like there`s no tomorrow - Auckland Theatre Company

Auckland Theatre Company presents
LIKE
THERE’S
NO
TOMORROW
by The PlayGround Collective
EDUCATION PACK
Sponsors
Auckland Theatre Company
receives principal and core
funding from
Contents
CREDITS4
SYNOPSIS6
MAKING 'HONEST FICTION'
10
SITE SPECIFIC PROMENADE (FORM)
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STORY18
CHARACTERS & THEMES
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PROMOTING THE SHOW
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RESOURCES AND USEFUL LINKS
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ABOUT THE PLAYGROUND COLLECTIVE
ABOUT ATC EDUCATION
CURRICULUM LINKS
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Subsidised school matinees are
made possible by a grant from
ATC Education also thanks
the ATC Patrons and the ATC
Supporting Acts for their ongoing
generosity.
The 2013 Education Packs are
made possible by a grant from
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Venue: THE BASEMENT, Lower Greys Avenue, Auckland.
Season Dates:
26 July – 10 August
Running Time: 110 minutes, without an interval
Suitability: Recommended for year levels 11 +
Advisory: Contains violence, sexual material and drug and
alcohol references. Content may offend.
As this is a moving journey event regrettably some locations
may not be suitable for flat-floor access patrons. Please dress
appropriately for the weather conditions. If raining, please
bring an umbrella.
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LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW
by The PlayGround Collective
PRODUCTION
Whetu Silver — Project Manager
Andrew Malmo — Production Manager
Jamie Johnstone — Stage Manager
CAST
CREATIVE
Gayle Jackson — Wardrobe Supervisor
Emily Campbell — Stacey
Eleanor Bishop — Director
Fiona Ryan — Production Assistant / Props Master
Jessica Choy — Jennifer
Robin Kerr — Director
Sam Brooks — Scribe
James Collyer — David
Eli Kent — Playwright
Tanya Muagututi’a — Front of House Coordinator
Leilani Dave-Ekepati — Wyetta
Lynne Cardy — Producer
Beth Absalom, Laura Hutton, Alice Kirker — Stage Management Team
Joanna Dibley — Katie
Jessika Verryt — Set & Costume Design
2Construct — Set Construction
Giverny Forbes — Lily
Nik Janiurek — Lighting Design
Sally Basten, Maika Nguyen,
Andrew Gunn — Joseph
Gareth Hobbs — Sound Design
Lillian Blake — Custome Construction
Lucas Haugh — Lewis
Benjamin Henson — Hayden
Kengo Hosaka — Kenji
Holly Hudson — Courtney
Emily Johnson — Morgan
Albertine Jonas — Violette
Lole Kata — Dox
Melody Knapp — Ashley
Isaac Nonu — Uce
Erin O’Flaherty — Lydia
Iana Pauga — Willow
Lajja Prajapati — Jasmine
Shavon Robson — Zariah
INDUSTRY MENTORS
Chelsea Adams — Stage Management
Paul Nicoll — Technical & Production
Manager
MEDIA
Jessica Sou, Elspeth Carroll
Elena Doyle — Documentary
Resource Director
Rebecca Smith — Louise
Robin Kerr — Writer
Matt Smith — Jono
Lynne Cardy — Editor
Samantha Tippet — Eden
Michael Smith — Production Images
Sarah Trass — Maxine
Robin Kerr — Floor Plan
Dylan Underwood — Bryan (with a Y)
Claire Flynn — Graphic Designer
Albert Walker — Danny
THE BASEMENT
Caleb Wells — Freddie
The Basement acknowledges the
Jake McGregor — Understudy
generous support of Creative New
Isaac Nonu and Lole Kata
and Music by Gareth Hobbs
Josh Malmo, Zosia Lis, Shaun Dooley, Emily Wilson, Megan Whalen
— Production crew / operators
Tahlia-Rae Mavaega, Lewis Francis, Grace Fina’i, Kim Robins, Jo Olsen,
and Indigo Paul — Front of House Team
Nicole Simons — Fire Warden
and Rosie Haime — Media Team
EDUCATION PACK
Featuring original songs by
Ariana Shipman, Zach Howells,
Amo Ieriko, Moses Uhila, Jason Manumua, Elspeth Carroll, Brittany Cook
Aman Singh — Ajay
Ana Ung — Sierra
Gin Wang & Maddie Stevens — Set Team
LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW,
by The PlayGround Collective and
presented by Auckland Theatre
Company, opened on July 26 at
The Basement Theatre.
