The University Theatre Ensemble presents
The Tempest
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Peta Downes
RIVERINA PLAYHOUSE
1st – 15th November
Love..Tragedy..Comedy
The University Theatre Ensemble is proud to stage for its last production for 2008 William Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST. A play that has delighted audiences for almost 400 years and is regarded as Shakespeare’s last complete work, THE TEMPEST is described by The Royal Shakespeare Company as “Shakespeare’s magical last play, his poignant farewell to the stage – has love, tragedy and comedy combined in equal measure”.
Returning from a royal wedding in Tunis, the political rulers of Italy including the King Alonso and the heir to the throne, Ferdinand are shipwrecked on a strange Mediterranean island by a tempestuous storm. We soon learn that this tempest has been conjured by a vengeful Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, who was deposed in a political coup twelve years earlier by members of this political party.
Along with his three year old daughter Miranda, Prospero was put to sea in a small boat with little hope of survival. Presumed dead by those in Italy, they instead arrived at this island inhabited by spirits and shadows where Prospero, already well-versed in the art of magic, begins to refine and strengthen his powers. Assisted by Ariel, a spirit of nature rescued by Prospero from eternal entrapment, the deposed Duke begins his game of revenge on the shipwrecked group. As his actions turn the group against each other and the true nature of revenge reveals itself, Prospero chooses forgiveness over retribution and charts a course for calmer waters and a peaceful end to his journey.
THE TEMPEST is directed by visiting lecturer, Peta Downes. Peta has worked as a producer, director, arts educator and performer. She has worked with the Bell Shakespeare Company as an associate director and educator, writing and directing three works for their Actors at Work program and conducting Shakespeare master-classes and workshops for the company across Australia. She has also worked as an actor trainer for Sydney’s Actors Centre and Actor’s College of Theatre and Television.
Director Peta Downes says of the play “THE TEMPEST was written by Shakespeare to be a sensory and theatrical experience. Centred on the ideas of love, the natural order of things, magical power and the spiritual world, THE TEMPEST is both a comedy and drama with easily recognisable characters that combine to represent the different sides of human nature. THE TEMPEST is when the forces of nature conspire to right past wrongs and restore natural order to the world”.
THE TEMPEST is cast from third year graduating students in CSU’s BA in Acting for Screen and Stage, and designed and stage managed by third year students from the BA Design for Theatre and Television.
THE TEMPESTplays at the Riverina Playhouse, Wagga Wagga from 1st – 15th November, Thursdays to Saturdays, at 8.00 pm with a matinee performance on Saturday 15th November at 2pm. Tickets can be booked at the Civic Theatre Booking Office, telephone 6926 9688, or BOOK HERE. Tickets are also available at the door.
The Children’s Medical Research Institute will once again be presenting their highly popular and successful Christmas Fair on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 November. This year the Fair will return to the Racecourse after its temporary move last year owing to the outbreak of equine influenza. There will still be plenty of specialty stalls with Christmas gift ideas for everyone, lunch and morning and afternoon teas will be served and there will be entertainment for the children. The combined Catholic College Band will entertain on Friday and there will be a barbecue on Saturday. Admission is $5, with children 14 years of age and under admitted free. Opening hours will be 10am to 6pm on Friday and 9.30am to 4pm on Saturday.
Wagga School of Arts (SOACT) have chosen Babe The Sheep Pig by David King as their final production for 2008. It is a piece of theatre for children that has universal appeal because the story is an enchanting tale of high adventure in the life of a piglet who finds a new home with a sheep farmer. Babe is won by Farmer Hoggett at the village fair and an extraordinary friendship develops, one that changes the whole farm. Babe finds a new mother in the old sheep dog Fly and fast learns the herding instincts, much to the surprise and wonder of all the animals and the farmer.
Skins Turner is the director of “Babe” and has a strong cast of actors including John Kane as Farmer Hoggett, Jill Tucker as Mrs Hogget , Mitchell Wright as Babe, Jennie Moynihan as Fly. Support cast members are Bob Hitchens, Narada Edgar, Elizabeth Fletcher, Ben Rankmore, Isabel Mulrooney, Madison Turner, Courtney Turner, Maddie Turner, and Hannah Marshman.
