Dean Parker's Wonderful at Circa 2
by Armstrong Creative‘It’s quite rare that you see a performance and writing and direction
work together so seamlessly. Andrew Laing is masterful.’
James Cain, Was it Good
Following a hugely successful premiere season at BATS Theatre in 2018, Armstrong Creative is delighted to announce that Wonderful by Dean Parker is coming to Circa 2.
Directed by Conrad Newport (Niu Sila, Gifted, Rita and Douglas, Pink Hammer and The Surprise Party) and starring Andrew Laing ( Burn Her, Gifted and Blood Brothers), Wonderful focuses on a teacher who inspired his pupils to become creative individuals against the harsh background of a sports-mad province.
Napier 1959.
Brother Vianney has a calling.
To educate the boys in his classroom and to help them become good, caring Catholic citizens.
A larger-than-life presence, Brother Vianney calls upon his show business background and treats his class to the quirky insights and life lessons that he has discovered from watching the popular films and romantic musicals of the 1950s.
Actor Andrew Laing gives a virtuoso performance and was nominated for Best Actor for this role at the Wellington Theatre Awards in 2018.
Acclaimed playwright Dean Parker (Polo, Midnight In Moscow, The Tigers of Wrath), who also wrote the screenplay for comic classic movie Came a Hot Friday, based the play’s character on a number of Marist brothers who taught him in his youth, and who had a lasting impact upon him.
“I’d been thinking about them off and on for years,” explains Parker. “They existed to do God’s work, which in some cases meant putting on the school’s musical. In that community of sports-mad men, some of them clearly berserk, these teachers stood out—especially in retrospect.”
‘A multi-layered and extremely absorbing “dance” that needs to be experienced.
You won’t regret it’
John Smythe, Theatreview
Director Conrad Newport says Wonderful is an incredibly funny and moving story. “Brother Vianney’s total passion for musicals and romantic movies creates a fabulous world for him to provide an education to his students. Wonderful is about experiencing through adult eyes the thrill of that one great teacher you wished you had.”
Fall in love with Brother Vianney in this theatrical whirlwind of an education filled with extraordinary wisdom, plenty of laughter, some great show tunes and heart-breaking pathos.
Wednesday 12 February to Saturday 7 March 2020
Bookings at www.circa.co.nz Phone 801 7992
Tuesday – Saturday at 7.30pm Sunday at 4.00pm
Ticket Prices: ADULTS $52, CONCESSIONS $42, FRIENDS OF CIRCA $38
GROUPS (6+) $45 (20+) $42, UNDER 25s $25
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