Stage Productions

My work as a dramatic producer

Part of my job as English teacher at Rangitoto College in the sixties was to assist my departmental boss, Frank Gee, with the school productions.

The first year he produced "Arsenic and Old Lace" and I understudied him. The next year Frank was more adventurous: he obtained several radio plays from Radio NZ that had never been produced on stage, and we chose three one acters to form the production. He produced the first and third, I ran the second. That was great fun.

At Mt Roskill Grammar I repeated "Arsenic and Old Lace". It is a very tightly written play. Thinking it might run too long, I tried to cut out a section or two, but found it was quite impossible to alter without affecting the thread of the plot.

When I arrived at Bay of Islands College, I found they had already settled on the Mikado as their production for the year. Here is the newspaper coverage from the Northern Advocate:

The staff were very supportive, much more so than in my previous schools.  The science teacher produced fantastic lighting effects and wonderful explosions for Katisha's arrival. About 25 of the teachers helped in one way or another.

Each year after that we produced a musical of some sort.

But 1975 was special, we had an extra production, a very important one. Late in 1974 the Minister of Education asked my Principal if the school could perform a re=-enactment of the signing of the Treaty at the Waitangi Day ceremonies at Waitangi the next February.

So I was asked to produce such a performance. Together with the Maori teacher and a copy of Colenso's account of the day's proceedings in 1840, I wrote and produced a 20-minute version.

Below is the text of the performance, which took place on the Treaty House lawn following speeches by Kirk and Muldoon. The Navy officers had had a mock-tent erected with signal flags, had taught the students how to salute with swords, and had lent their captain's three-cornered hats and uniforms, and their ceremonial swprds to us for the boy playing Hobson to use.