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one man banned productions presents Maurice Shadbolt’s
Centenary Commemoration
29 Jul - 8 Aug 2015
At Air Force Museum,
Christchurch
ONE M AN BA N N E D PRODU CTI ONS
Once On Chunuk Bair is One Man Banned
Productions’ contribution to the 2015
Centenary commemorations of World War I.
One Man Banned Productions is an
independent professional Christchurch
theatre company founded by Martin Howells
and Helen Moran and supported by Imagine
Charitable Trust. Helen and Martin have
worked extensively in theatre and collaborate with other artists for
particular theatre events, as well as mounting their own productions.
One Man Banned Productions is committed to producing excellent
independent professional theatre for Christchurch and to creating
employment opportunities for theatre professionals within an exciting
collaborative artistic environment.
The first One Man Banned production was The Secret Lives of Henry
and Alice by David Tristram – a sparkling comedy starring Howells and
Moran, which played for two seasons in Christchurch and toured to
Wanaka and Timaru.
Productions where they have collaborated with other companies
include Geography of Loss (2014), Scaramouche Jones (2011) and
The Bone Keeper’s Story (2010).
Soldiers occupying a trench before the assault on Chunuk Bair. Read, J C :Images of the Gallipoli campaign. Ref: 1/4-058131-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington
DIRE C TOR ’ S NOTE :
Once On Chunuk Bair is a play about the disastrous Gallipoli campaign
of 1915 and one specific event that occurred on August 8th when New
Zealand troops took the high ground of Chunuk Bair overlooking the
Turkish army.
The play was written in 1982 at a time when New Zealand’s political
landscape was in a state of flux and Shadbolt was definitely standing
well to the left of the middle ground. The 1st World War hastened
colonial New Zealand’s march toward independence and Shadbolt is
not reticent about expressing his own political bias through the left wing
views of Sergeant Frank. It is, however, to Shadbolt’s credit that his
subjectivity is sublimated to the greater good of the play.
Informed by the work of a talented cast, it became clear that, like
all effective theatre, Once On Chunuk Bair told a story – the story of
twelve individuals placed in an extraordinary and grotesque situation.
The short, intimate scenes in the play easily lent themselves to their
retelling on film, and ten years after its stage debut the play was indeed
made into a NZ feature film.
Once On Chunuk Bair remains, however, first and foremost a piece
of theatre. It brings to the stage a story set against history, but more
importantly, a story set against the background of our common
humanity: our hopes, fears, strengths and weaknesses. With the use of
MAUR IC E S H AD B OLT
subtle lighting changes and a sometimes stylized soundscape, I hope
to transcend the naturalism of the play to enable you, the audience, to
fully immerse yourselves in the lives of the protagonists.
Our hope is that everyone involved in this production has not only given
worthwhile substance to Shadbolt’s play, but has also honoured the
memory of past New Zealanders, while at the same time underlining
the fact that – whatever side you’re on – war is always a tragedy.
Martin Howells
(1 932 – 2 0 0 4 )
Maurice Shadbolt was a major New Zealand fiction writer and playwright.
He published numerous novels and collections of short fiction, as well as
novellas, non-fiction, and a play. His writing often drew on his own family
history. Shadbolt won several fellowships and almost every major literary
prize, some more than once. NZ BOOK COUNCIL WEBSITE Shadbolt talks about the play: he describes his indebtedness to the first
company who performed it in 1982, to colleagues whose family stories
helped him to find a way in to the material, and to historians and veterans.
“For the record, this play was first conceived beside the Dardanelles,
among the excavated remains of a small classical theatre in Troy, the
day after an emotionally numbing visit to Anzac Cove and Chunuk Bair in
1977… Characters took shape from soldiers diaries, memoirs and other
documents of the Dardanelles campaign. While preparing the text I have
been immensely grateful for the personal reminiscences of a number of
now elderly Anzacs, and in particular of three of the very few who will
survive to tell the tale of Chunuk Bair: Harvey Johns, Charlie Clark, and Dan
Curham (all of the Wellington Battalion). Thucydides surely had such men in
mind when he wrote, 2400 years ago: ‘They dared beyond their strength,
hazarded against their judgement, and in extremities were of an excellent
hope.’
