Onion - 21- 25 February, 9:30pm

ONION

“It’s hard to imagine civilization without onions.”

– Julia Child

When: 21- 25 February, 9:30pm

Where: BATS theatre, 1 Kent Terrace

Bookings: (04) 802 4175 book@bats.co.nz

Tickets: $10 / $12 / $15

Bake, grill, crumb, roast, pickle, stir-fry, nuke them, dice, slice, mince them, stick them in your salad – the uses of the common Onion are endless; its existence as a part of our culinary culture, vital. So when the Onion crop threatens to fail, two reluctant farmers fight to save the onions, the family farm and their lives in an epic 50-minute journey taking them from the pits of Canterbury to the hilltops of Wellington and beyond. There will be hitchhiking, there will be bad herbal highs, there will be Americans…

Jean Copland and Amanda Maclean, in collaboration with director Ronald Nelson and dramaturge Marolyn Krasner, impersonate a cast of thousands in an adventure comedy that will have audiences crying with joy – damn onions.

Since graduating from Toi Whakaari:NZ Drama School Jean Copland has performed in ‘After Kafka’ ‘Shifting’ and ‘Rush hour as well working in radio and film. In 2000 she was the recipient of the ‘Young Playwright of the year Award’.

Amanda Maclean is a graduate of the Dell Arte International School of Physical Theatre in California, and has a diploma in CircoArts from the Circus school in Christchurch. She is a member of ‘WIT’, Wellington Improvisation Troupe, mask maker and general clown about town.

Onion will groove to an all Kiwi soundtrack and be illuminated by the fabulous Rob Larson of Wheelers Luck, The Ghost of Woody Allen and BATS tech fame.

“I love the adventure of the unlikely hero,” says Copland. “I wanted to create a comedy so I looked for an expert.” Amanda bit the bait, “I can’t pass on an opportunity to trace the origin of such a unique and un-bias vegetable, and devise theatre with a fellow physically minded actor!”

And Onions? “They’re one of the basics I guess, no glamour but loads of character.” The pre-occupation with Onions also runs in the Copland family “I had ancestors who grew such great onions they were dubbed ‘The Onion Kings of Christchurch.”

ENDS

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