Zealand, Auckland Council through
Arts Alive, ASB Community Trust, Pub
Charity and the Wallace Arts Trust.
For all information visit our website
basementtheatre.co.nz
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Synopsis
A month ago a student of Coutt’s College died at a house party. Joseph
Thompson was a fun loving guy who’d been drinking with his mates. As the
party got a bit wild, Joey was egged on by the group to jump off the roof into
the pool.
Everyone cheered when he leapt into the air. But he fell short, cracking his skull
on the pools edge. After a few hours in hospital, with his sister Louise by his side,
Joseph died.
With the story all over the newspapers, Joseph was labelled another example
of teenage excess, another victim of underage binge drinking. The principal of
Coutt’s College feared it might affect the school’s reputation if there were any
further incidents. So to stop the scandal in its tracks the afterball was cancelled.
A frustrated group of Joseph’s friends went ahead anyway and organised an
illegal party to go ahead after the ball. It’s invite only and has a wicked theme
that everyone’s excited about:
‘The End of the World’
Everyone’s come dressed up – Joseph’s mates have come as the Four Horseman
of the Apocalypse, his former girlfriend has come as a Mayan, there are some
Angels and Devils, a guy in a Godzilla outfit, and even someone in dressed as a
nuclear bomb. A hip hop act is going to play, and there’s a countdown to the end
when the party is going to explode!
But some people are a little on edge. As the booze gets knocked back, cracks
start to show. Simmering under the surface - many of the students are still
mourning the loss of their dead friend. His memory is ever present; hanging
over them, weighing them down. Some feel grief, others feel guilt.
How should they honour him? Everyone feels torn – on the one hand Joseph
was an amazing guy who lived life to the fullest. On the other hand, it was that
attitude that led him to his death. Should they remember him for his tragic fall,
or should they celebrate the spirit of the guy who dared to jump?
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Making 'HONEST FICTION'
Background
LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW is
made by The PlayGround Collective
in association with Auckland Theatre
Company’s Youth Company The
Next Big Thing.
After a spate of recent alcohol
related teen deaths, in Auckland
there was a widespread ban on
high school afterballs. Though this
aimed to prevent further incidents,
it didn’t make the problem go
away. With approximately one
young person dying every week
from excessive consumption of
alcohol in New Zealand, Auckland
Theatre Company recognised the
importance of this subject. They
invited the Wellington based theatre
company The PlayGround Collective
to set out with them to create a work
that gave people an insight into
the lives of young people, and
their relationship to alcohol.
“We knew we had to deal with
a death. We weren’t interested
in showing how it happened,
so we chose to look at the
aftermath. How one death
hurts many other people How it can deeply shape
someone at that age. Yet how
even after deaths, people’s
attitude to what killed these
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young people doesn’t seem to
have changed.”
- Robin Kerr (Director)
Process
The PlayGround Collective wanted
to create a show that was equally
a celebration of youth, as it was an
examination of the drinking culture
that leads to casualties. With codirectors Eleanor Bishop and Robin
Kerr working alongside acclaimed
playwright Eli Kent, the show
was devised through a series of
workshops and showings, before
a cast of 30 was brought together
and a script was developed.
The PlayGround Collective uses
a process of devising towards the
creation of a script. Firm believers
in the power of story, the makers of
the show empowered their actors to
come up with the material that would
eventually make its way on stage.
from peoples personal experiences
and integrating them all together.
Improvisations and short scenes were
created from the stories, themes, and
ideas that had been shared amongst
the group. These performances were
presented to Eli, who then took that
material away and began to craft
elements of it into a script. From there
pieces of the play were put together,
characters and events started to
emerge, and slowly but surely a story
began to take shape.
