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Get to know the cast and crew of ‘The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate’ with Tim Bray Theatre Company.

First up, we have the all-important man who opens the show… Say a huge ahoy to Sea Captain, Adam Burrell!

Adam has been a professional Actor/Singer and Live Entertainer in Auckland and NZ for over 15 years. He has participated in 15 professional children’s theatre productions, including 2 Nationwide Tours with Capital E, NZ’s national theatre for children.

“The sea is a wonderful thing. So wonderful we make it our home. We live on the sea and what a Jolly Roger sort of life it is too.” Margaret Mahy.

One of Adam’s many hobbies include looking after all his dogs and his favourite kids book is Roald Dahl’s ‘The TWITS’.

Next, we have the adventure loving Mother who dreams to be reunited to the sea! Say a huge ahoy to our Pirate Mother… Kat Glass!

Kat is an actor, director, and producer working in the theatre and film industry. 
Born and raised in Auckland, Kat studied theatre at the University of Auckland, graduating in 2011.

Kat has two favourite kids books which are Hairy McLeary and The Paper Bag Princess. Kat also lives in Auckland with her husband and seven cats!

“I want to see the sea again. I want to fire my old silver pistol, and see the waves jump with surprise.”

Next up we have the very wise and deep thinking philosopher – as well as many other hilarious characters! “WAVE YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR LIKE YOU JUST DON’T CARE” for… Carolyn Lamonde!

Carolyn was born and raised in the very artistic and cultural city of Montreal, Canada. She studied Theatre and worked on stage, in television and in film in Canada, and has performed in Theatre Festivals in Canada, Mexico, Germany and New Zealand.

Carolyn’ favourite book is ‘Le Petit Prince’ (The Little Prince) by d’Antonie de Saint-Exupéry and loves travelling and snowboarding!

“Shhhhh! Some of us are trying to think.” – Margaret Mahy, The Man Whose Mother was a Pirate

In March, we have some spectacular touring shows coming to The PumpHouse. Companies take big risks in leaving their in-built theatre following and branching out to new cities, and so we’re very lucky to have such extraordinary talent arriving right on our doorstep. Come and experience works produced overseas at your local theatre this month.

Alice in Wonderland. Melbourne City Ballet’s Michael Pappalardo (Artistic Director) and Brendan Bradshaw (Artistic Associate) pay homage to the well-known novel by Lewis Carroll, Alice In Wonderland, with this enchanting ballet complimented by one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous scores.

Legendary Divas is a show starring award winning actress and singer Ali Harper and honours the talented, hardworking, courageous and legendary women that inspired us with their music. Shirley Bassey, Dusty Springfield, Judy Garland, Doris Day, Barbra Streisand and many more.

88 Pianos I have Known. Winner of 5 music awards, Jan has now sold out concerts throughout Australia, NZ, Europe and the UK. She composes music for film and TV (most recently for My Year with Helen) and performs side by side with the greatest contemporary boogie piano players in the world today.

We also have some inspiring shows by local companies, many of which return just once a year and have packed houses, so don’t miss out!

Carnaval de la Noche is back for 2019! Bringing together a creative concoction of Aotearoa’s rising and established movers and shakers. For one night only, their line-up is jam packed with dance, aerials, burlesque, boylesque, acrobatics, dance & beyond!

“I’mPaired” by Touch Compass flips the perception of impairment on its head, realising the beauty in everyone’s unique talent. This series of new works use a variety of Dance and Theatre genres that celebrates our diverse society. The work is as inspiring as it is experimental as the Company uses Dance, new technologies and collaborates with a diverse range of artists from other mediums to give the audience a sneak peak at the world through the Touch Compass lens.

Lakeside Multicultural Festival. A free event with four hours of dancing, singing and amazing colourful costumes from many ethnic groups living in Auckland. Featuring ethnic groups from Colombia, Chile, Peru, England, France, Spain, Romania, Dalmatian, Middle East, Korea China, Taiwan, Sira-Lanka, Ukraine, Russia and more.

We hope you will be entertained, challenged and inspired.

The Auckland Fringe Festival is a huge benefit to local artists, venues, production companies and above all, audiences. This festival is so important to our local community, because it gives aspiring artists an opportunity to showcase their work and gives our future production teams the professional experience they need.

The PumpHouse is proud to be an official venue for the Auckland Fringe Festival 2019 and to host five unmissable events. Why are they unmissable? Because these shows offer our audiences something new and different. Plus, they show off the incredible local talent we have here in Auckland.

Embrace the new and attend a Fringe show at The PumpHouse this month!

Oil and Water, Tues 19th February at 7:30pm. This show really encompasses everything that’s great about the Fringe. It’s a variety show; a devised performance of music, theatre, dance, comedy and poetry all centred around the theme of ‘Oil and Water’. Artists will engage with the theme individually in separate sketches to give you a thought-provoking, entertaining experience.