Maurice Shadbolt August 1982
H I S T OR IC BACKGRO UN D
World War One was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand of Austria on the 28 June 1914. Britain declared war
on Germany on the 4 August, when Germany invaded France. This
effectively brought the entire British Empire into the conflict. New
Zealand was still very much part of the British Empire and most of the
New Zealand Expeditionary Force volunteered to fight. New Zealand
committed 120,000 people to the war effort, around 10% of the
population. For many, this was the only way to get near the mother
country.
the massive losses on the Western Front, the Gallipoli campaign was to
be a huge marker in the development of the national identities of New
Zealand, Australia and Turkey.
The events of the play take place from dawn until sunset on 8 August
1915 when the Wellington Infantry Brigade took Chunuk Bair as part of
the Sari Baba Offensive on the Turkish lines. Chunuk Bair was the only
target that was successfully held, if only for two days.
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS) sailed for the
Mediterranean. Meantime, the Ottoman Empire joined the war and the
ANZACS were diverted to Alexandria, Egypt, arriving on the 3 December
prepared to combat the Turkish forces on the Gallipoli peninsula.
TECHNICAL AND SUPPORT:
Nobby/Dusty
Shaquille Stirling
Smiler
Jonathan Martin
Porky
Tom Trevella
Mac
Lance McBride
Holy
David Allen
Sergeant Frank
Adam Brookfield
Fred
Ben Freeth
Scruffy
Peter Rutherford
Colonel Connolly
Ralph Johnson
Lieutenant Harkness Cameron Douglas
Otaki George
Whare Mihinui
Bassett
Logan Pocock
Soldier 1: Thomas Flynn Soldier 2: Matt McMenamin
Stage Manager
Franc Bol
Technical Operation Alexandra LeCocq
Properties
Julian Anderson
Costume
Norman Forsey, Sylvia Houston
Publicity
Helen Moran, Karen Zelas
Takahe Marketing and Design Solutions
Webfuture
Educational ResourcesPeter Rutherford
By arrangement with Playmarket
But the British had seriously underestimated the ability of the troops of
the Ottoman Empire. What eventuated was eight months of slaughter.
On the morning of the 25 April 1915, ANZAC troops were landed on the
wrong beach, overlooked by three cliffs and exposed to fire from the
Turks.
By the end of the eighth month of the Gallipoli campaign over 130,000
men had died including 2779 New Zealanders, about a fifth of the men
from Aotearoa. Although these numbers were small in comparison to
CAST IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:
CREATIVE TEAM:
Sari Bair offensive, August 1915 map’, URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/sari-bair-offensive-map, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 14-Aug-2014
Director
Set Design
Lighting Design
Producer
Martin Howells
Chris Reddington
Joe Hayes
Helen Moran
Ion G Brown (Major) The battle of Chunuk Bair, 8 August 1915. The sesqui-centennial gift to the nation
from the New Zealand Defence Force Ref: D-001-035. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington.
MARTIN HOWELLS
Martin was born in Neath, South
Wales, and lived in London until
moving to New Zealand in 1988.
He was based in Auckland before
coming to Christchurch in April
2004.
At the Guildhall School of Music
and Drama, Martin studied
dramatic arts and was winner of
the City of London Performers Prize & the Director’s Prize for the best
student production. After graduating, as well as acting, he continued
to develop skills such as producing and scriptwriting. Martin has had
the opportunity of working with some of the world’s finest directors and
actors including Sir John Gielgud, Sir Ralph Richardson, Sir Laurence
Olivier, Sir Peter Hall, Albert Finney, Dorothy Tutin, Ben Kingsley, Bob
Hoskins, Richard Briers and Tim Curry. He has appeared as a leading
and supporting lead actor in over fifty repertory and independent
productions throughout the UK, including with The National Theatre
Company and The Royal Shakespeare Company.
