No Holds Bard Shakespeare Unleashed!

4 April 2013

For immediate release

No Holds Bard
Shakespeare Unleashed!

The show is over, the audience has left, and Hamlet comes home to his dingy flat to face the final curtain. But can he make up his mind to do it? Hilarity ensues when Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello arrive to help the hapless prince decide whether or not to be or not to be… or not.

Accomplished stage and screen actor and director Michael Hurst is the solo star of No Holds Bard which focuses on Hamlet, an insomniac who returns home to discover a script documenting the end of his life and begins some serious late-night soul searching. In this one-man show, Michael switches effortlessly between characters and melds his mastery of the Shakespearean form, building to a battle sequence where Hamlet unleashes 30 years of stage combat experience – on himself.

No Holds Bard sees Michael Hurst join forces with two of New Zealand's freshest writing talents, Natalie Medlock and Dan Musgrove, for an outrageous and at times profound view into one actor’s attempt at self destruction with an irreverent comic edge.

Michael Hurst is New Zealand’s premier performer of Shakespeare, and is best known by international audiences as Iolaus, Hercules’ sidekick in the cult series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and as a director of the TV series Spartacus. His contribution to New Zealand arts was acknowledged in 2003 with a Laureate Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand and again in 2005 when he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

No Holds Bard is the seventh play that Natalie Medlock and Dan Musgrove have written together since graduating from Toi Whakaari NZ Drama School in 2007. They are a young writing team specialising in eccentric, offbeat comedies and their writing talent has already been recognised nationally. Dan and Natalie currently both write for the popular New Zealand television serial Shortland Street.

No Holds Bard is being presented by the Central North Island Arts Consortium, a collective including the TSB Showplace in New Plymouth, Clarence St. Theatre in Hamilton and the Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings. Supported by funding from Creative New Zealand, No Holds Bard will be the first performance presented by the Consortium this year. “No Holds Bard is an exciting production from Royale Productions who specialise in new works that push theatrical boundaries, excite audiences, and challenge the status quo”, says Megan Brown, Venue Manager at the TSB Showplace. “We’re thrilled to be bringing such a high-quality performance to these regional centres and giving local audiences in Taranaki, Waikato and Hawke’s Bay the opportunity to see Shakespeare in a new light.”

No Holds Bard - Central North Island Arts Consortium Tour Dates

TSB Showplace, New Plymouth
Thursday 9 May, 7:30pm
Bookings for performance: Ticketmaster 0800 111 999, www.ticketmaster.co.nz

Clarence Street Theatre, Hamilton
Friday 10 May, 7:30pm
Bookings for performance: Ticketek - 0800 TICKETEK, www.ticketek.co.nz

Hawke’s Bay Opera House, Hastings
Saturday 11 May, 7:30pm
Bookings for performance: Ticketek - 0800 TICKETEK, www.ticketek.co.nz

ENDS

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