The Significant Stripper, Wed 20th – Thurs 21st February at 9pm. Tessa is an entertainer with a difference. She will be entertaining you with a cheeky stripagram that is a funny sexy, but not sexual, show. She is the only Fatagram in New Zealand and this big bold cheeky woman performs with passion, enjoyment and big laughs.

10 Years a Comedian, 3 in a Skirt, Wed 20th – Thurs 21st February at 7:30pm. Since 2008 Julia has been regularly performing comedy, covering topics as diverse as chicken sashimi & almond milk. In late 2015 she gave up the unequal fight and came out as a transgender woman, then started again with new material to reflect her transgender status. Julia will be performing six comedic acts from her first ten years as a comedian.

Tango Project, ‘Milonga De Cuatro’, Sun 24th February at 1pm and 3pm. This show gets together four independent musicians who were attracted by music from the most talented composers of Argentine Tango.

Lovepuke, Wed 27th Feb – Sat 2nd Mar at 8pm. Lovepuke is a raunchy and intense romp through the triumphs and pitfalls of the dating scene. Written by New Zealand playwright Duncan Sarkies (Scarfies, Flight of the Conchords) in the 90s, this one act play still has interesting things to say about love, sex and relationships, in the kind of way that can inspire many who watch to head home and engage with some heated moments that both can adjust to your liking, or to leave the night with a lighter spirit from the experience.

Also on Sat 23rd February at 7:45pm, don’t miss Dominic Blaazer and the Maximum Philharmonic Orchestra. After a packed house and superb reviews last year, Dominic and his talented 10-piece orchestra return for an evening of tight, melodic and poetic tunes.

Meet Ayesha.  Ayesha is a part time English teacher at Auckland Uni and has performed the role of Mistress Quickly (the role she reprises in our production) 49 years ago with the Shakespeare Society at St Stephens College at Delhi University.  She recently performed in one other play in NZ – Dara (at TAPAC) A play based on a period of Indian history.

Meet Miriana. One of our youngest performers having just completed year 13 – she’s performed pretty much continuously through school and local community theatre this last year.  She’s just finished treading the Devonport boards with her dad, comedian Willi De Wit in a self devised piece which they hope to resurrect for the comedy festival next year.

Meet Alice.  Born in China, she moved to NZ in the mid 90’s.  Shy as a small girl and disliking performing on stage, High School has seen her find her inner performer playing jazz piano at a talent quest.  Since then she has done a few commercials and participated in a competition for a TV presenter contract with Phoenix television in Hong Kong

Meet Duncan.  A UK export from Manchester, and having lived in NZ for just over a year, he is now a fully-fledged teacher having been snapped up by Sylvia Park school where he kicks off next year.   Acting came by accident to this Mancunian where he filled in for a friend at Uni when someone dropped out of the Crucible.  This will be Duncan’s third Shakespeare with Shoreside.

Our cast is an eclectic bunch.  Amongst us is an architect, a school administrator, a transport planner, teachers, school kids and a couple of retired folk.  And that’s where the magic of community theatre casts its spell.  It brings together a group of people, perhaps not likely to mix under usual circumstances and it throws them together – linked by a desire to perform.  Lob in a love of the bard and you have our two casts for the annual Outdoor Summer Shakespeare. 

No one gets paid.  People car pool, bus or bum rides to get to rehearsals.  Sometimes the paying job means you don’t quite make it to rehearsals.  Some offer props, or offer to make props or manage to obtain some small sponsorship to purchase props – usually from a supportive boss or through a family member.  Don’t quite know how many we’ll have to paint our set, but someone will put their hand up once the working bee is announced.

For Shoreside Theatre, our Outdoor Summer Shakespeare draws the most attendees to audition.  Why is that?  The fact of the matter is that Shakespeare writes for every(wo)man.  There is invariably a role for somebody, and invariably a somebody for that role.  It’s where men can play women and women can play men old can play young and young can play old.  It’s where people can sing and dance.  There’s dress ups, there’s fights, there’s love and hate and most of all – a collective creative process that is actually quite addictive for the performer – young and old, experienced and inexperienced.  It means that Shakespeare is the perfect fit for community theatre.

We are lucky at Shoreside Theatre. With the advent of the Pop up Globe, we have seen some regular Auckland based Shakespeare shows fall by the wayside – the University Summer Shakespeare is one popular one that has bowed out.  And to be honest, we’re not too sure how long we will be able to offer our season.  It’s not easy to compete without the marketing budget, the professional expertise, the corporate sponsorship.

But we are buoyed by the belief that there is space for us because there are a couple of reasons this local, amateur show is a great choice for an audience. By attending, you’re supporting the community – your family, your friends, your peers; we are a much less expensive option; and our lovely venue, The Amphitheatre at The Pumphouse, offers not only a rather charming intimate outdoor summer setting, but everyone gets a seat!

Kids can experience performing in a real theatre this summer at The PumpHouse Theatre. Join the Summer Holiday Drama Programme for two weeks of fun and performance.

