Shop blocked but not beaten Looking for actor who’s extra special
Whanganui
Manawatu¯ depends for the majority of its operating funds on the Cheep Shop. We have good weeks and bad weeks, but we never have a week when we are not vital to the rescue operations.
Well, good people, the cones are up! A solid orange barrier takes up all the (meagre enough) parking spaces. Last Thursday we made $120 less than the Thursday before. We still have a navigable pavement right outside the door, but it is very hard to reach from St Hill St. Three businesses in our section of Taupo Quay are affected. Was this the best place to dig up the pavement in December? Or the other way around, was this the best time to dig up the pavement outside the Cheep Shop?
We are going to need all your support. So here’s the plan: this Christmas let’s turn the tables on Auntie Alice. Give HER a hand knitted woollen bobble hat. Get your own back on Uncle Wilberforce. A jigsaw puzzle with no guarantee that all the pieces are there. Silence that knowall cousin with a 50-year old encyclopaedia. You probably have numerous other relatives and inlaws that deserve a gift from the Cheep Shop!
But for those that deserve a different kind of gift, we have those too. Buy someone a dozen good books instead of just one. Fill a stylish handbag with genuine silk-like scarves. Gift wrap a sweet brother and sister pair of china dolls. We have a big selection of pretty pottery, charming china, retro records and awesome art.
As an element in our strategies to reduce our unnecessary consumerism let’s buy second hand. Right now it is a bit more difficult than usual, still, we may be blocked, but we’re not beaten. Nationwide casting has begun for POPPY, a feature film to be shot in Kapiti. Up for grabs is the central role of Poppy (21), a young woman with Down syndrome who is determined to live like other women her age.
The film is written by writer/ director Linda Niccol (SecondHand Wedding, The Handkerchief) and will be produced by Susan Parker (Loving in Limbo) with executive producer Alex Cole-Baker (The Most Fun You Can Have Dying) and will shoot later in 2019.
“The role will be demanding in that we need our Poppy to drive the film. She’ll need to have the ability to learn lines and she’ll also need to be fit, feisty and fun,” says Linda.
The film is supported by the New Zealand Film Commission’s 125 Fund to commemorate 125 years of women voting in New Zealand.
Acting coach Miranda Harcourt will be coaching the actor who plays Poppy.
“In a world where diversity and respect for difference are important elements of storytelling, Linda Niccol has written a paen to joy in POPPY. As she did in the enormously successful feature Second-Hand Wedding, Linda brings her eye for detail and specificity to this story about a Down syndrome girl making a claim for the life she deserves,” says Harcourt. To audition for Poppy, email casting director Linda McFetridge at linda@catchcasting