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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250306
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250316
DTSTAMP:20260405T104638
CREATED:20250126T192116Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251107T220730Z
UID:2321-1741219200-1742083199@bctt.org.nz
SUMMARY:Richard III
DESCRIPTION:For Bard in the Yard 2025 Michaeljohn Butcher directed Richard III. \nCast\n\n\n\nRichard the Third (Duke of Gloucester)\nColton Stuart\n\n\nDuke of Buckingham\nAllan Burne\n\n\nEdward the Fourth\nPhilip Rossiter\n\n\nQueen Elizabeth\nTilly Potter\n\n\nLady Anne\nLian Butcher\n\n\nLord Hastings\nRhiannon Bertaud-Gander\n\n\nEarl of Richmond\nPhilip Rossiter\n\n\nPrince Edward\nTimothy Prebble\n\n\nPrince Richard\nScout Hunter\n\n\nSir James Tyrell\nPhilip Rossiter\n\n\nDuke of Clarence\nTom Martin\n\n\nSir Thomas Stanley\nTom Martin\n\n\nLord Rivers\nSandra Jean McClean\n\n\nSir Robert Brakenbury\nNicola Tod\n\n\nSir William Catesby\nMichaeljohn Butcher\n\n\nJane Shore\nLian Butcher\n\n\nSir William Brandon\nRebecca Brennan\n\n\nDuke of Norfolk\nWill Clannachan\n\n\nBishop of Ely\nDavid Gledhill\n\n\nMurderers\nRebecca Brennan\, Michaeljohn Butcher\n\n\nMessengers\nPeter Hughson\, Sandra Jean McClean \, Rebecca Brennan\, Anne Manchester\n\n\n\n\n2025 Richard III15 photos\n	\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n		\n			\n				\n			\n		\n\n	 \n	\n\n\nPublicity 2025 \nEver since the bones of King Richard III were exhumed from a Leicester City Council car park in 2012\, interest in the much-maligned king continues to grow. \nBut as far as Shakespeare was concerned\, the embittered and physically deformed crown usurper was an unadulterated villain. Director of Butterfly Creek Theatre Troupe’s production in early March\, Mike Butcher\, believes Richard III is the best play Shakespeare ever wrote. He also believes he’s assembled the best cast to tell the story\, with Colton Stuart in the main role\, Allan Burne as Richard’s right-hand man Lord Buckingham\, and Lian Butcher as Lady Anne Warwick\, manipulated into marrying Richard but eventually murdered. Will the warring houses of York and Lancaster ever find peace? \nFrom the Director\nFor me\, King Richard III has been an almost lifetime study. Possibly one of England’s greatest Kings\, an absolute all-rounder. His contribution to the legal system that exists today\, his fair decisions to land disputes\, where the poor could bring notice to any injustices inflicted on them by the ruling classes. When he was killed a chronicler from York wrote ”This day was our good King Richard slain”. \nA Brilliant soldier\, mentored and trained by the Earl of Warwick\, ‘the king maker’\, a loving husband to Anne Neville\, and a fanatically loyal brother to Edward the fourth\, when he was alive. \nThe mystery of Richard is\, what changed this man in six short weeks\, to become a cold calculating killer with the ultimate heinous crime of killing his two nephews?  Did he or didn’t he kill the two boys? Yes he did… no he didn’t…the argument continues through history. Was Shakespeare fair in his interpretation of this seemingly loved king? \nI dedicate this production\, brilliantly brought to life by a stellar cast and crew\, to Phillipa Langley\, whose tireless devotion to English history\, located and found the remains of King Richard the Third\, England’s last Plantagenet King. \nListen to Anne Manchester and Lian Butcher discuss the play on Hutt City radio \nView the production on You Tube
URL:https://bctt.org.nz/show/richard-iii/
LOCATION:Muritai School Yard\, Muritai Road\, Eastbourne\, Lower Hutt\, New Zealand (+64)\, New Zealand
CATEGORIES:Allan Burne,Anne Manchester,Colton Stuart,David Gledhill,Lian Butcher,Michaeljohn Butcher,Michaeljohn Butcher,Nicola Tod,Peter Hughson,Philip Rossiter,Rebecca Brennan,Rhiannon Bartaud-Gandar,Richard III,Sandra Jean McClean,Scout Hunter,Shakespeare,Tilly Potter,Timothy Prebble,Tom Martin,Will Clannachan
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DTSTART;TZID=Pacific/Auckland:20250702T193000
DTEND;TZID=Pacific/Auckland:20250702T210000
DTSTAMP:20260405T104639
CREATED:20250611T234225Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250611T234225Z
UID:3071-1751484600-1751490000@bctt.org.nz
SUMMARY:Annual General Meeting
DESCRIPTION:Notice of Annual General Meeting \nAll members are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting at 7:30p.m. in the Green Room of Muritai School on 2 July 2025. \nA new constitution will be presented and the meeting will be followed by a social event (BYO).
