Anti War Song-Filled Soap Opera Starring Jesus!

Anti War Film is a Song-Filled Soap Opera Starring Jesus!

* A Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School Media Release*

Where except in an about-to-be cult film can you see a group of actors training to be spy-soldiers and basing their undercover persona on Matthew, Mark, Luke, John or Jesus? Where except in an over-the-top satirical sci-fi romp would you get 11 original songs that include the immortal lines "I didn't sign up just to die / For some sick and twisted farce / So take your kamikaze death / You can blow it out your arse"?

A comic rock opera fantasy feature film Zenolith was written and directed by Australian Maurice Murphy (15 Amore) and stars the crop of actors who graduated from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School in 2001. This group includes Cohen Hollaway (now starring in Facelift) and three of the stars of The Insiders Guide to Happiness - Ben Barrington, Fraser Brown and Dena Kennedy.

Zenolith has been described as "...lively, funny, thought-provoking. A good tonic for these times..." by Laura Thielen, the Aspen Filmfest Director.

The 11 original songs were written by Gareth Farr, with lyrics by Lee Hatherly, and recorded by the actors from Toi Whakaari alongside the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. The outstanding costumes were designed by Janet Dunn.

The fantastic plot tells the story of the tiny nation of Zenolith, the last bastion of freedom in a world dominated by the all-powerful Continent. And now, it too, is under threat. At the Zenolith military academy soldiers train to become actors, and vice versa. The strategists see themselves as liberators. From the other side of the fence they would be terrorists. Their mission is to infiltrate the Continent as characters taken from their most popular television programs. And what better program than a soap opera based on the one that most of the planet knows? The New Testament!

What: Special Preview Screening of Zenolith

When: 4pm, Sunday 11 July

Where: Paramount Theatre

Cost: $12

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Te Whaea: National Dance & Drama Centre, containing: Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School and New Zealand School of Dance PO Box 7146 Wellington P: 04 380 1714 F: 04 389 4996 W: www.tewhaea.org.nz Upcoming Productions at Te Whaea

Pericles (8pm, 7 - 11 September) - Surf's up on Shakespeare's most outrageous adventure. Come watch the second year actors armour themselves in wetsuits to joust on surfboards in seven seafaring locations

Go Solo (15 - 19 September in Wellington & 28 September - 2 October in Auckland) - The annual season of solo performances from third year acting students who research, devise, direct and act in a piece of solo theatre about a New Zealand or Pacific personality they feel passionate about

Revolting Rhymes (8 October) - A show catering especially for schools, Geordan Wilcox's Revolting Rhymes brings to life Roald Dahl's fun filled and tangled tales through the magic of dance

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