Each day the group will be working towards a performance at the end of the session whilst learning confidence building, communication and drama skills. The programme is designed so your child can come for any set amount of days – whether that’s one day, a few days or two weeks!

The Tutor for the programme is Mags Delaney, The PumpHouse Theatre’s resident drama teacher, who has a background in primary education and theatre both here and in the UK.

Join us from 9:15 am – 3:00 pm daily. There will be two different weeks with different themes, you are welcome to join as many days in both weeks:

Week 1: 14th – 19th January

Theme: Happily Ever After?  – some familiar tales … with a twist ….

Princesses, dragons, fairies, bears, pigs and wolves etc but not as you usually hear about them.

Week 2: 21st – 25th January

Theme: Around the World in (less than) 80 Tales!

A world tour in stories. Travelling across the globe with stories from the five continents …

Cost is $50 per child per day. To book your child onto the programme, book online here or call The PumpHouse Box Office on 09 489 8360.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your… no!

That’s not how we celebrate Christmas here! It’s sometimes difficult to get into the true festive spirit in the scorching summer, so instead, why not try some of the swelteringly-hot Christmas shows we’ve got lined up for you:

Christmas Carols, 15 Dec at 5:00pm. $5 entry.

Join us again for Christmas Carols in The PumpHouse Amphitheatre! The PumpHouse Community Choir and North Shore Chorale will be performing everyone’s favourite Christmas songs which the audience can to sing along to.

Read More >>

A Very Merry Kiwimas, 17-22 Dec.

What makes a Kiwi Christmas special? Is it the beach? The barbeques? How will Santa cope in the 30-degree heat of a New Zealand summer? Find out in this hilarious family show.

Read More >>

A Christmas Carol, 20-21 Dec at 8:00pm.

A performed reading of the classic Christmas fable by Charles Dickens. Follow the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future as they lead the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge on a journey of transformation and redemption.

Read More >>

So whether you’re looking for a family-fun adventure with Santa or a Christmas Classic with Scrooge, your local theatre has you covered!

My Name is Rachel Corrie is an award-winning one-woman verbatim-style script, constructed from the diary entries and letters of 23-year old American activist, Rachel Corrie.

Rachel was a member of the International Solidarity Movement, which travelled to the Gaza Strip to help protect Palestinian homes from being destroyed by the Israeli Army. She was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003.

She was just 23 years old. What made a young woman leave her comfortable existence to fight for the rights of strangers in a war zone? Through Rachel’s words we are invited to confront the universal questions: How do we find our path in life? What impact do our actions have on others? and How can one individual change the world for the better? Written by Rachel Corrie.

The incident caused international scandal, and was further scrutinised through the media and courts. The play was jointly edited by actor Alan Rickman and journalist Katherine Viner, and was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2005. It has since been performed around the world to critical acclaim and has been translated into over a dozen languages.

We love this play because it lets loose the voice of a vibrant and intelligent young protagonist. But what made her act so dramatically on this desire – to leave a comfortable life to fight for the rights of strangers in a war zone? Was she running away from, or towards her responsibilities? Was she a hero, or simply naïve? As the play unfurls, Rachel’s words reveal a thrilling and intimate story of a passionate female with a fire in her belly.

Creative Team:

Director – Alexandra Whitham

Performer – Phoebe Borwick

Production Design – Poppy Serano

Sound & Lighting Design – Anna Bennington

Costume Design – Joan James

Producer – Rebekah Dack

Co-edited by actor/ director Alan Rickman, and journalist Katharine Vine

My Name is Rachel Corrie will be performed in the Coal Bunker Studio from 7th – 9th December. Book Tickets here.

Join the conversation.

On Saturday 8 December at 3.30pm there will be a kōrero following the matinee performance. Four female speakers from backgrounds in different areas of activism in Auckland will join cast and crew for a conversation around what it means to be an activist in Aotearoa in 2018.

You are warmly invited to join us for this conversation. This is a free event.

Our Discussion panelists are:

Janfrie Wakim – Human right’s activist, core member of the Child Poverty Action Group and writer.

Margaret Taylor – Activism Manager at Amnesty International.

Gabriella Brayne – Youth coordinator at Auckland Women’s Centre.

Teresa Lee – UN Youth NZ

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.

I-Start Chinese Theatre is a local theatre company with a unique perspective, creating works in Mandarin Chinese. There is definitely an appetite and space for these diverse offerings in Auckland and we welcome performances that can break the barriers of language and celebrate their own rich literature.

They present two shows at The PumpHouse Theatre this November. Both shows have intriguing storylines and themes, so don’t miss out!

Love Retreat, 配 · 爱 23 – 25 Nov

In the near future, most of women prefer to enjoy their own life instead of getting married and being a mother. But this has put the nation in population crisis….An unusual story! A Controversial theme! 这是一部荒诞又现实的话剧，故事发生在未来，却又都发生在我们的身边，这是一部关于爱情、婚姻、科技、人性选择的话剧，也许在这部剧中，你会看到你自己…

Book Tickets.