Dates and times
Wed, Oct 7 - 7:30pm Preview Night
Thu, Oct 8 - 7:30pm
Fri, Oct 9 - 7:30pm
Sat, Oct 10 - 4:00pm Matinee
Sun, Oct 11 - 4:00pm Matinee
Tue, Oct 13 - 7:30pm
Wed, Oct 14 - 11:00am Matinee
Wed, Oct 14 - 7:30pm
Thu, Oct 15 - 7:30pm
Fri, Oct 16 - 7:30pm
Sat, Oct 17 - 2:00pm Matinee
Sat, Oct 17 - 7:30pm
Sun, Oct 18 - 4:00pm Matinee
Venue
The PumpHouse Theatre
Prices
Earlybird Adult $55.00
Earlybird Senior (65+) $45.00
Earlybird Group 10+ $50.00
Friends of The PumpHouse $49.00
Student $49.00
Equity Member $49.00
Earlybird Pricing Ends on 23rd September
After this date, prices will be:
Adult $59.00
Senior (65+) $49.00
Group 10+ $55.00
Preview (Wednesday 7th October)
All Tickets $39.00
Additional fees
| Booking Fee | $7.50 per booking |
| Card Processing Fee | 2.5% |
How to get tickets
Buy tickets online now from The PumpHouse Theatre box office:
Event type
About
It’s Election Night in New Zealand.
Disenchanted with the major political parties, Kiwi voters surprise everyone by giving their vote to a rank outsider, the POP party, which is unfortunately vastly under-prepared to govern in any way. Election night is farcical enough – what then ensues will have you laughing out loud.
Kiwi comedy at its best, from New Zealand playwright Dave Armstrong.
The Surprise Party is a madcap take on politics, MMP and the political relationships that dominate NZ today. A high-energy comedy about a bumbling political party hoping to survive another election. Originally written by Dave Armstrong in 2020, he has updated his script for this production, to be staged by Tadpole Productions just before another New Zealand election.
Directed by former Auckland Theatre Company Artistic Director Colin McColl ONZM, Colin has had a long career in Television, Opera and Theatre performance, production and direction. The well-known cast includes Stephen Papps and Alison Quigan as Doug and Kerry, with Brayden Cresswell, Shauntelle Jones, and Ben Porter.
With modern-day politics feeling more like a satire of itself, The Surprise Party takes a swipe at idealistic, uncompromising and increasingly humour-resistant factions. The Popular Front (POPS) party, led by Doug the figurehead and Kerry his 2IC, gather to watch the election results, with increasingly mixed feelings. In the current world climate, over-the-top political antics are sadly increasingly mainstream, but the play is a reminder that in this divided age we have more similarities than differences, regardless of our party preferences, and we are all only human. Enabling compromise is the only solution.
And we can – and should – always share a laugh.
SHOW INFORMATION
Runtime
Approx. 2 hours with an interval
Age Recommendation
All ages
Advisory
Presented By
