MASSIVE CENTRAL

Workshop in Paradise!

2009-07-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

check out Tuyet Nguyen's visit to Vanuatu for Massive Company. Big thanks to the British Council for giving Tuyet the opportunity

Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

2009-06-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

Tickets now on sale for Whero's New Net on Tour

2009-06-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

Massive Company are delighted to announce that tickets are now on sale for our 2009 tour of Whero's New Net by Albert Belz. Book now to make great savings with our earlybird offer- 20% off all full price tickets! We also have a great group prices in each centre, so why not bring along a group of friends for a fantastic night out at the theatre? Click on the image for full details of where you can see Whero's New Net on tour, or head to our Website for full booking information.

Natalie Medlock joins the cast of "Whero's New Net"

2009-05-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Massive Company is delighted to announce that Natalie Medlock has joined the cast of "Whero's New Net" to play the part of Red for our upcoming National Tour. Natalie was recently seen on stage at the Herald theatre in the Silo Theatre's Ensemble project for Auckland Festival, and is currently performing in "A song for the Ugly Kids" as part of the Comedy festival in Auckland and Wellington. Click here to book tickets for Natalie's Comedy festival show

the full cast for "Whero's New Net" is- Tainui Tukiwaho, Blair Strang, Jarod Rawiri, Bree Peters, Natalie Medlock, Kura Forrester and Wesley Dowdell. The tour kicks off in Gisborne in July, and will also visit Hamilton, Rotorua, Takapuna, Wellington, Upper Hutt and Papakura. For full dates and booking information, visit www.massivecompany.co.nz

Massive Ensemble

2009-05-13T16:00:00.000-07:00

Check out this article in the Manukau courier on Massive Ensemble, our fantastic workshop group in Otara. Members of Massive Ensemble have joined the company working with Lennie James on development of our new work "Havoc in the Garden" this week, and its been wonderful watching them work together with the more experienced members of Massive Company. Read the article here

Pasifika Playwrights Forum

2009-04-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

This looks like its going to be rather amazing, don't cha think??!
We share an office with the lovely people of Playmarket (the auckland based ones that is) and they've been working hard on this - so come along! you're bound to see heaps of the 'MASSIVE' crew there, no doubt :)
RSVP before 30th April...

The Resting Show

2009-04-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

Here's something we here at Massive are supporting at the moment - check it out!

The Massive Guide to the Auckland Festival and the Auckland Fringe

2009-02-17T16:55:00.000-08:00

With the Auckland festival and the Fringe just around the corner, there is a huge amount to see in Auckland over the next few weeks. Here is our handy guide to shows that feature some familiar faces from Massive.

At the Civic, Red Leap Theatre present the World premiere of their adaptation of Shaun Tan’s award winning graphic novel, The Arrival. The cast includes Jarod Rawiri, who played Petera in Whero’s New Net. One of the show’s directors, Julie Nolan, is a former Massive Company producer, who is returning to Massive to be part of the group working with Lennie James on our new project Havoc in the Garden.

Over at the Herald theatre, Bree Peters (who played the title role in Whero’s New Net) features in Silo’s Ensemble project, and you can also catch Taki Rua’s production of Albert Belz’s play Te Karakia, with Tainui Tukiwaho in the cast.

Madeleine Sami (most recently seen as Red in Whero’s New Net) will be taking to the stage with the Sami Sisters, as part of the Red Square line up, with their show Happy Heartbreak, and Red Square is also the place to catch Tama Waipara’s show Sir Plus and the Requirements.

Auckland’s first fringe festival will feature many familiar faces from Massive Company, including Tahi Mapp-Borren, who stars in the one woman show Banging Cymbal Clanging Gong for Smackbang Theatre at the Basement.
Also at the Basement, you can catch Olive Asi (who featured in the cast of The Girls Show) perform as part of the South Auckland Poets Collective; and Ash Jones (from Up Close Out Loud) will be appearing in Titus.
The Fringe kicks off from Feb 27th, with the Auckland festival hot on its heels on from 5th March. Its going to be a wonderful few weeks packed full of theatergoing- we’ll see you at the bar!
For more info on any of the shows mentioned, check out www.aucklandfestival.co.nz or www.aucklandfringe.org.nz