Audiences are in for a treat as the amazing pig not only succeeds at the Grand Challenge Sheep Dog Trials but also shows extreme bravery against the wild predator dogs, charming all and sundry with his outstanding good manners. Babe’s story is a feel good experience that offers good entertainment.
Babe the Sheep Pig runs from November 20 through to December 6, Thursdays to Sundays, at the Riverina Playhouse. Evening performances commence at 7 pm and the five matinee performances at 1pm. Tickets are available at the Wagga Civic Theatre, phone 69269688, or BOOK HERE.
Leanne Nicol’s Academy of Ballet will be presenting their 12th Annual Concert at the Wagga Civic Theatre on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 November. The programme will showcase students of the academy and the Riverina Conservatorium of Music and will include classical divertissements plus a variety of dance genres from lyrical to hip hop and vocal performances.
Leanne is the principal of the Wagga Academy of Dance which she established in January 1997. Her early training was with Miss Edna Busse OAM, and during the 1980s she danced lead roles with the Inland Ballet. She later trained in Sydney with Elaine Michele who, like Edna Busse, was a member of the Borovansky Ballet Company, the forerunner of the Australian Ballet. Before returning to Wagga, Leanne was Deputy Principal of the Edouard Borovansky Memorial Dance Academy in North Sydney. Leanne has also taught Dance and Movement in the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Charles Sturt University.
Book at the Theatre, phone 6926 9688 or BOOK HERE.
Author Barbara Anne Nixon writes ‘The Royal Bloodline is my lineage, which was revealed as the Holy Grail in the Da Vinci Code book and movie. (Other sources have made Christian religions deny Jesus Christ was married with children.) My journey's blessed message is guided by Mary MacKillop and Mother Mary in my dreams (night), meditations and powerful spiritual disciplines, being The Great Work. Multiple globally known people, on the “other side”(Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, Victor Chang, Elvis, Marilyn Munro and many more) have supported by visits, as well as renown icons in my spiritual disciplines being Archangel Michael, Ganesha, Unicorn, Pegasus to name a few.’
Pick Ups by Alex Broun, directed by Rohan Maloy.
Pick Ups, Alex Broun’s most produced full-length play, has had critics all over the world raving about this hysterical insight into the lighter (and darker) sides of modern dating. The talented cast of five include Ben Pritchard, Iain Wright, Jesse Dugan, Kylie Gilchrist and Savannah Ankers, who bring to life a myriad of ‘Pick-uppers’ and ‘pick-upees’ (over 30 to be exact) in every combination imaginable, all under the direction of Rohan Malloy.
Watch as over the course of one night we see twosomes, threesomes, foursomes and more-somes undertake the subtle (and not so subtle) art of flirting. Pickups in High-class bars, pick-ups in seedy nightclubs, Pickups in restaurants, pickups in Theatres and even pickups in bathrooms, there are lines that everybody knows and some you wish you never knew or said.
This outrageous international comedy hit was nominated for the Vita Award for Best Play in South Africa in 1998 - and has since gone on to almost 20 productions across the globe. Described as “Hilarious!" - Daily Telegraph; "A truly remarkable piece of theatre." - Natal Mercury; "Like a Quentin Tarantino movie on stage." - Time Out, London; "Great lines... an insight into the mating game." - On the Street; "Wrings out the laughs." - Sydney Morning Herald, this is a captivating play and is a must see for anyone who has ever been on the singles market.
Pick Ups is a virtual encyclopaedia about the art of scoring big and striking out spectacularly. With lines that are being trotted out in nightspots all over Wagga Wagga tonight, a night on the town will never be the same again.
Pick Ups plays at the Bass Bar (above the Home Hotel), November 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29. Tickets are $25.00 for adults, $20.00 for concession and $15.00 for student rush (at the door only), ticket prices include finger food. For bookings and information please contact the Civic Theatre Booking Office on 02 6926 9688 or BOOK HERE