URL:https://bctt.org.nz/show/annual-general-meeting/
LOCATION:Muritai School Hall\, 166 Muritai Road\, Eastbourne\, Lower Hutt\, 5013\, New Zealand
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DTSTART;TZID=Pacific/Auckland:20250712T193000
DTEND;TZID=Pacific/Auckland:20250719T220000
DTSTAMP:20260405T104639
CREATED:20250409T040513Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250723T212049Z
UID:2558-1752348600-1752962400@bctt.org.nz
SUMMARY:The Nerd
DESCRIPTION:The Nerd\, by Larry Shue \nOur mid-year production was a comedy by American playwright Larry Shue. \nSet in the mid-Western\, mid-sized city of Terre Haute\, Indiana\, Willum’s architectural career is ticking along nicely. When he has a surprise phone call and hears that he will finally meet the man (Rick Steadman) who anonymously saved his life in Viet Nam\, he is thrilled. His positive outlook quickly turns sour when he discovers that Rick is a hopeless nerd\, devoid of any social and emotional intelligence. And when Rick moves in with him without being invited\, his life turns upside-down and all he can focus on is how to make him leave\, and soon! \nDirector Suzy Cain \n\nHere’s the cast:\n\n\nWillum Cubbert – Philip Rossiter\nTansy McGinnis – Anna Sutherland\nAxel Hammond – Martyn Barry\nRick Steadman – Laurence Ward\nWarnock Waldgrave – John Marwick\nClelia Waldgrave – Nicola Tod\nThor Waldgrave – Freddy Thompson\n\n\nListen to an interview with the director and one of the actors\n\n\nhttp://bctt.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/HW-Suzy-Cain-Philip-Rossiter-The-Nerd-20250507-1.mp3\n\n\nWatch the trailer:\n\n\n\n\n2025 The Nerd25 photos
URL:https://bctt.org.nz/show/the-nerd-by-larry-shue/
LOCATION:Muritai School Hall\, 166 Muritai Road\, Eastbourne\, Lower Hutt\, 5013\, New Zealand
CATEGORIES:Anna Sutherland,Freddy Thompson,John Marwick,Larry Shue,Martyn Barry,Nicola Tod,Philip Rossiter,Suzy Cain,The Nerd
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DTSTART;TZID=Pacific/Auckland:20260219T193000
DTEND;TZID=Pacific/Auckland:20260228T214500
DTSTAMP:20260405T104640
CREATED:20251203T061727Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260324T230712Z
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SUMMARY:King Lear
DESCRIPTION:Our Bard in the Yard production for 2026 was our 30th consecutive year of presenting Shakespeare – and by many measures it was one of our most successful ever. Five of the six nights were sold out. Three nights were outside and three inside because of poor weather. \nIt was a bold\, contemporary production of King Lear directed by Elspeth Cotsilinis. \nThis production toured to Stratford in Taranaki for their Shakespeare festival on 22 March 2026 where it was presented in the Kings Theatre. \nThe cast in alphabetical order: \n\n\n\nMartyn Barry\nKing of France & 1st servant\n\n\nRhiannon Bertaud-Gandar\nCordelia\n\n\nPenelope Bond\nLady Kent\n\n\nLian Butcher\nGoneril\n\n\nAllan Burne\nDuke of Cornwall & Captain (in Stratford)\n\n\nSuzy Cain\nLady Gloucester\n\n\nBrandon Chung\nOswald\n\n\nRuth Corkill\nRegan\n\n\nKevin Lenahan\nEdmund\n\n\nIzzy Longson\nCuran\, Messenger & 2nd gentleman\n\n\nAnne Manchester\nDoctor\, Knight & 1st gentleman\n\n\nJohn Marwick\nKing Lear\n\n\nLauchlin Mead\nEdgar\n\n\nMartin Robinson\nDuke of Albany\n\n\nPhilip Rossiter\nDuke of Cornwall & Captain (in Eastbourne)\n\n\nJohn Smythe\nFool\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \nThe show was very well received. Read the review by Neil Brewer on Broadway World – the text in full: \n\nKING LEAR by Butterfly Creek Theatre Troupe\n\n\nBy: Neil Brewer\nFeb. 22\, 2026\n\n\nKing Lear is believed to have been written by William Shakespeare around 1605–1606 and first performed in 1606. The story draws from several earlier sources\, most notably the legendary British king Leir as recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of The Kings Of Britain (1136) and an anonymous play titled King Leir from the late 16th century. Shakespeare transformed this old tale by adding the tragic ending\, deepening the psychological complexity\, and weaving in the parallel plot of Gloucester and his sons. Over the centuries\, King Lear has been regarded as one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most profound tragedies\, exploring themes of power\, loyalty\, family\, madness\, and the fragility of the human condition.