Through this process a show was
developed that reflects the identities
of those who are making it. Almost
every part of the show has grown
from a real life story from someone
in the company. By blending it all
together the show has become an
honest fiction. A made-up story that
feels authentic.
Research
The PlayGround Collective conducted
research on the affects of alcohol on
young people in Auckland specifically.
This included guided visits to
several secondary schools where
the company interviewed teachers,
principals and students. Seeking out
personal stories, the company heard
how alcohol had contributed to
student deaths and the subsequent
affects these tragic events had on
schools and their students, including
the cancellation or restrictions on
balls and after-balls.
Working alongside The Health
Promotion Agency, the company
all went through an eye opening
seminar together, learning about
alcohol and its affects and reflecting
on their own use of alcohol.
The process of creation started
with plenty of discussion (and lots
of words scrawled on large pieces
of paper). On the first day each of
the cast performed a pepeha, a
presentation of who they are to the
rest of the group. Speaking about
themselves, their concerns and
beliefs, the company began to tell
each other their stories. From there
began a process of weaving; working
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Site Specific Promenade (form)
The show uses a variety of forms
to tell the story. LIKE THERE’S NO
TOMORROW is site-specific which
means that the building itself is part
of the performance. As you sit at the
bar one of the characters might come
up and sit next to you and buy a drink.
Or you might find yourself in the toilet
while one of the characters throws up
in the sink.
The audience move about on their
feet, roving through the building
from one room to the next watching
performances in real environments.
The performance winds through every
area of the Basement theatre; around
the carpark, up its fire escapes, down
staircases and into its bathrooms. Using
the devices of promenade theatre,
characters lead the audience from one
place to the next to watch each of the
show's scenes in a new environment.
the performer and the partygoer is
blurry. You can try to stand back and
watch but you might find yourself
pulled into the action. By inviting the
audience to participate, the experience
is made all the more real. At times in the
show the audience are invited to dance
with, talk to, and maybe even kiss some
of the characters.
Sometimes the show will go from being
startlingly real, to suddenly quite poetic
and theatrical. The audience will meet
Joseph, the guy who died. He’ll do his
best to explain that he’s not a ghost, just
a memory in the minds of his friends.
Through the night he’ll show you three
people closest to him – his girlfriend,
sister, and best mate. As the party starts
to get messy you’ll come to see how
they're dealing with his loss, and how
it has challenged the way that they live
their lives.
The show is hyper realistic, think of it
like attending a party. The line between
LOGISTICS
The promenade nature of LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW makes for a
massive stage management challenge. One of the ways the creative team
approached the logistics of the show was to draw detailed floor plans of
the exterior and interior locations. Using the drawings as a map was a
useful tool in understanding the journey of the show. You can see one of
these drawings on the next page.
A backstage crew of nine is required to run the show on time – four stage
managers and five operators. A front of house team of seven (including a
fire warden) is required to keep the audience safe and happy.
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STORY
When the audience arrive to get their
tickets they are greeted on the door
by the afterball committee: a clique
of girls who have organised tonight’s
event and who have all come dressed
as Mayans. They meet and greet you,
search your bags for booze, and if
you don’t have an outfit that matches
the theme, well maybe they’ll give
you one!
Each of the characters in the show
arrives at the afterball through the
main entrance. At 8pm the doors
to the theatre are opened and the
act begins.
2Percent are a Hip-hop crew from
south Auckland. They get the party
amped up with several songs, a
dance circle and a freestyle rap
battle. The party is kicking off to a
fine start, until somebody collapses
on the dancefloor. When he starts
convulsing and frothing at the
mouth people start to panic. Just as
someone is about to call 111, the guy,
who seconds before seemed to be
having a drug overdose, jumps up
and announces that it was all just
a joke.
Nobody finds it funny, in fact many
people are offended. It was only a
month ago that a friend of their's lost
his life at a party. This brings back bad
memories, so the guy and his mates
are kicked out. 2Percent refuse to play
again and everyone leaves the room.
