Te Awamutu Courier

Win tickets to see Dirty Work

Comedy musical disrupts office norms with local choirs

- Mrs Krishnan’s Party US and Canada.

After the resounding success of the 2023 tour, Indian Ink is set to take their joyful comedy hit show Dirty Work to Hamilton, New Plymouth and Whangārei.

Featuring close to 30 people on stage, the production which received both audience and critical acclaim, tips the modern office on its head and celebrates an unsung hero.

The computers are down and the big boss in India wants the impossible. A hapless middle manager, his unhelpful assistant and their chorus of office workers are making a mess of things — which isn’t good news for the cleaner.

Workplace hierarchie­s are shattered and class and culture clash, but from the chaos emerges a different way to value one another.

Dirty Work connects with local communitie­s by collaborat­ing with local choirs to create a chorus of office workers.

In a toe-tapping twist, the choir members don’t get to read the script prior to the performanc­e.

All they know is that they are cubicle-bound office workers taking direction from ‘the boss’.

The chaos that unfolds as the story is revealed is experience­d by the choir at the same time as the audience, adding to the unbridled joy and hilarity of Dirty Work.

While the highly physical gags centred around modern office culture keep audiences laughing, it is the power and beauty of people harmonisin­g in song that elevates

Work.

Indian Ink’s award-winning creative team continue to weave their magic with Justin Lewis at the helm as director and Jacob Rajan zooming in for a special guest appearance.

The stellar 2023 cast of Justin Rogers ( Mrs Krishnan’s Party) and rising stars Tessa Rao and Catherine Yates return. The musical director is Josh Clark.

As with all great comedies and true to all of Indian Ink’s repertoire, Dirty Work offers up some powerful social commentary. Between the laughs, audiences may consider how we value our time, how we value each other, and find joy in the endless toil of work.

Dirty Work is the 11th original New Zealand Indian play to be created by Indian Ink cofounders Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis. Now in its 27th year, Indian Ink has extensivel­y toured New Zealand and the world, delivering award-winning and highly inventive production­s that blend Western theatrical traditions with Eastern flavours.

Their work is heralded for its use of live music, humour, pathos and great storytelli­ng.

This year is testimony to Indian Ink’s ongoing national and internatio­nal success, with the return of the masterful Guru of Chai in Auckland, Kāpiti and Wellington, and internatio­nal performanc­es of

in the

 ?? Photos / John McDermott ?? Justin Te Honihana Pokaihau Rogers, Catherine Yates and Tessa Rao in Indian Ink’s Dirty Work.
Photos / John McDermott Justin Te Honihana Pokaihau Rogers, Catherine Yates and Tessa Rao in Indian Ink’s Dirty Work.
 ?? ?? A local choir is part of each performanc­e.
A local choir is part of each performanc­e.

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