\n\n\nThe play follows King Lear as he decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters\, Goneril\, Regan\, and Cordelia\, based on how lavishly they declare their love for him. When Cordelia refuses to flatter him falsely\, Lear banishes her and soon discovers that Goneril and Regan’s professed love was empty ambition. In a parallel storyline\, the nobleman Gloucester is deceived by his illegitimate son Edmund and turns against his loyal son Edgar. Both Lear and Gloucester suffer the consequences of misplaced trust.\n\n\nAs you can see from this synopsis\, it is a lot for a small theatre group to take on\, so hats off to BCTT for their commitment to thirty years of Shakespearean storytelling. There is something undeniably magical about sitting under the stars with a glass of wine in hand\, surrendering to a story that has endured for centuries. This year’s King Lear was an engaging and often compelling offering.\n\n\nJohn Marwick delivered a committed and polished performance in the title role. It’s clear that an immense amount of work went into shaping Lear. His descent into madness was a particular highlight: when the noble king staggered out in his undies\, it drew audible chuckles from the audience. The storm scene that followed was beautifully realised. both believable and visually striking. It became a powerful metaphor for Lear’s internal chaos and translated effectively to the open‑air setting. In a week marked by a massive storm of our own\, the tempest on stage felt eerily resonant.\n\n\nThe new seating configuration this year was a welcome improvement\, offering a wider stage picture and a greater sense of scale. Kevin Lenahan\, as Edmund\, delivered fierce and gripping speeches that demonstrated strong storytelling instincts; however\, the choice to address the audience front‑on every time made the moments feel less impactful.\n\n\nPenelope Bond brought pace and energy\, particularly in the early scenes\, her commitment was clear\, and with more modulation the performance could gain even greater texture and nuance.\n\n\nJohn Smyth\, as the Fool\, provided welcome light relief. Warm\, joyful\, and magnetic\, his reactions were a delight\, and I often found myself watching him even when he wasn’t the focus of the scene. His clarity of delivery meant every word landed\, and the audience was fully engaged.\n\n\nA particularly successful directorial choice was casting Suzy Cain as Gloucester. The gender shift worked seamlessly\, and her portrayal\, first metaphorically and later literally blind to her sons’ true natures\, was convincing and poignant. Special mention\, too\, to her fabulous gold shoes in the opening scene.\n\n\nThe costumes\, designed by Gael Wellington\, were exceptional. With minimal set and props\, the visual storytelling relied heavily on wardrobe\, and Wellington’s designs brought authenticity\, sophistication\, and cohesion to the production.\n\n\nRegan and Goneril\, played by Lian Butcher and Ruth Corkill\, were suitably cold and calculating. It would have been easy to tip into villainous caricature\, but both actors delivered measured\, chilling performances that allowed Lear’s vulnerability to resonate more deeply.\n\n\nA small practical note from someone seated on the deck: a strip of carpet backstage could be worth considering. The clatter of heels on the wooden surface occasionally broke the illusion during quieter moments.\n\n\nWith no elaborate set and only a plain curtain as backdrop\, the production relied almost entirely on performance\, delivery\, and character dynamics and the cast did not disappoint. Their fluent\, heartfelt speeches and detailed character work made it clear just how much thought and preparation went into this ensemble. There was fighting\, there was gore\, and there was certainly tragedy.\n\n\nA must‑see.\n\nRead the preview article in the Eastbourne Herald\, January 2026: \n \n 
URL:https://bctt.org.nz/show/king-lear/
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