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‘Wow... who died?’ A stranger in
the crowd says to the person he is
standing next too. ‘I DID!’ Joseph
introduces himself to the audience,
or it should be said, the memory of
Joseph introduces himself. Joseph
died a month ago at his friend
Willow's party. He tried to jump from
the roof into the pool, but fell short
and cracked his skull on the pool's
edge. He’s been summoned up in
his friend’s minds, and is taking this
opportunity to check in to see if his
friends are honouring his memory.
Tonight he will be focusing on three
people in particular; his girlfriend, his
sister and his best friend.
At this point Joseph divides the
audience into three groups, and
each group breaks away to see one
of three scenes; EXILE, JUDGEMENT,
and DESTRUCTION. Each of these
scenes is focused on one of the
three characters closest to Joseph.
EXILE follows his girlfriend Stacey,
JUDGEMENT follows his sister Louise,
and DESTRUCTION follows his best
friend Danny. The audience watches
each scene in a different space in the
building before being handed over to
the next, rotating around until they
have seen all three.
death in different ways. One takes a
positive lesson from his death, one
has been broken by it, and one is
teetering on the edge.
As the show comes to a close,
2Percent are persuaded to play and
the party kicks back into gear. It
seems that Joseph is getting what he
wanted. People have forgotten how
he died, and by keeping the party
going, are living by his philosophy.
But then a member of the party
steps up onstage and takes the
microphone. After some awkward
bits of housekeeping the words ‘So...
Joey died’ tumble out of her mouth.
Sweating under the lights, Courtney
acknowledges that all of them are
grieving, something that has gone
unsaid. But as she makes sense of
it in the moment she finds herself
memorialising him, celebrating the
way he lived his life and how that
should inspire them. Louise, Joseph’s
sister, is offended and leaves. Danny
is totally supportive and gives the
loudest cheers, and Stacey is left
unsure, watching the mess unfold
around her. Together the room raises
a glass ‘To Joseph!’
A final countdown begins, in ten
seconds time the party must end,
and echoes of the chant ‘jump, jump,
jump’ from the party a month earlier
can be heard. Joseph is seen to
climb the stage, as if he is on Willow's
roof looking down onto the pool
below. Hearing this crowd of people
cheering for him he runs, jumps and
falls to his death.
Joseph is the common link to all three
stories, appearing in each of these
scenes to help these characters work
through the problem they face. Each
person is making sense of Joseph’s
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CHARACTERS
and THEMES
Joseph Thompson
A free spirited and outgoing
soul, Joseph lived by his
word; ‘live fast - die young.’
Now he lives on only as a
memory. He does not regret
the manner of his death, but
desperately wants it to count
for something. His mission is
to make sure that his friends
carry on the philosophy he
lived by.
Joseph was a student in his
final year at Coutts College.
Held back since primary
school, Joe was in the same
year as his younger sister
Louise. They were very close,
despite moving in different
circles. Joe had a tight group
of his own mates including
his best friend Danny. Their
gang was held together by
a list of dares that Joe had
created and bound in a book
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called ‘The Contract.’ Because of this list they
were constantly getting up to radical and
risky mischief with each other. The only other
person able to keep pace with Joe’s antics
was his girlfriend Stacey. He and ‘Crazy Stace’
shared a wild, sometimes rocky, but deeply
fulfilling relationship.
Joseph’s story is about how you choose to
live your life. Joe chose to live everyday like
it was his last; this made him a passionate
daredevil and it was a philosophy that killed
him. If people live as he did, will that mean
they lead a rich fulfilling life, or simply a short
and dangerous one? Questions are also raised
about whether his death was entirely his fault,
or does some of that responsibility lie with his
friends? He lived in a culture of excess, where
risk was encouraged and celebrated. Anyone
could have stopped him from jumping off that
roof, but instead they cheered him on. If he
was influenced by his peers to do it, then who
is responsible?
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Louise Thompson
Danny Williams
JUDGEMENT
DESTRUCTION
More uptight then her brother, Louise just
wants to be normal and successful. Struggling
under the pressure to conform, she is bottling
up who she really is. She’s been sold a picture
of a ‘perfect’ life, and she’s definitely on target
to attain it. Top of her class and queen of the
ball, Louise enters arm in arm with Lewis, a
charming lad who is hoping to turn this date
into something more.
