One-act plays for Anzac show
Ashlyn Morris, who delighted Whanganui audiences with her portrayal of Betsy the Busty Cow and Goosey Goose in Repertory Theatre’s 2017 panto Jack and
the Beanstalk will direct a oneact play written by local writer Cass Alexander.
The Lost Generation has a cast of two women who meet through a family connection and discuss life, love and the lost generation. She has cast Meynell Smith and Jessica Alder in these roles.
Phillip Portland, another experienced actor and director will direct The Dugout, a multi media presentation based on the poems of Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen and Rudyard Kipling. He has a cast of two women and five men. This play is also written by a local playwright, Scott Taylor-Moore, and evokes the tragedy that is war.
Both Ashlyn and Phil have followed their schooldays’ passion for theatre with tertiary drama studies which is reflected in their capable approach to directing their plays.
Bev Pearce has started rehearsing her cast of two for the play she’s directing, Ettie Rout, written by another Whanganui identity, Alan Cruise-Johnston. The title character is played by Kerry O’Sullivan while Solomon Whetu Vaetone plays the part of an elderly gentleman who is grateful to Ettie Rout for her courage and compassion. Gillian Cruise-Johnston has penned a poem entitled Anzac Day which is the fourth offering in this line-up.
These offer insights into the different aspects of war: the harrowing reality of life in the trenches, the heartache of those left at home not knowing if their son, brother, sweetheart or husband has survived and the collective sadness of a nation despite the passage of time.