Back from Obama Land

2009-02-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

So I am back 3 days now and I think have adjusted to the heat although my Nordic genes find the summer time altogether challenging! I am excited by Massive Company's year..we have so much on and so much interest in our work and the way we make it, it is very heartening to feel you are offering something unique and something which people are looking forward to seeing or experiencing. This recession is troubling of course but I do feel we as artists are well equipped to deal with it...never having known job "security" and all that brings...so we are well conditioned to the careful ways needed to handle these times. I do feel that whatever comes our way we will "weather" it even if it means adjusting programmes and suchlike...the fact that our tutoring and workshops are in such high demand will mean we will survive no matter what. I love the Land of Obama (as a friend and I decided to now call the USA) ...I love their unabashedness to tell you how charming you are and that they love the way you talk. I love that men would let me know how cute they thought I was and ask me straight out for a date...how bloody refreshing is that!! I love that they love our work and want more of it. But I do love coming home and all that that means at a deep deep level, never really able to be articulated, to me. I hope I may keep having the opportunity to traverse both places as I do...that is a wonderful thing. But for now it is focus on our tour of WHERO'S, our workshops, our next new show HAVOC IN THE GARDEN and our re-working of THE GIRLS SHOW....onwards, onwards and onwards...........

More News From Stateside

2009-01-21T07:42:00.000-08:00

Hi..i am writing from pennsylvania where outside is a bed of white snow, its the perfect winter wonderland. I spent this past weekend teaching a Massive style workshop for 15+ and it was great. Last year when i taught this age group here it was a pretty weird experience for them, as their experience of what theatre could be was fairly limited and based in musicals and not much else. This year i did 'taster" class earlier in the week so that i could show them some of our work on the dvd's and then get them to try it....this worked very well and everyone seemed excited by the work, rather than bam- boozeled. We managed to cover quite a lot from very physical to more driect address solo work..all working with their stories and experiences. The feedback was fantastic and over the course of the weekend i saw incrediable progress,growth and understanding of the work. There is a real hunger for this work once they get into it. Yesterday i had big planning meetings here right up until 2011...the plan is to make a show here then with local young people in the 15-25 age bracket. I need to find a way to get into the city here more and contact the 51% hispanic population, but we have a plan for this the next time i come to teach. It interesting that the more we operate as we do in NZ the more it makes sense for here....so next year we will do audition workshops for the workshops as we do in NZ....this makes for more committment and more valuing of the place you take in the company...I am applying the same principles we do here as in NZ and it reaps the same rewards. Really this is Massive Company Stateside, rather than something seperate...we now have Massive Company members here as well as in Auckland, NZ! on another note worth mentioning, the inauguration buzz is something to experience here...the sense of hope and optimism is full on..even republicans are joining in the celebrations and seeing this as the huge act of HOPE and less of an act of a particular party for the USA....we await the consequences of this new President...words are great, but action is what counts....Ok am off to meet a high school drama classmate from here who recently contacted me...i haven't seen him since 1980 when we both took drama together at my high school, Wilson here in PA. I will be back in NZ end of next week...so may update before then or once i am home...talk soon.

Sam from USA

2009-01-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

Ok so I am writing this from Reading, Pennsylvania, USA and I have been in the US since 29th December. Its been an interesting time here and the recession is very present in the daily lives of those around me...the shops have 70% off almost everything and some of my friends with businesses are "hunkering down" and having to lay off staff...but there is of course HUGE hope in Obama and what he may bring to it all.I was in NYC for 8 days..some of it just spent wandering to my favourite places...along the Hudson river, when the buildings all get to tall and I need some "air" and sea....the West Village when i just want to be in the village part of NY without too much glitz or people people people...the East Village when i want a bit more "garage grunge". I attended UNDER THE RADAR...a theatre festival a The Public Theatre in the East Village..a beautiful building which once was the NY Library..its huge meandering spaces make for a wonderful theatre with character to burn...the choice of work shown at this festival has clearly got the Festival Directors tast stamped all over it..some of it quite performance art in its style...most of it small casts or solo shows....one piece called SIGHT IS THE SENSE....a solo show, put me to sleep within the first 10 minutes...i tried, i really tried to wake up and stay awake 3 times in the course of the show...but no..continuous 1 line statements done by a man standing still and not moving for the hour, just didn't do it for me...i honestly think that is the MOST boring piece of theatre i have ever seen...BUT there was light at the end of the tunnel and after this piece i saw one of the BEST pieces i have ever seen...THE BREAK/S..essentially a solo piece...very personal, very theatrical and quite beautiful to watch. He was suported by a DJ and live musician and he danced/moved alongside the narrative but in a very real way and with relavance to the narrative...was inspiring stuff! The symposium itself was fairly UScentric...which isn't to say it isn't worth being there and listening to the talk, but it isn't as international a forum as i have experienced elsewhere. The Arts scene is prolific in NY and there is plenty to see beyond the Broadway you might think is so dominant. I have been teaching a 2 day workshop for practitioners here in Reading,PA. Was great to return and almost pick up from my last january workshop here. We had "new" people come into the mix, all made for a very fun and successful time. I felt this time we were really getting down to some substantial work, having introduced them to the MASSIVE way of working last January. They are very hungry for it as this area is limited in what it gets for theatre...OUR TOWN is what one of the local schools is doing and musicals are BIG....i love a good musical, but not as my total arts diet . I taught yesterday with a snow falling down outisde and we had to finish up a little early otherwisde we all might not have got home...plus i am not the most experienced in driving on snow laden roads! I hope this has given a little insight into where i am right now..will update soon....

