Show celebrating NZ Navy’s history coming to town
A touring show celebrating the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy, in the year of its 75th anniversary, comes to Timaru next week.
Kiwi actor Mark Hadlow, who appeared Peter Jackson’s King Kong and his The Hobbit trilogy, has directed The Complete History of the Royal New Zealand Navy Abridged, written by Gregory Cooper.
Away from acting, Hadlow is also a lieutenant commander in the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve.
‘‘You wouldn’t think you could take a show out of something like the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy, but you can,’’ he said.
‘‘How do you make a song about a dry dock? Well, they do it.’’
The show told the story of New Zealand’s navy with a mixture of humour, song, and also poignancy, he said.
‘‘We’ve been very careful because it is the history of the Royal New Zealand Navy.
‘‘We have lost a lot of people through the wars.’’
December 19, 1941 was an especially important date for the navy, as it was the day 150 sailors perished on HMS Neptune, off the coast of Africa.
‘‘They were training to become our first sailors, to take command of our first ship.
‘‘It’s our worst disaster and loss of life in our history.’’
The show honoured not only those who had gone before, but also those to come in the future, he said.
Kiwis had been running events all over New Zealand to celebrate the navy’s 75th year.
‘‘In the world it’s not a lot of time, but in our history it is a lot of time.’’
The navy was an important part of New Zealand’s defence force, and it worked hard to protect the country’s 13,500 kilometre coastline, Hadlow said.
The show is touring New Zealand and will play at Timaru’s Theatre Royal next Tuesday, October 4.