Danny looked up to his best
mate Joseph. They formed
a group of four guys who
always hung out together.
Steeped in ritual, the group’s
activity revolved around a
set of dares laid out in ‘The
Contract’, a bucket list of
elaborate stunts that they put
each other through for fun.
Louise is trying to live out the princess fantasy,
as Joe says she’s ‘a Barbie doll wrapped
up in her packaging’, but she is not being
honest with herself. She is suppressing her
affections for her best friend Ashley, an out
lesbian comfortable with her own sexuality
who knows that she shares something more
than friendship with Louise. But Louise
believes she’s straight as straight gets, and is
determined to play out the night like the rest
of the girls, with hopes of losing her virginity
and falling in love.
Louise’s story is about sexuality, about
confronting your fears and controlling who
you become. After realising that like her
brother, she fears judgement from her peers,
she finds it in herself to overcome those fears
and embrace intimacy with Ashley.
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The group is more than a
little off kilter since Joseph
died. Freddy’s making a push
to become top dog, and is
taking on the remainder of
The Contract as a dangerous
obsession. Danny is forced
to exert his power as the
alpha male, and takes action
to plunge the group into the
unknown.
Outside the party, one of
the boys once again has a
close call with death. Danny
wills himself to break the
cycle and attempts to burn
The Contract and all the
dares contained within it.
However, when he realises
that he has nothing other
than his friends, and it is only
the stunts that keeps them
together and gives them
purpose, he relents. So the
cycle continues, leaving us
with the sense that ‘boys
will always be boys’ and that
these particular young men
will continue to put their lives
at risk for the sake of bravado
and friendship.
Danny’s story is about
machismo, brotherhood and
whether you can truly have
fun without risk. Danny feels
guilty over Joseph’s death,
he also climbed up onto the
roof and could have stopped
him from jumping. In order
to keep on going, Danny
has to persuade himself that
the accident was entirely
Joseph’s responsibility.
Stacey Fell
EXILE
‘Crazy Stace’ drinks to live and lives to drink.
She was at the party when Joseph died, but
blacked out before it happened. She was
whisked to the hospital but wasn’t allowed
in to see him before he died. Since then she’s
been on a non-stop bender and tonight she’s
starting to wake up from the haze and make
sense of her surroundings.
Needing other people to fill the heart shaped
hole that Joseph has left behind, Stacey
thrashes around the party. She’s having a bit of
an identity crisis. She rejects her usual group,
and breaks away in search of something new.
When she finds herself lost and alone amongst
other outcasts she comes to realise that others
can’t help her, and that she needs to make her
own way in the world. But does she have the
strength to do it?
Stacey’s story is about dependence, her
dependence on Joe and her dependence on
alcohol. How together they were the things
that defined her, that made her who she was.
Who can she be without them? Can she be
without them? She has been forced to quit
one, but can she quit the other? Stacey has an
uneasy feeling that something more was at
play in causing Joseph’s death, but can’t quite
make sense of it yet through all the mess and
heartbreak.
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PROMOTING THE SHOW
Auckland Theatre Company and The PlayGround Collective came
up with relevant and interesting ways to promote LIKE THERE’S
NO TOMORROW to a young audience, including:
Working with a volunteer social media team, the cast set
up Facebook pages in the names of their characters and
invited their (real-life) friends to join.
A specific twitter hashtag was used to track what was
being said about the show and its characters. #LTNT
ATC set up a website devoted to the show and social media
team member Jessica Suo wrote a fake newspaper article
about Joseph’s death (see next page) that was published
on the website. www.liketheresnotomorrow.co.nz
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RESOURCES
AND USEFUL LINKS
THE HEALTH PROMOTION AGENCY WEBITE contains lots of useful advice about
easing up on drinking, including the SAY YEAH, NAH initiative:
http://www.hpa.org.nz
http://www.hpa.org.nz/node/11000
The Alcohol Drug Helpline (ADH) youth service offers free confidential
information, advice and support for anyone with a concern or query about their
own or someone else’s alcohol and other drug use. The Helpline is open from
10am to 10pm seven days a week.
