The cast of A Time Like This. Back row, from left, Dave Chisholm (Doctor/Mr Gordon), Sam Wyss (Young Douglas), Mark Kilsby (Old Douglas) and Anton Wilson (George). Front row, from left, Natasha Melbye (Harriet), Jordyn Weggery (Katherine) and Zain Collins (young man/soldier). Photo / Kirsty Blair
The cast of A Time Like This. Back row, from left, Dave Chisholm (Doctor/Mr Gordon), Sam Wyss (Young Douglas), Mark Kilsby (Old Douglas) and Anton Wilson (George). Front row, from left, Natasha Melbye (Harriet), Jordyn Weggery (Katherine) and Zain Collins (young man/soldier). Photo / Kirsty Blair
Being the playwright and the director is like cutting out the middle person.
But for Palmerston North writer and theatre lover Jackie Davis it isn’t a case of “my way or the highway”.
Yes, she brings to the director’s chair in-depth knowledge of A Time Like This, a touching, tender, yet at-times horrific story of World War I veteran Douglas Chapman. He drinks to forget his past but comes to learn that drinking only brings it all to life.
“I can say this is what I meant when I said this. This is what I envisage the character would be thinking.”
However, rehearsals with the seven-strong cast are a collaborative process as they make suggestions to Davis about their characters.
This makes the Manawatū Theatre Society production of A Time Like This, opening on April 18, different to the Gisborne and Wellington ones Davis also directed.
Palmerston North playwright Jackie Davis says it’s a real privilege seeing her words come to life in A Time Like This. Photo / Judith Lacy
Davis says the play has never been more topical as we come out of a worldwide pandemic and half the world is at war.
It is important to remember our history and where we come from. In World War I, men and women sacrificed their lives for our freedom.
“It sounds like a cliche but it’s absolutely true,” Davis says.
Kiwi soldiers thought they were going on an adventure, stopping to see the pyramids in Egypt, not realising they were going to be - in many cases - cannon fodder.
“We didn’t even know what we were there for,” one character in the play says.
“It is important for us to know that history and I think that people are really interested in World War I history currently,” Davis says. She points to the increase in Anzac Day service attendance.
The Globe Theatre is a great space to put on a play and it is lovely to know the theatre is well utilised, Davis says.
She finds it energising having rehearsals in Globe 2 while there is a performance in Globe 1 plus the rehearsal room is in use.
“We are so lucky to have that theatre.”
Mark Kilsby, a mainstay of Manawatū Theatre Society and Manawatū Summer Shakespeare, plays Old Douglas. This year he received a Regional Theatre Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sam Wyss plays Young Douglas. His performance as Tobes in Manawatū Theatre Society’s Growth earned him the actor in a male role (play) award at the 2023 Regional Theatre Awards.
There will be a 3pm show on Anzac Day, with a cup of tea and an Anzac biscuit first.
Judith Lacy has been the editor of the Manawatū Guardian since December 2020. She graduated from journalism school in 2001 and this is her second role editing a community paper.