In New Zealand, his stage career mainly centred around The Court
Theatre, Christchurch, where he played in 26 productions. He has
also appeared at The Aotea Centre, Auckland, and been in a number
of independent productions, most recently The Secret Lives of Henry
and Alice (One Man Banned Productions), and he directed Geography
of Loss (Lightning Productions) in Christchurch in 2014. Martin has
written, directed and acted in several children’s productions for Imagine
Youth Theatre. He has also appeared in many television productions for
BBC and UKTV and in independent films. He has taught drama in both
the UK and Christchurch.
Martin has written a variety of scripts for theatre, film and television
productions as well as being the author of The Ripper Legacy, a nonfiction book about the crimes of Jack the Ripper. He also directed a
90-minute television documentary in the UK on the recently discovered
Diary of Jack the Ripper.
Martin will be returning to the stage later this year with a solo show,
Dr Marigold and Mr Chips, based on two Charles Dickens characters,
before adapting another classic fairytale for IMAGINE Youth Theatre
next July.
HELEN MORAN
JOE HAYES
Helen has produced 20 plays for Imagine
Youth Theatre since it began in 2006, three
of her own solo shows and most recently,
The Secret Lives of Henry and Alice.
Joe worked initially with contemporary dance
and rock bands then made a career in lighting
design, working at the Court theatre 1979 –
1988. He also designed for Canterbury Opera,
Christchurch Operatic Society and collective
projects before being employed as a lighting
design consultant for commercial performance companies. Recently he
has been working with technicians and therapists to design and install
interactive multi-sensory environments for people with special needs.
Helen trained as an actor at The Drama
Studio, Sydney, 1982-84. Since then, her
work in devising and physical theatre with Bert van Dijk has been
particularly inspiring and formative.
She performed in a number of Mervyn Thompson productions in
Christchurch 1989 and 1990, and toured 2 solo shows in the 90’s.
She visited Singapore four times with Prometheus Productions, playing
Shakespeare for Singaporean schools.
More recent highlights were Emilia in Othello, the Psychiatrist in
Agnes of God, and the Mother Wolf in The Jungle Book at the Fortune
Theatre, Dunedin. Her latest solo show, The Bone Keeper’s Story toured
Wellington, Christchurch, Timaru and Okarito! At the end of 2011,
she performed Martha in Repertory Theatre’s acclaimed production of
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Melissa in AR Gurney’s Love Letters.
She and husband Martin Howells presented a highly-praised season of
The Secret Lives of Henry and Alice, at NASDA Theatre and last year
she played the lead role of Deborah in Karen Zelas’s poetic drama,
Geography of Loss.
CHRIS REDDINGTON
Chris Reddington is a sculptor, awardwinning set designer, composer, ensemble
director and musician. He has a degree in
Craft design from Christchurch Polytechnic
and has worked for New Zealand sculptors
Neil Dawson and Graham Bennett. He has
completed sculptural commissions for the Christchurch City Council,
CPIT and St Thomas of Canterbury College.
T HE C AST
T H E C AS T
David Allen is a Christchurch theatre regular.
After training, he toured with the Red Rose Dinner
Theatre and Ben McDonald Productions. Recently
he was in the local web-series, A Long Way from
Broadway, the pilot of which is on YouTube.
Ben Freeth graduated from the National Academy
of Singing and Dramatic Art in 2013. His most
recent role was Benvolio in The Court Theatre’s
Romeo and Juliet. In 2014 he toured with New
Zealand Playhouse, and earlier this year cofounded the boutique theatre company, Kindle
Theatre.
Lance McBride For the last decade, since
graduation from the Hagley Theatre Company,
Lance has been active across Christchurch’s
theatrical landscape, as an actor, dancer, singer
and stagefighting instructor, recently portraying the
Beast for NCMS’s Beauty and the Beast.
