Rehearsals going very well

Rehearsals for AP are going really well. We managed to block the whole play in two sessions and for the last two weeks we have been working steadily through the play concentrating on marrying up lines and moves and practical business. We've also been working on characterisation and there's some lovely stuff happening on stage already with the promise of much more to come. Today we ran the whole second act and it's coming together brilliantly. I am so pleased with the hard work this cast is putting in, it's making my job of directing it a joy. Keep up the good work team!

RepTalk appearing in Midweek 3rd March

Renata Szarvas from Mainstreet Art and Framing with the beautifully framed print of The Wings of Love by Stephen Pearson.

Preparations continue in the run up to opening night of Repertory’s latest production, Abigail’s Party with plenty happening behind the scenes. Rehearsals are well underway now and our resident set-builder John McGowan has almost finished transforming the Repertory theatre stage into a 1970s suburban living room.

Appropriate furniture is being sourced as are all the props needed for this production. One of the pivotal props in the play is a large 1970’s print of the iconic painting The Wings of Love by Stephen Pearson. Although it was a fairly common sight on living room walls in the 1970s, this wonderful piece of kitsch art is somewhat of a rarity now – most have either faded badly or were relegated to the dustbin a long time ago. After scouting around local secondhand shops to no avail, a chance word with Renata Szarvas at Mainstreet Art and Framing in Victoria Avenue, meant our search was over.

Remarkably, when Renata took over the framing business, she inherited a number of these prints from the previous owner, and, being in storage all these years, the colours were as bright and fresh as the day they were printed.  Enthused by the whole project, Renata also offered to research and create a typical 1970’s picture frame to finish the whole thing off.  She sourced the appropriate moulding, assembled the frame and then passed it on to Andrew Toy at Furnique in Somme Parade who did a fantastic spray painting job to create an authentic period finish. Very kindly, Renata has provided this brilliantly framed picture (and her time involved in creating it) to Repertory free of charge – thanks Renata!

Thanks too must go to Eileen Martin of Springvale who, after last week’s appeal in RepTalk for unwanted carpet for the Abigail’s Party set, came to the fore with several rolls of lovely carpet in very good condition. We’re still after 1970s wallpaper, however , so if anyone has any unused rolls lurking in the garage drop us an email to abigailspartynz@gmail.com

Incidentally, if you’d like to see The Wings of Love in the flesh, it will be on show at Renata’s shop at 15 Victoria Avenue (next to Maxilab) for the next couple of weeks.

Tickets are now on sale at the Royal Wanganui Opera House. Call in or telephone 06 349 0511 to book seats for Abigail’s Party which plays at Repertory from 31^st March to 9^th April.

The official Abigail’s Party blog continues at http://abigailspartynz.blogspot.com/