Love, jealousy, race, revenge and madness -- such are the major themes of Shakespeare';s Othello. And like all of the great tragedies, nothing is quite as black and white as it may seem. How pure was Desdemona? How gullible was Othello? How evil was Iago? Join us for a fast-paced production of a drama that builds towards a passionately explosive conclusion like no other.
A classic whodunit based on the novel “Photo Finish” by Ngaio Marsh – the New Zealand Queen of the genre. An extremely temperamental Callas-style operatic diva, Isabella Sommita, has been hounded around the world by an odious member of the paparazzi. Her manager takes her to a grand but remote lodge on a South Island lake and invites the London-based portrait painter Troy Alleyn (and her detective husband, Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard) to paint her portrait. We meet a cast of larger- than-life characters and watch as the brilliant detective unravels an operatic-style murder.
Edgar Allan Poe’s spine chiller. “She has been put living into the tomb” Edgar Allan Poe was the great macabre story writer of his day, and this playwright Michaeljohn Butcher's adaptation of his masterpiece, 'The Fall of the House of Usher', renders his eerie, powerful, chilling and poetic insights into a compelling theatrical experience. When Jonathan Tiergarten arrives at the decaying house, summoned by his childhood friend Roderick Usher, he discovers the truth about the sinister family and is determined to rescue Madeline, Roderick's sister, from an apparently inexorable fate. Will he succeed?
Get ready for your glasses to steam up with laughter: Butterfly Creek Theatre Troupe is performing It Runs in the Family by Britain’s master of farce, Ray Cooney. In this larger-than-life tale of comical chaos, Dr Mortimer (a successful neurologist) must fend off a surprise paternity case: whilst keeping his wife out of the picture, and simultaneously giving a prestigious international lecture that may lead to his knighthood - if done properly. This is a farce though, and as Dr Mortimer tries to get himself out of one sticky situation, he plants himself firmly in the middle of a snowball of lies, mistaken identity, inopportune
Eastbourne’s prize-winning Butterfly Creek Theatre Troupe celebrates 25 years of Shakespeare with a Bard in the Yard outdoor production of his magical, romantic, tragi-comedy The Winter’s Tale. A fairy tale of how love, laughter, music and dance can bring light to the darkest of times. The play that in 1611 reopened the London theatres after the plague will do the same for a new year of theatre in Eastbourne: “Purge all infection from our air”. For five nights only, celebrate the magic and joy of live performance with us! 'Welcome hither - as is the spring to the earth.'
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare c. 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict among four Athenian lovers. Another follows a group of six amateur actors rehearsing the play which they are to perform before the wedding. Both groups find themselves in a forest inhabited by fairies who manipulate the humans and are engaged in their own domestic intrigue. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular and is widely performed.
Ghost Train by Arnold Ridley directed Lian Butcher August 2022 The Ghost Train will have you laughing one minute and jumping out of your seat the next. Set in the 1920s we follow a group of stranded passengers stuck overnight on a haunted railway station….what will be their outcome, only time can tell
William Shakespear's Henry IV, Part 1 - directed by Tanya Piejus
Katherine Mansfield’s greatest story, At the Bay, is celebrated in a short photographic tribute, combining historical images and selected episodes from the story. The film is a new production by local photographer Simon Hoyle and includes actors from Eastbourne’s Butterfly Creek Theatre Group. Directed and narrated by Anne Manchester, it also draws on many contemporary images of the setting for At the Bay, chosen by local historian Alison Carew. The production is accompanied by music for cello and piano composed by Mansfield’s friend Arnold Trowell. Mansfield scholar and musician Martin Griffiths (cello), together with pianist Sherry Grant, will perform pieces by Arnold Trowell and Mansfield’s
Something wicked this way comes - the only Summer Shakespeare in the Wellington region this year. A stunning, contemporary production of Shakespeare's fast-paced and powerful tragedy of unchecked power and ambition. Macbeth leads the notorious Scotland crime family's successful fight against rebels and rivals but he and his wife are ambitious for power. He murders the Boss, Duncan, and assumes control of the family. But who can he trust? Things quickly start to fall apart. Blood will have blood as Macbeth sinks into despotism, friends turn against him and his wife dies. Wrap up warmly for this outdoor Bard in the Yard production (inside if
Alan Ayckbourn's "It Could Be Anyone of Us" is a comedy murder mystery written in the 1980s. The play follows the Chalke siblings: three artists living out faded dreams amidst the faded grandeur of the once beautiful family estate. There are layers and depth to each of the characters that makes this play more than a traditional murder mystery, and true to its title it has the possibility of a different murderer each night! Before the show, the audience will be invited to vote for who they want the murderer to be. This concept has created a unique challenge for the Director and cast, but
Mistaken identities, evil adversaries, plot twists, and absurd excesses are in store for Butterfly Creek Theatre Troupe’s final production of the year, The Foreigner by Larry Shue. Rehearsals are now underway. Winner of two Obie Awards, two Outer Critic Circle Awards and named the Best New American Play and Best Off-Broadway Production of 1984, this modern farce remains a staple of regional and community theatre. Director Suzy Cain, (along with Assistant Director Nicola Tod) has assembled a fantastic cast and Cain is looking forward to working on the play again. She did the role of Catherine about 30 years ago at the Riverside Theatre, Vero Beach, Florida