2008?! More like Two-thousand-and-great!

2008-12-18T19:30:00.000-08:00

Hey Hey Massive Watchers...

Just a quick note to let our blog readers know that we are closed up now and off to enjoy a well earned break! what a year 08 has been...
but Sam Scott is travelling the US and will no doubt be blogging loads of exciting pics and stories...
James will be in the old 'coro'... mandel that is...
and I will be sunning in the tropics, on a lil island called Samoa... yessss... I am keen to swim and just eat loads of mangos! awesome...

As the year finishes and as I pack up our office (last to leave I might add!) - I am really proud of the work Massive did this year...
the highlight for me personally was seeing Whero's New Net come to fruition... my friend Kewana Duncan, crafted a trailer for us and gifted this to Massive, and I want to thank him for his generosity... he dropped it off today just before the office closed for '08 - so I'm happy to post it up for you now...

Have a wonderful xmas break everyone, blessings to all who worked alongside us this year, a big shout-out to Sam & James who help to make my admin job a joy!

PEACE OUT and see you all in 2009 !

2008-12-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

As the year comes slowly to an end, here at Massive, we have an awesome party to look forward to!

This sunday, I'm getting ready for a christmas throwdown paaartay!

This will be my second "Massive" xmas and I can't wait... think Sam's infamous fudge cake is calling... it's a blast, looks like the weather will permit, and it's a chance for the old 'admin' side of the company to catch up with the 'artists'...

toast to a successful two-thousand-and-great!

See ya Sunday!

Blair Strang wins 'Outstanding Performance of the Year' for Whero's New Net in Metro's Best of Auckland awards

2008-11-24T17:43:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Blair!

Metro Magazine has chosen Blair Strang as outstanding performance of the year in their 2008 best of Auckland Awards, for his performance as Tupo in Massive's production of Whero's New Net, by Albert Belz. The play enjoyed its premiere season earlier this year at the Herald Theatre, and we are looking forward to announcing 2009 tour dates for the show soon. Watch this space for an announcement in the coming weeks as to where you can see Whero's New Net on tour, featuring Blair's award winning performance!

From Metro Magazine- "Strang deftly handled the role with humour, candour and without a scrap of cliche, which had us on the edge of our seat anticipating his next entrance"

"An open letter to Knife Carriers"- written by Lennie James

2008-11-18T13:00:00.001-08:00

Check out this link to a terrific article written by Lennie James for the Guardian Newspaper. Lennie wrote "The Sons of Charlie Paora" for Massive Company, and will return to Auckland in March to begin work with Massive on a new play. Lennie wrote this letter in response to the surge in knife related crime in London. When the article was published in June of this year, 16 teenagers had died as a result of knife crime in 2008 alone.

We are very excited that Lennie is returning to Auckland to work with Massive again, and the new play has the working title "Havoc in the Garden". In the meantime, we thought we would share this article with you. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jun/08/knifecrime.ukcrime

Welcome to our New Blog!

2008-11-18T12:25:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Massive Company's brand new blog!
This is the new hub for Massive Company, where you can stay up to date with all the latest happenings for Massive and our company members. We've got some great things coming up on the blog over the next few months- this will be the place to be to find out the latest information on our national tour of Whero's New Net, which will kick off in July 2009- keep checking the blog for tour updates and news, and be the first to find our where Massive will be on tour in 2009.
In late December, Massive's Artistic Director, Sam Scott, heads to the USA, where she will be teaching a range of workshops- check in with the blog to hear all about Sam's trip.
The blog will also be the best place to find out what all of Massive Company are up to- we'll have regular updates from Company members and friends of Massive.
So, a big Welcome to 'Massive Central', Massive's new home on the web.
James Wilson, Producer