The Trip of Life Time. The Comedy of the Year

The Trip of Life Time. The Comedy of the Year. The Holiday from Hell.

Auckland Theatre Company brings New Zealand’s best-loved playwright, Roger Hall new play FOUR FLAT WHITES IN ITALY to audience across the North Island this June and July.

Opening at SKYCITY Theatre on 11 June the show plays in Auckland and the North Shore for a month before going on the road to Hamilton, New Plymouth and Tauranga.

In classic Hall style, brilliant one liners mix with satiric insight to give audiences a highly entertaining and totally recognisable treat about travel hi-jinks and holiday misadventures.

Venice! Rome! Tuscany! With a copy of Lonely Planet in one hand and an Italian phrase book in the other, recently retired librarians Adrian and Alison feel prepared to face the excitement of la bella Italia.

But when their best friends suddenly drop out of the trip, are they really ready to share their precious holiday with their new neighbours? And will Adrian’s wandering eye make it impossible for Alison to keep him on their busy sightseeing schedule?

From Viagra to Vespas, bingeing to budgeting, Michelangelo to la dolce vita, this is one journey they’ll never forget – they may even need a holiday to recover!

Janice Finn is back in the director’s chair for the production. One of New Zealand’s most experienced theatre and television directors and actors, Roger Hall is familiar territory for Finn having directed TAKE A CHANCE ON ME for Auckland Theatre Company in 2002 and WHO WANTS TO BE 100?, SPREADING OUT and CINDERELLA for other companies.

After establishing herself as a leading actress of her generation, Finn shot to fame in New Zealand as the co-creator and producer of the iconic Kiwi “supersoap”, GLOSS.

The hit show provided her with a platform to launch a parallel career as a television producer alongside her acting career. Finn went on to produce MARLIN BAY, head up Communicado and Touchdown and later became Commissioning Editor for TVNZ.

FOUR FLAT WHITES is headlined by a fine cast of New Zealand theatre veterans. George Henare, Stuart Devenie, Annie Whittle, Darien Takle take to the stage as the four kiwis finding themselves as well as the world. Toni Potter, last on stage with the company as Maggie the Cat in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF in 2008 plays all the Italian women and Peter Daube all the Italian men the two couples encounter on their trip.

“Roger Hall always has his finger on the pulse of the baby boomer generation”, says actor George Henare, “FOUR FLAT WHITES IN ITALY is a vintage Hall comedy. We’ve all got stories to tell about our OE gone wrong – it’s the mad things that happen along the way that really make a holiday right, those are the funny tales people really tell when they get home.

“In FOUR  FLAT WHITES IN ITALY, Roger’s unique take on the kiwis abroad teases out the particular strengths and humour of the Kiwi character much more clearly,” adds Stuart Devenie, “and the set is so warm and Italian looking it’s real recession holiday”,  he quips.

Continuing a long tradition of presenting Hall’s plays, Auckland Theatre Company Artistic Director, Colin McColl, says “Roger is celebrated for guiding the baby boomer generation through the share-market crash, middle-age and retirement.

“FOUR FLAT WHITES IN ITALY touches on the pleasures and pitfalls of the big OE with your friends,  this wonderful play is a devastatingly accurate and funny insight into the Kiwi character – everyone will recognise the situations and compromises we make to travel with our friends!”, says McColl.
FOUR FLAT WHITES IN ITALY plays the following dates:

Auckland        Skycity Theatre,

Dates              11 June – 4 July

Book               0800 Ticketek (842 538), www.ticketek.co.nz

North Shore  Bruce Mason Centre

Dates              9 July – 11 July

Book               Ticket Master, 0800 111 999, www.ticketmaster.co.nz

Hamilton        Clarence Street Theatre

Dates              15 July – 18 July

Book               Ticket Direct, 0800 224 224, www.ticketdirect.co.nz

New Plymouth          Taranaki Arts Festival, TSB Theatre

Dates              24 – 26 July

Book               Ticketek, 0800 ticketek (842 538), www.ticketek.co.nz

Tauranga       Baycourt Theatre

Date                July 30 – August 2

Book               Ticket direct, 0800 484 2538, www.ticketdirect.co.nz

ENDS

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