Mount Hutt College and Ashburton College both have school productions under way this week.
Mount Hutt’s production No Ill Feelings opened last night, while Threads opened on Tuesday night.
Mount Hutt teacher Jenna Chenery said the more than 40 students involved in No Ill Feelings were staging a show they were ‘‘really proud of’’.
‘‘Students have been taking on some key roles such as lighting, sound, stage management and set design.
‘‘It has been a pleasure to work with such a fantastic group,’’ Chenery said.
No Ill Feelings is a hilarious musical comedy set inside the Sisters of Percy Hospital, where love, laughs, and drama are sometimes put before the comfort of the patients.
Ashburton College head of drama teacher, and play writer, Claire Bubb said more than 70 students were involved in the Threads production, ranging from onstage to supporting the production in a technical theatre capacity.
‘‘The concept grew out of my interest in how people from all over the globe came to end up in New Zealand and how that past history affects their lives in the present,’’
‘‘I began to talk to people I knew about their family histories and realised that everyone has a unique and interesting story to share.
‘‘Some of those histories appear on stage in Threads including my own father’s story who was a small boy in Holland during World War II,’’ she said.
Threads is set on a campsite in New Zealand on New Year’s Eve and follows a young couple who come from very different family histories.
‘‘It looks at how the threads of out past weave together to create the picture of our present and our future,’’ Bubb said.
‘‘Even the set of the show reflects the stories of the past from the cast as each student brought in pictures of their ancestors and these have found their way into the auditorium to link everyone to the threads of their own stories.’’
Threads – a play by Claire Bubb, is on at the Ashburton College auditorium tomorrow and Saturday nights from 7pm.
Í No Ill Feeling stages tonight and tomorrow 7pm. Tickets, $10, can be purchased from the school office, 302-8437, or by emailing [email protected]. Threads stages in the Ashburton College auditorium tomorrow and Saturday 7pm. Tickets, $15, are available from the college office, 308 4193.
