A Titanic Opening for Q

Media Release –
For Immediate Release

SmackBang Theatre Company presents
RAISING THE TITANICS
Written by Albert Belz. Directed by Raymond Hawthorne

A Titanic Opening for Q

After the success of the 2010 season (earning “Best New Play” in the NZ Listener awards), SmackBang Theatre Company’s Raising the Titanic’s is setting off on a tour around NZ, the last stop will be Auckland city, opening the brand new Q from September 1st 2011.

The play journeys from the present back to the golden age of the Maori show band era to reveal what really sunk the Titanics, who were perhaps the greatest Maori show band never to have existed. Somewhere beneath the oceans of music, mirth and memory lies the truth.

Once more harking back to a time when bands like The Quin Tikis and Maori Volcanics were in vogue and at the top of the charts, Raising The Titanics is a testament to the Maori Showbands of the 1950’s and 1960’s, these remarkable groups changed the face of New Zealand’s musical landscape and paved the way for future New Zealand musicians. The showbands contained elements from popular entertainment as well as traditional Maori culture, the humour and energy of the performers created a truly unique musical style that put NZ on the map.

However it is also a story of discovery, dark secrets, whanau and redemption, the play will time travel from the heyday of the band, to the present day, where one woman’s investigation may uncover what made the band fall apart.

The intricate webbing of the cast of characters, past and present, is yet another fine example of the penship of Chapman Tripp award winner Albert Belz (Your’s Truly, Whero’s New Net), who has received accolades for his work in theatre, film and television since 2001. Raymond Hawthorne one of New Zealand’s most senior practioners in the performing arts, once more helms this celebrated production.

The show brings together some familiar faces from the 2010 production along with some new talent. Tama Waipara, Wesley Dowdell and Faye Smythe all reprise their previous roles, while Lana Garland (host of Food in a Minute, Shortland Street) Roimata Fox (Supercity, Outrageous Fortune) and Jamie McCaskill (He Reo Aroha, Armslength) will bring new energy to the production.

“Make the punters laugh and make them cry and you have a winner! Albert Belz’s Raising the Titanics, a theatrical homage to Billy T James, Prince Tui Teka and the Maori showbands of the 1950s and 60s, is just that.”- New Zealand Listener
“Raising the Titanics is nostalgic in all the right ways… Belz masterfully moves the story through twists and turns, with frequent diversions into song, to a conclusion that left me with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye.” – Jodi Yeats, The Big Idea

“Quick, someone get this band an agent. A homage to the Maori showbands of the 1960s, the Titanics have all the harmonies, musicality, glamour and humour of their heroes.”
-Janet Mcallister, The New Zealand Herald
RAISING THE TITANICS NZ TOUR
Dargaville – Wednesday 20th July (Dargaville Town Hall)
Kerikeri - Saturday 23rd July (Turner Centre)
Whangarei -Friday 29th July and Saturday 30th July (Forum North)
Christchurch Arts Festival - Sunday 7, Monday 8 & Tuesday 9 August @ 6.30pm (The Dome)
Taranaki Arts Festival - 16 - 18 August, (Theatre Royal)
Taranaki Arts Festival regional tour Hawera - 20 - 21 August (Memorial Theatre)
Waitakere- 25 -27 August (Glen Eden Playhouse)

Auckland - Opening Q
29 August – September 17
Raising The Titanics plays
1st – 17th September, 2011
Q, Queen Street, Auckland
Tickets: Book at Q
www.qtheatre.co.nz
09 309 9771
305 Queen Street, Auckland

ENDS

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