. Two of those founders, Colin Hill and Peter Ward will be playing with the band this year along with several other members who have been with the band for most of that time.

The band’s aim was, and still is, to provide an opportunity for adult musicians of all ages and varying skill levels to make music together and to share it with the wider community.

Originally called the Shoreside Concert Band, changed to North Shore Concert Band in 1993 the group includes brass, woodwind, string bass, and percussion instruments.

They have played music at a huge variety of venues over the years, including schools, churches, theatres, shopping malls, parks, retirement villages and Christmas Parades.

As well as encouraging local musicians to keep up and improve their skills, the North Shore Concert Band has been a great training ground for learner conductors. From 1990 to 1994, the band was led by a young man called Peter Thomas, who is now highly renowned as the conductor of the Auckland Symphony Orchestra.

The PumpHouse Theatre have hosted the North Shore Concert Band for most of these past 40 years. The band took part in The PumpHouse’s 40^th anniversary celebrations in 2017 and is proud to be celebrating their own milestone there this year.

Join us for a very special celebration.

40^th Anniversary Concert, Sunday 5^th August, 2pm
Tickets from www.pumphouse.co.nz

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the North Shore Theatre & Arts Trust will be held on Wednesday, 22 August 2018.

The Trust operates The PumpHouse Theatre with members of the Trust Board drawn from Friends of The PumpHouse.

At the AGM we present the theatre’s achievements over the last 12 months and our plans for the future. This year we’ll be joined by guest speaker Richard McWha, head of Community Arts and Culture at Auckland Council

AGM 2018 Agenda – North Shore Theatre and Arts Trust

Join our Board

There are vacancies for Board members this year, and nominations are invited from those interested in joining. Any inquiries about Board roles can be made to to Peter Burn, Trust Chairperson on 021 265 9697. Nomination forms are available below, or from James Bell, Business Manager at the PumpHouse Theatre by emailing james@pumphouse.co.nz

Trustee Nomination Form 2018

Attending the AGM

All members of our community are welcome to attend. We ask that you please RSVP by emailing info@pumphouse.co.nz for catering purposes.

The details are as follows:

Date: Wednesday, 22 August 2017
Time: Refreshments from 6:30 pm
Venue: The French Rendez-vous Cafe, Killarney Park, Takapuna

We hope to see you there.

The old saying “If you’re onto a good thing, stick with it” may well have been followed by Shoreside Theatre as they prepare for another Agatha Christie murder mystery.

Towards Zero is the sixth enthralling mid-winter whodunit by this author to be presented in The PumpHouse Theatre of Takapuna. Five earlier productions written by Christie, one of the best selling authors of all time, have been enthusiastically  received. She is still the undisputed ‘Queen of Crime’ who sold more than four billion copies of her detective novels and short story collections.

In this years mid-winter offering , Lady Tresillian has invited guests, a motley collection of characters as you ever will find, to her home for a house-party but earlier events ensure a dramatic turn. Nothing is as it seems and suspense, uncertainty and red-herrings play out in the house on the edge of the perilous Cornish cliffs.  It’s all part of  a carefully laid plan for murder.  The so-called ‘Cornish Riviera’ is famous for many things – Jamaica Inn, the Beast of Bodmin, pirates and pasties – but perhaps it is best known for murder or Agatha Christie’s inspiration for it at least. It is also Poldark, Doc Martin and The Camomile Lawn  country.

Towards Zero is often thought to be one of Agatha Christie’s finest stories and is brought to life on stage by a stellar Shoreside Theatre cast that relishes in its annual portrayal of her eccentric and memorable characters. It’s the vivid depiction of Christie characters living in the shadow of an impending disaster which substantially contributes to such a high voltage story of rivalry passion and revenge.

Director, Carol Dumbleton as a young girl in the sixties knew Dame Agatha well   when she was a regular guest at her parents’  West Country hotel.  The Cornish setting of ‘Towards Zero” evokes nostalgic memories for Carol, being Cornish herself.  This rarely performed drama is set in the 1930s and Shoreside Theatre has endeavoured for over three years to gain approval from the Agatha Christie Trust to present it on stage in New Zealand.

26th July – 4th August. Book Tickets.

TORO PIKOPIKO PUPPETS present the world’s first Māori Rock-Art Puppet Production. Jeffrey Addison (Ngai Tahu) and Whaitaima Te Whare (Ngati Tuwharetoa) are a dynamic performance duo with 22 years’ experience creating television programs for children and touring live puppet shows. THE FLIGHT- TE RERENGA will be their most stunning, interactive and fun show they have ever made.

THE FLIGHT – TE RERENGA is an acoustic rock musical, featuring 100 fabulous ‘Flatso’ puppets inspired from ancient cave drawings made on Limestone cliffs and caves around the Timaru district. The show re-tells a Ngai Tahu legend about Pourangahua the Birdman and his epic flight to Aotearoa in search of his own kind. The Birdman flies from cave to cave, meeting a host of colourful characters including Bats, Creepy Crawlies, Moa, Pouakai Eagles, Human Bird Hunters and their Dogs – intent on making Pourangahua their next meal.THE FLIGHT – TE RERENGA is a forty-five-minute show, with 8 catchy original songs written especially for years 1 – 8 primary school children. This engaging production takes its audience back in time hundreds of years where they help animate a multitude of rock art puppets who meet up with the Birdman, while she is searching for her whanau. Children both watch and learn about our cultural heritage by taking part in this historic awakening of prehistoric rock art figures that have previously been fixed images on cliff walls and cave ceilings.

With research and development funding from Creative NZ, THE FLIGHT – TE RERENGA is a result of a collaboration with the staff of Te Ana Māori Rock Art Centre in Timaru. Their aim is to increase the appreciation and awareness of indigenous Rock Art among the nation’s children, so that they may value and help protect these vulnerable national treasures in the future.

Book your tickets here!
Tues – Thus, 4 – 6 Dec.
The PumpHouse Theatre.