The Play Press – förlag

Two one act plays from two of New Zealand's leading young playwrights, which both began as hits of Young and Hungry Festivals at BATS Theatre, Wellington. 'Fold' is set among five grisly birthday celebrations arranged and grimly enjoyed by five jaundiced and peculiar partygoers. The ugly views and behaviour of this group of weird, semi-clothed acquaintances finally degenerates into a chaotic soup of insecurity, obsession and scary self-analysis, as they sense their putrid attitudes becoming increasingly absurd and irrelevant. (1 act, 5 male, 4 female). 'Shudder' has been described as 'Under Milkwood on acid'. The play takes a contemporary look at the colourful underworld of Wellington's subcultures. Follow the lives of Sleezeboy, Polly and a cast of thousands as they slowly begin to realise all is not right with the world. What will people say and do when the big one hits? Do we get down on our knees and pray, or go out looting? A stylistic ensemble drama. (1 act, 8 male, 11 female).

Pacific Underground's groundbreaking play Fresh Off the Boat, written by Oscar Kightley and Simon Small, which examines the tragi-comic trials and tribulations of an immigrant family and their attempts to make sense of their new home -- Samoan life in the Big Smoke -- has been published at long last.

In this ingenious commingling of darkness and high comedy, the bland, peculiar and quietly desperate inhabitants of the local mall go about their days, unaware that a food court attendant is planning their destruction. Dean's Diary tracks the would-be film-maker's progress through tedious days in a dead-end job in the cinema complex alleviated by attempts to find the right medication and sneaking into the tail end of movies he is certain he could make better "sitting on the crapper". His general fantasies of death and destruction -- which make him feel strangely alive -- are accompanied by a more specific desire to kill his hated supervisor and/or their bigger boss, Adam. Sound bites of breaking news clips surf across the dial, bookend and punctuate the 11 days the play covers, characterising a wider world awash in often violent events over which we have no control, to which we too easily become acclimatised and inured. (1 act, 3 male, 3 female).

'Frangipani Perfume' brings fresh insight into the reality of Pacific Island women in New Zealand. Urale examines the tension between tradition and the reality of living in contemporary Western society. This is a powerful and accessible play, defined by its dynamic characterisations, and skating along the borders between broad comedy, feminist politics and the gentle lyricism of images and language originating in the natural beauty of the Pacific Islands. (1 act, 3 female). 'Mapaki' is a critically acclaimed one woman play, first performed by the author, Mapaki is the Niuean word for broken. This is a powerful work about a Niuean woman (Fisi) who is a victim of domestic violence and fantasy. Mapaki seeks to explore the emotional fragility and understanding Fisi undertakes to overcome her abusive situation. (1 act, 1 female).

An exotic tragi-comic epic with romantic overtones, 'Baghdad, Baby!' is a perfect balance of humour, politics, broken hearts and outrage. Very few audience members leave without feeling their personal beliefs have been shaken, whatever their convictions or stance on the Americans' -- and New Zealand's -- policy in the Middle East. However, this is primarily a play about people, our common humanity; how, when faced with violence and our need for love and security, we all want the same fundamental things. 'Baghdad, Baby!' was nominated for Best Play, Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards 2005, and is currently in pre-production for a season at the Pacific Theatre in London. Always a writer with strong political convictions, Dean Parker has been encouraged by the new wave of political dramas of the last few years, and has produced New Zealand's own; a funny, confident, mature and highly contemporary political play. He completely avoids propaganda and rant, and presents all points of view lucidly, with humour, tolerance and compassion, without ever dropping the 'entertainment' ball. The play encourages readers to question all prejudice; politicians', journalists', and their own assumptions of human nature at war. It also gives an unusual perspective on New Zealand's place in the world, and is an object lesson in how to write powerful, poignant and affecting political theatre, so is also a valuable resource for our rapidly growing crowd of script and screenplay writing students. Cast: 4 male; 2 female.

Loser is a winner! A high school reunion provides fertile territory for an inspired piece of high-spirited mayhem. Six ex-classmates turn up for their 10 year celebration providing material for an hilarious pitch black/zit pink comedy, emotionally charged, over-the-top, and embarrassingly close to the bone. It's a wild mix of searing exposes of the ruthless cruelties and absurdities of school life, of all its painful and side-splittingly funny realities.

"The Christmas Monologues" -- Christmas! What a wonderful time of year! You have got your carols, your Christmas trees, your tinsel, your family gatherings, your rigid timetables, your geriatric relations alone in their hospice; you've got diseased turkey on the bone, lascivious elves, your revengeful tree decorators, your stringent religious practices, and your sweatshop made Christmas crackers...The Christmas Monologues are a series of stories dealing with the dark and macabre of a holiday we all cherish. An hilarious expose of undercooked festive underbelly. . . (1 male, 7 female). "Sit On It" -- set entirely in the loos of a trendy night-club, no-holds-barred writing at its best. Through and through a comedy -- a sharp-witted expose of one of the most sacred rituals of female bonding; a knickers-wetting revisit of all the most embarrassing episodes ever experienced in the ladies. (2 male, 11 female).

Billy, a writer, is reliant on teaching scriptwriting for a living and the bottle for oblivion; his sense of self-worth is teetering on the edge. When Mac, his best friend, a banker and would-be producer, offers him a screenplay to write, the offer is not all it seems. . . "Anyone can write . . . Writing is the great free market of artistic expression. There's no exams to pass, no subs to pay, no fees, no licence. It's open slather. Entirely self-regulatory. You can do whatever you please. Like banking." A play for anyone who has tried to write a screenplay -- or teach creative writing . . .

This is NZ's first 'Graphic Play', presented as a series of full colour drawings and text, and designed to be imaginatively interpreted for the stage. It tells the story of an airplane, who, when it realises it shouldn't physically be able to fly, begins plummeting to its death. It is up to one of the passengers, to convince the airplane that there is a point in continuing to fly or else he, and hundreds more, will die when the plane crashes. It's as ideal for a skilled, professional ensemble as it is for a collective of young, intelligent, adventurous devisers hungry for an extremely unusual and exciting challenge. It will hold equal audience appeal for small children and cynical old adults.