10 Questions: Alex Wilson from Centrepoint Theatre, Palmerston North

Centrepoint Theatre associate director Alex Wilson says Manawatū is profuse, jocular and avuncular.

In today’s instalment of our summer series 10 Questions, we meet Centrepoint Theatre associate director Alex Wilson. The Palmerston North professional theatre turns 50 this year.

1. This summer, I’m looking forward to driving up and down Transmission Gully a dozen times just for the thrill of it. Holding my partner’s hand in various scenic spots and then being embarrassed by my clamminess. Most likely will buy some fish and chips to get into the summertime spirit and then get acid reflux.

2. A highlight of 2023 for me was I had less acid reflux than in previous years.

3. If I was in charge of $10 million to invest in Manawatū, I would spend it on Centrepoint Theatre! We are the second longest-running professional company in the country. But the theatre needs a new roof and a facelift to bring it into the 21st century.

4. Manawatū's best-kept secret is you can buy a large bag of Tangy Apples from Carousel Confectionary’s shop in Railway Rd. I buy a bag semi-regular and send it to my sister in the UK. She swears by them as a hangover cure.

5. I’d like to have a coffee with the person who broke the rear window of my car, Geoff. Geoff is already a very bad car whose air intake is made largely up of a beer can and a roll of gaffer tape. What would motivate anyone to attack a defenceless 1994 Toyota Corolla hatchback – the backstory would be fascinating.

6. The advice I would give my 15-year-old self is that rash will go away. You have atopic eczema. Beware of the acid reflux that will ruin your life in three years.

7. Describe Manawatū in three words? Profuse, jocular, avuncular.

8. The noise I wish I could never hear again is anything that comes from my body when I have acid reflux. The body burbles, gurgles and rumbles. I sound like an old car, an Ally Ally Bang Bang, except this car doesn’t fly, get driven by Dick Van Dyke or take you to see the Child Catcher or whatever happens in that movie.

9. As a child, I was good at digging holes. I wanted to be a palaeontologist (or as I called them dinosaur hunter). Once I was digging around in our backyard and to my surprise I found a bone by our cabbages. My parents convinced me I had found a bone from a “pre-colonial goat”. I kept this bone in my treasure box for many years as proof of my palaeontologist credentials. I only realised this year, via retelling the story to my partner, that my beloved bone probably belonged to someone’s dearly departed cat.

10. I wish Manawatū had more readily available information on how to combat acid reflux.