Roger Hall's Glide Time

a Silo Theatre Media Announcement

Silo Theatre presents Roger Hall’s
GLIDE TIME

June 14 - July 1 at the Maidment Theatre

Roger Hall.s classic 1970s theatre piece GLIDE TIME is being revived in glorious beige by some of the biggest stars of the New Zealand stage, in a triumphant 30th Anniversary production.

GLIDE TIME.S public servants have won a special place in the hearts of audiences throughout the country since Hall.s legacy to New Zealand theatre and television began thirty years ago. With his gritty social realism and deliciously awkward comedy, Hall preceded contemporary ob-com shows such as THE OFFICE and LITTLE BRITAIN by several decades.

And now Silo Theatre, which is recognised for its hugely popular re-workings of classics such as UNDER MILKWOOD, THE WOMEN and THE BOYS IN THE BAND, has picked GLIDE TIME as fertile ground ready to be mined for vintage comedy.

The basis for the popular 1980s TV series GLIDING ON (and its sequel MARKET FORCES), Roger Hall’s GLIDE TIME is directed by Oliver Driver, whose production of THE GOAT with Michael Hurst and Jennifer Ward-Lealand played to capacity audiences last year and was named Production of the Year (and Best Actor and Actress) by METRO magazine.

Craig Parker is returning from London for the production, and he will be joined by some of the finest actors in New Zealand including Theresa Healey, Simon Prast, Greg Johnson, David Van Horn, Colin Moy and Stuart Devenie. Tim Balme will also join the cast for the last few performances, when Parker has to return to his off-shore Lord of the Rings fan duties.

.Wellington, I HATE you!.

- Opening line, GLIDE TIME

Driver and cast will venture back to the stores branch of a New Zealand department of the Public Service in 1976, where John, Hugh, Jim, Michael and good old Beryl are forced to work together on a daily basis in a job none of them likes.

The clock ticks. The rain pelts down. The heaters don’t work. The phone rings. The in-tray overflows.

Clipboards and circulars rule. And there’s a promotion to be had.

An institutionally-overbearing set by John Verryt and authentic costumes from Rachael Walker will only serve to enhance the comical blandness of the decade. Though Roger Hall has said he has been tempted to bring it up to date, he decided against it as GLIDE TIME is .firmly based in the seventies..

ENDS

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