Provocative Play Guardians To Premiere in May

28 April 2008 For immediate release

Two Stories | One War | Many Truths

Guardians

Provocative Play Guardians To Premiere in Wellington in May

Two of the most controversial events to emerge from the Iraq war take centre stage in the internationally acclaimed play Guardians which has its New Zealand premiere at Bats Theatre in Wellington in May.

‘Dumb American Girl’ becomes the world’s scapegoat when photographs of prisoner abuse from Abu Ghraib are revealed; while ‘Savvy English Boy’ attempts to advance his journalism career by faking similar photographs and causes a tabloid sensation.

He’s exposed as a fake; she goes to prison. Somewhere in between lie the beginnings of the truth.

GladEye Productions presents Guardians at Bats Theatre from Tuesday 27 May for a two week season. The Wellington season is directed by Damon Andrews (Wheeler’s Luck) and features Heather O’Carroll (The Country) and Sam Snedden (The Hollow Men).

Surprisingly funny and often grossly frank, the two disparate stories from the ‘War on Terror’ force us to question the undeniable power of artifice and the media in our scandal-loving world.

“I wanted to treat these scandals in a dramatic context,” says the play’s London-based playwright Peter Morris.

"Their obvious direct similarities reflect the larger issues they raise, primarily that of America: its role in the world, the low esteem in which the educated British public holds it and whether or not its actions are justifiable. I don't intend to answer these questions, merely to pose them."

Guardians debuted at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it received rave reviews and was awarded a Fringe First Award. In October 2006 it moved to London and played at Theatre 503 where it was performed by the Mahwaff Theatre Company and it has since had a season in New York by The Culture Project.

“5 stars! Memorable, moving and disturbing… Peter Morris’s script is very fine indeed” – The Scotsman

Guardians plays at Bats Theatre, Wellington from 27 May to 11 June at 8.30pm (no show Sundays or Mondays. Book by phoning 04 802 4175 or email book@bats.co.nz

ENDS

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