Strange Resting Places At Hawkins Theatre

27 May 2009

Strange Resting Places At Hawkins Theatre

• Bravery and humanity take many forms
• Two night season of acclaimed play

A play that explores dynamics between soldiers in wartime, Strange Resting Places, will feature for a two-night season in July at Papakura’s Hawkins Theatre.

Set against the backdrop of World War II, Strange Resting Places weaves fiction with history to tell stories inspired by the Maori Battalion in Italy.

Crafted from personal experience and extensive research by writers Paolo Rotondo (Stickmen, Shortland Street and the smash hit Little Che) and Rob Mokaraka (King and Country, Tama Tu), Strange Resting Places shines a light on the three universals that Maori shared with the Italians: family, food and song – not to mention wily cunning, a love of vino and a passion for the ladies.

Performed in Maori, English and Italian, Strange Resting Places examines the complex emotional bonds and interactions that of New Zealand’s wartime history.

The play is set at the battleground around Monte Cassino in 1944. The Allied advance comes to a grinding halt with the 28th Maori Battalion – as always - in the thick of the fighting.

A young Maori soldier goes out stealing for food. An Italian takes cover in a stable. The two men find themselves trapped in a dangerous face-off, but with Germans just outside their hideout, they realise they will need each other to survive.

Hawkins Theatre manager Graeme Bennett says he has been hoping to secure Strange Resting Places for some time.

An Italian-born New Zealander, Paolo is an award-winning actor and writer. A graduate of Philippe Gaulier and John Bolton; actor, writer and director, he has worked in theatre, film and television industry for more than ten years.

Papakura local Rob Mokaraka is of Ngapuhi/Tuhoe descent and has been part of award-winning theatre productions InSALT and Have Car Will Travel (Bats) for which he won Best Male Newcomer at the 2001 Chapman Tripp awards. Previous works include Questions and Never Never (Bats) and the NZ Festival hit King and Country at Downstage Theatre.

Strange Resting Places comes to the Hawkins Theatre as part of Papakura’s Matariki celebrations and will be performed on July 1 and 2. Tickets for the performance on July 1 are available through Zonta South Auckland and Drury Rotary. Contact Gwenda Purdy on 09 298 6507. Tickets for the performance on July 2 are available from Papakura Paper Power or from iticket on 361 1000 or www.iticket.co.nz

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