Peter Rutherford trained at Toi Whakaari/NZ
Drama School. In Christchurch he has performed
in Carl Nixon’s adaptation of Lloyd Jones’ The
Book of Fame, The Night Season, Stuart Hoar’s
Backwards in High Heels and most recently
in Geography of Loss, also directed by Martin
Howells.
Adam Brookfield has been acting since his first
television appearance in 1977. He trained at Toi
Whakaari, the New Zealand Drama School, and
has over forty professional credits in film, TV and
theatre, most recently One Man, Two Guvnors at
The Court.
Ralph Johnson’s grandfather was with the
ANZACs in 1915, a story Ralph turned into a solo
theatre piece, Not Your Usual War Story. Ralph’s 1st
professional performance was the 1972 Mervyn
Thompson production of King Lear at The Court
Theatre, and his last as King Lear in the 2015
Palmerston North Summer Shakespeare.
Logan Pocock Having trained in the dramatic arts
since the age of 13, Logan has portrayed some
memorable roles, including Lumiere (Beauty and
the Beast), Mark (Rent) and Mercutio (Romeo and
Juliet).
Shaquille Stirling performed recently in Youth
Reaction with The Court Theatre Youth Company
and played the lead in a short film Bright Lights
made by students of The NZ Broadcasting School.
His goal is gathering further experience before reauditioning for Toi Whakaari.
Cameron Douglas Since graduating from NASDA
(National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts)
Cameron has had over ten years of professional
experience performing throughout New Zealand
in theatre, television and corporate entertainment.
Most recently he played Romeo in The Court
Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet.
Jonathan Martin’s most recent performance
was as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet at The Court
Theatre. He has performed in New Zealand, Australia
and Europe, where he toured a variety of shows over
several years. Martin Howells cast Jonathan in his
professional debut at the Fortune Theatre.
Whare Mihinui is an award-winning filmmaker
whose love of theatre and film began as a child.
Although he enjoys working in film as a director,
writer and producer, he is excited to come out from
behind the camera to make his mark as an actor.
Tom Trevella is based in Christchurch, but works
throughout New Zealand, most recently appearing
as Capulet in The Court Theatre’s Romeo and
Juliet and, in September he will perform with The
Loons Theatre Company in Trapped. Tom played
the giant in Imagine Youth Theatre’s Jack and the
Beanstalk in 2010.
REHEARSAL
IMAGINE YOUTH THEATRE
PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY:
ACKN O W L E D G E M E N TS:
Costumes and properties:
The New Zealand Mounted Rifles Trust.
The Rangiora Players
Karl Hart
Invercargill Repertory Society
Christ’s College
Canterbury Repertory Society
The Court Theatre
Number One Shoes
Rehearsal space:
Consortium Builders
South Learning Centre & Christchurch City Council
Infinite Definite Ad
Photograph: The NZ Mounted Rifles
Photography:
Peter Rutherford, Henry Zelas
Other support:
WORD Christchurch (Rachael King)
WW100
Sam Neill
Webfuture
Jono Moran, INFINITE DEFINITE
Marian College
Jilly Marshall
Takahe Marketing and Design Solutions
Bean Scene Café and Cargo Bar
Supported by IMAGINE Charitable Trust
THE WESTERN FRONT
THE SOMME, FLANDERS &
PASSCHENDAELE
LEST
‘Journeys Of Remembrance’
WE F
ORGET
TURKEY - GALLIPOLI
& CHUNUK BAIR
Discover Turkey and WWI battlefields
with Ancient Kingdoms Holidays.
Departures all year round to visit Gallipoli, Anzac Cove,
Lone Pine & Chunuk Bair. Coach tours, small group
tours or private touring options.
www.innovative-travel.com
[email protected]
call toll free 0508 100 111
or contact your travel agent
Your choice of Anzac Day Western Front tour in
April 2016 or join the 100th anniversary Somme
commemorative tours in September 2016.
All tours designed for
Australians & New Zealanders
who wish to follow the Anzac route.
> Option to upgrade to business class.