2b or nt 2b/4 Billion Likes!
Written by: Sarah Delahunty
Directed by: Sarah Delahunty
Youth Theatre Double Bill
Presented by 1st Gear Productions
2b or nt 2b
“A comic gem” – Dominion Post
“2b or nt 2b … should be everywhere” – Theatreview
Six classic characters from Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen and Sophocles meet as teenagers on whatsthepoint.com – all finding their lives a little too difficult.
Antigone (Antigone), Hamlet (Hamlet), Hedda (Hedda Gabler), Irena (The Three Sisters), Helena (A Midsummer Nights Dream), and Masha (The Seagull) vie with each other for the position of Most Tragic Life Story and meet IRL with the intention of ending it all.
Dysfunctional families, unrequited love and longing for escape, using original text and texting, quotes and questions, literature and laughs – 2b or nt 2bis a comedy that creates a contemporary setting and an intriguing new interpretation for these tragic lives.
Together can they find ways to change their scripts and write themselves a future?
Pick of the NZ Fringe Festival 2008
Chapman Tripp Theatre Award nominee Best New Play 2008
4 Billion Likes!
A new solo comedy with songs starring Neenah Dekkers-Reihana, (TIgers of Wrath, After Juliet)
Sixteen-year-old Chloe Anderson from Hamilton starts a blog to immortalize her historically totally important thoughts, and her deepest dreams of winning X-Factor.
External events open her eyes to the need to see more in her life than how she can lose 2kg and become a star.
“Did my auntie know what would happen if I started a blog. Did she know I might start to think?”
NB: Trigger Warning – both these shows contain potential traumatic subject matters.
Please note: A ticket gives audience members entry to both shows: 2b or nt 2b will take place first, followed by an interval and then 4 Billion Likes! The total running time is approximately 2 hours, 15 minutes (including interval).
1st Gear Productions has been producing plays with young performers for the past seven years. Recent productions include – Falling Sparrows Here and There, Hair – The Rock Musical, Affinity, which was awarded 1st Equal Best Theatre in the New Zealand Fringe Festival 2013 and recently After Juliet.
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17 May − 01 June
Tuesday to Saturday 7.30pm
Sunday 4.30pm
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Adult $30
Senior/Student/Friend of Circa $25
Under 25 $20
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Timeless tale of youthful dilemmas
BY EWEN COLEMAN, THE DOMINION POST, 19 MAY 2014
That teenagers in crisis today are no different to tortured souls from classical literature is clearly evident through Sarah Delahunty’s clever and astute play 2b or nt 2b currently playing at Circa Two.
The familiar line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet that is the title of the play is the question that the six young people are asking, all of whom link up online through www.whatsthepoint.com.
Hamlet (Michael Trigg) is having difficulty getting to grips with the fact that his mother has married his uncle and gets no help from a Telecom-type automated helpline.
Antigone (Sylvie McCreanor) also gets no joy from a similar automated helpline when trying to sort out her somewhat dysfunctional family.
Masha, known as Seagull (Neenah Dekkers), is waiting in vain for poet Konstantin to text only to receive unwanted texts from someone else.
Helena (Georgie Sivier) is in love with Demetrius, her best friend’s boyfriend, wondering if her unrequited love will ever be reciprocated.
Third sister Irena (Alice Orchard) is sick of her day job in the Foxton Post Shop and is desperately trying to leave for New York without any luck.
And finally comes the aggressive and manipulative Hedda (Bronwyn Ensor) trying to take control of the situation when all six meet at midnight on the Bridge To Nowhere. After arguing over who has the worst life experiences the play comes to a dramatic climax that shows that despair can be turned around.
While teenage angst and the hint of each contemplating suicide is ever present through the play there is lots of humour, much of it of a physical nature. The cast excel in their commitment to the text and their youthful energy never detracts from the sincerity of their performances.
The second play of this double bill 4 Billion Likes, also written and directed by Delahunty, takes its title from the fact that there are 4 billion women in the world and that the central character of the piece, Chloe (Neenah Dekkers) wants them all to like a statement she has just posted on Facebook
What this is and how Chloe comes to the realisation behind this statement is an intriguing journey through a few days in her life, not too dissimilar to Bridget Jones’s Diary.
At times incredibly funny it is also a poignant and heartfelt story, based on true life incidents which Dekkers tells with incredible humanity and insight.
Completely engaging in her storytelling she bounces around the stage with amazing energy but is also able to hold crucial moments with amazing serenity.
An all-round consummate performance that combined with the first play of the evening makes this a great night’s entertainment.
OTHER REVIEWS
John Smythe, Theatreview, 18 May 2015
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CONTACT
Booking Line: 04 801 7992
Please email circa@circa.co.nz for any ticketing queries, group bookings or general Box Office related questions.
