OH YES, A CLASSIC
Peninsula by Gary Henderson
Reviewed by Terry MacTavish, 31 Mar 2014, Theatreview
I have been longing to see Peninsula ever since reading John Smythe's prediction nearly ten years ago that it was destined to become a classic. Winner of the 2013 Playmarket Award for Contribution to New Zealand Theatre, Gary Henderson is surely a national treasure. With apparently casual ease he shows us ourselves in the wonderful tradition of The End of the Golden Weather and The Children of the Poor, employing the Brecht-influenced style that has actually become an identifiable characteristic of NZ Theatre: a small cast playing myriad characters to create an era and community instantly recognisable to us.
I meet friends at interval who are marvelling over the accuracy and honesty of this recreation of the nineteen sixties, from junket for tea (“The awful food we had!”) to six o'clock closing (“Dad got arrested once”).
This is part of the joy of Peninsula, that we can live again those days when, the minute school was out, kids went bush – building huts, digging secret tunnels, never home till dinner was on the table, running horrendous risks, making our own fun. By way of this seductive nostalgia Henderson leads us to contemplate how the NZ of the 60s has led to the NZ we know today. Read more...
