Kia Ora Khalid

Press Release
For Immediate Release 11 March, 2009

Kia Ora Khalid

Dave Armstrong’s new work asks “How long does it take to call a place home?”
KIA ORA KHALID opens at Capital E National Arts Festival this Saturday, 14th March

A highlight of the Capital E National Arts Festival, New Zealand’s largest festival for children, is a heart-warming musical journey exploring the refugee and migration stories of several New Zealand children. Kia Ora Khalid, created by two of New Zealand’s most renowned creative talents, composer Gareth Farr and writer Dave Armstrong, has been in development for two years and is directed by Sara Brodie.

In the 70th anniversary of outbreak of WWII, the National Theatre for Children wanted to create a work to look at the affect of conflict on children. Kia Ora Khalid is set over a school lunch hour and involves the stories of four students: Tom, a Pakeha New Zealander; Serena, a Samoan; Trang, a first generation Cambodian New Zealander; and Khalid, a Tampa refugee from Afghanistan. As the children’s emotional stories unravel, Tom learns that he’s not so different from the new immigrants with a refugee story in his own family to tell.

The Capital E National Arts Festival takes place every two years, with many productions sold out completely in 2007 when over 32,000 tickets were purchased by schools and families throughout Wellington.
Kia Ora Khalid marks a shift for DAVE ARMSTRONG (librettist) has written extensively for screen and stage – he won Best New New Zealand Play in two consecutive years at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards for The Tutor and Niu Sila (co-written with Oscar Knightley). His musical play King and Country has been performed throughout the country and his television credits include Seven Periods with Mr Gormsby, Bro’town (script editor), The Semisis, Skitz and Shortland Street. He won an AFTA television award for Best Comedy Script for Spin Doctors. Dave is the author of True Colours, about the 1996 general election, and Foodbanquet – a chapter from his upcoming novel The Speechwriter – was selected for the 2007 Six Pack of writing published for New Zealand Book Month. Dave was Writer in Residence at Victoria University of Wellington in 2007.
GARETH FARR’s (composer) passion for developing work for children has grown with each Capital E National Arts Festival. Recognised as one of New Zealand's most important composers, Gareth studied composition, orchestration and electronic music at Auckland University and played with the Auckland Philharmonia and the Karlheinz Company. Further study followed at Victoria University, where his compositions often used the Indonesian gamelan. He played frequently in the NZSO before going to the Eastman School in Rochester, New York, graduating Master of Music. At 25, Gareth became Chamber Music New Zealand's youngest composer-in-residence. Since then, his works have been performed by the NZSO, the Auckland Philharmonia, the Wellington Sinfonia, the New Zealand String Quartet and a variety of other professional musicians. In addition to his music for the concert chamber, Gareth has written music for dance, theatre and television.

SARA BRODIE (director) is one of New Zealand’s premier directors. Sara grew up in musical theatre in Christchurch and left for London at 18 and toured Europe working as a dancer. After a knee injury she returned to acting in London where roles varied from a heroin addict to the femme fatale. Since then, Sara has gained a Master of Arts from Victoria University, worked internationally directing, teaching and choreographing in opera, theatre and Festivals such as the Musica nel Chiostro in Italy and the New Zealand International Arts Festival. Sara is; “one of the most interesting young directors working in opera and music theatre in the country . . . her musical understanding coupled with her background in dance and movement make her an ideal person to stage music theatre works” – Aidan Lang, New Zealand Opera. Sara is also an expert teacher of the movement technique Laban, both here and in the UK.

Kia Ora Khalid
Wellington Opera House
Sat 14 March at 7pm, Sat 21 March 2pm and 7pm
$16.50 per person, most suitable for children aged 8 years +.
For tickets, contact Ticketek, ph: 0800 TICKETEK

Ends

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