Txt ADH to 234 and the Helpline will call you back or alternatively, call the
dedicated youth Helpline number on 0800 787 984.
http://www.alcohol.org.nz
If you or someone you love is struggling with any of the issues raised in
LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW, contact YOUTHLINE:
http://www.youthline.co.nz
You can find out more about THE PLAYGROUND COLLECTIVE here:
https://www.facebook.com/playgroundcollective
Check out some Reviews of the show:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_
id=1501119&objectid=10904605
http://metroarts.co.nz/theatre/like-theres-no-tomorrow-review/
http://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=6137
Tell us what you think!
We’d love to read YOUR review of
LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW.
Email lynne@atc.co.nz
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About The PlayGround
Collective
The PlayGround Collective is a New Zealand theatre company dedicated to
developing innovative and imaginative theatre based on good storytelling.
The founders and core creatives are Eli Kent (Arts Foundation New
Generation Artist, Bruce Mason Award Winner), Eleanor Bishop (Chapman
Tripp Award Most Promising New Director 2009) and Robin Kerr (Master of
Theatre Arts graduate from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School).
Since forming in 2007, they have produced seven shows including THE
HUNTING OF THE SNARK (BATS, 2007), Eli Kent’s RUBBER TURKEY (BATS
and Auckland’s The Basement 2008, Most Outstanding New Playwright
at the 2008 Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards), A BRIEF HISTORY OF HELEN
OF TROY by Mark Schultz (BATS 2009), THE INTRICATE ART OF ACTUALLY
CARING by Eli Kent (NZ Fringe 2009 and national tour), BEDLAM (Toi
Whakaari 2009), KATYDID by Lucy O’Brien (BATS 2010) and TINDERBOX
(STAB Commission 2011).
Our productions have won nine Chapman Tripp Awards, including “Most
Original Production” for THE INTRICATE ART OF ACTUALLY CARING. We
were voted runner up Best Theatre Company in Wellington in 2010 by the
Capital Times and we were highly commended in Metro Magazine’s Best of
Auckland Theatre 2010.
ABOUT ATC EDUCATION
ATC Education promotes and encourages teaching and participation
in theatre and acts as a resource for secondary and tertiary educators.
It is a comprehensive and innovative education programme designed
to nurture young theatre practitioners and future audiences.
ATC Education has direct contact with secondary school students
throughout the greater Auckland region with a focus on delivering an
exciting and popular programme that supports the Arts education of
Auckland students and which focuses on curriculum development,
literacy and the Arts.
Auckland Theatre Company acknowledges that the experiences
enjoyed by the youth of today are reflected in the vibrancy of
theatre in the future.
CURRICULUM LINKS
ATC Education activities relate directly to the PK, UC and CI strands of
the NZ Curriculum from levels 5 to 8. They also have direct relevance
to many of the NCEA achievement standards at all three levels.
All secondary school Drama students (Years 9 to 13) should be
experiencing live theatre as a part of their course work, Understanding
the Arts in Context. Curriculum levels 6, 7 and 8 (equivalent to years
11, 12 and 13) require the inclusion of New Zealand drama in their
course of work.
The NCEA external examinations at each level (Level 1 – AS90011,
Level 2 – AS91219, Level 3 – AS91518) require students to write about
live theatre they have seen. Students who are able to experience fully
produced, professional theatre are generally advantaged in answering
these questions.
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ENGAGE
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Post your own reviews and comments, check
out photos of all our productions, watch
exclusive interviews with actors and directors,
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work with and download the programme and
education packs.
Places to find out more about ATC and
engage with us:
www.atc.co.nz
facebook.com/TheATC
@akldtheatreco
AUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY
32
487 Dominion Road, Mt Eden PO Box 96002, Balmoral, Auckland 1342
Ph: 09 309 0390 Fax: 09 309 0391 Email: atc@atc.co.nz