Archive News
Classic New Zealand poem inspiration for award winning play - 11 Sep 2009
‘When Tom and Elizabeth took the farm, the bracken made their bed and
quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle, the magpies said.’
The words from the classic poem The Magpies, written by New
Zealand poet, Dennis Glover, were the inspiration behind Gary Henderson’s
award-winning play, Skin Tight playing at Tauranga Art
Gallery, at 8pm Friday 18 September.
Henderson’s stirring opus is one of yearning and memory, and won him a Fringe First Award at Edinburgh. This masterpiece of
New Zealand theatre is humorous, poignant and moving, an experience rich with
sensuality and emotion. Set in post war rural south
Canterbury, Tom and Elizabeth share the tale of their lives together through triumph
and loss, joy and pain, delighting in the
trivial things and mourning the greatest losses of all. The audience is gripped
from the outset by a relationship that is at once tempestuous, touching,
amusing and utterly engaging. Sia Trokenheim, who started
her acting as a child in her home country of Sweden, plays the part of
Elizabeth, while Matt Hudson plays Tom.
In the words of Theatreview’s
Lindsay Clark, “The actors inhabit their roles as if they knew no other
life. Sia Trokenheim is lithe and
spontaneous as Elizabeth. Her
total conviction is matched by a beautifully judged performance from Matt
Hudson as Tom. Both have the
ability and control to refine their roles with telling detail.” The production is enhanced by
the musical sound scapes of Luke Di Somma, currently on a Fulbright scholarship
in New York, and director, Jon Pheloung. Playwright Gary Henderson was
born in Geraldine in South Canterbury, the setting for the play and is now
based in Auckland as a writer and director. Charged with intensity and passion, Skin Tight is a story that
will stay with you for a long time to come. Tickets are $25, or $20 for
Friends of the Gallery and group bookings of five or more. Tickets are
available at the Gallery.
© 2009