Award puts Jennifer in the limelight
Jennifer Amosa had to juggle receiving her Local Hero award with making her entrance to the play Dinner with Friends the same night.
‘‘I was the first to go forward and was sitting there watching the clock and working out how many minutes I had before I had to leave.’’
The incident was apt.
Amosa received her award for her work in amateur theatre – namely with the Wakefield Country Players of which she is president.
She said she was surprised to be nominated.
‘‘I’m just one of many people putting in many hours of work to do this. It’s nice to be singled out but I’m definitely not a one–man band.’’
Amosa said she had told few people about the award, which she received in December.
She’s feels home with the Country Players and so she should. Amosa has been involved with the group since primary school and later met her husbandto-be on stage before heading overseas.
It was back living in the community 20 years later, married with two children, that she again felt the pull of the stage. Particularly in the context of helping build the theatre group’s Junior Country Players.
Young actors had been part of the group since it re-formed in the 1970s. They held starring roles in the Players’ productions of Oliver and Peter Pan last year.
The Wakefield Country Players now had between 40 to 50 members of all ages and aimed to stage two or three productions a year, which were a mix of adult and junior shows.
‘‘A mix of shows with adults and teens means we can get families involved.’’
In the last two years the players had re-launched the winter picnic theatre, which Amosa said was a cheap and relaxed form of dinner theatre for families.
‘‘The main thing is having fun and some creativity and self expression.
The Wakefield Country Players will host Theatre NZ’s one-act play festival in August at Wakefield Village Hall.
There were 12 winners of the Nelson Local Hero category, part of the 2017 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Awards.