The cast of Austen Found. From left Lori Dungey, Penny Ashton and Jamie Burgess
Austen Found
Jane Austen, of course, didn’t write a musical but, what if she had?
That’s the theatrical premise behind Penny Ashton bringing the wittily worded Austen Found, The Undiscovered Musicals of Jane Austen to the stage. It’s a purely imagined romp complete with charming suitors, meddlesome mothers and well-educated gals as told through song and dance.
Penny Ashton has been a comedienne since she came to the stage in 2002. She has performed over 1000 solo shows and has sold out from Edinburgh to Edmonton to, let’s guess Eketāhuna.
She has represented both New Zealand in The World Cup of Theatresports in Germany and Australasia in a Performance Poetry Slam Tournament Tour of the UK. She has performed poetry by invitation at the famous Glastonbury Festival, UK.
She started writing Austen Found as a fan of improv.
“In 2008 I was invited to the inaugural Wellington improv festival and I had always wanted to try Jane Austen style and so it was born and as a bit of a fan of musical improv that was added to the mix,” she said.
She is bringing with her two improv friends. Lori Dungey has been an actor for over 40 years and has created, produced, and performed in over 60 devised and improvised productions. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of British Colombia, Canada.
“Lori and I studied hard, read Austen, watched Austen, studied the Regency period, its history, foods, social mores and to be poked fun at you need to have this deep-soaked knowledge at your fingertips,” said Ashton.
They are joined by Jamie Burgess who is a resident pianist where he has imparted musical wisdom to improve people’s improv. He was born, raised and trained in New Zealand but now calls Melbourne home.
On stage he’s toured with Canterbury Opera, he has been to the Copacabana and has even been a Cat. In 2020 he (goose) stepped into a role-playing none other than Basil Fawlty.
There are only two shows in Northland. The first is on Saturday 26 August at the Whangaroa Memorial Town Hall in Kaeo and the second is Sunday 27th August at Forum North, Whangarei. Tickets at Eventfinda.
More than water under the bridge
The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway contractors have been busy repairing a bridge on the Kawakawa to Ōpua line.
There are 15 bridges in total. Six have been repaired to date and preservation work has been carried out recently to Bridge 5 which is halfway between Kawakawa and Long Bridge. The bridges are inspected every year as a matter of course.
Lau’rell Douglas, a spokesperson for Bay of Islands Vintage Railway, said the bridges were affected by the November floods last year and by Cyclone Gabrielle in February this year.
“Some of the logs in the waterways found their way to the bridges, some came down from the nearby forestry and some were slash but there was also debris that was backed up and which weakens the structure of the bridge,” she said.
“There is a huge amount of work to do and we had to bring in specialist gear, such as abseiling equipment, so the guys could get down to clear it all away.”
Engineering contractors Albert Barr and Richard Greenfield led the team that carried out the work.
Bay of Islands Vintage Railway (BOIVR) were granted $5.59 million three years ago from the Provincial Growth Fund for restoration work. There is now a staff of 22 plus contractors.
A company was formed in conjunction with Far North Holdings and local iwi Ngāti Hine to handle the projects. Northland Adventure Experience (NAX) are in the process of restoring the 113-year-old steam ferry Minerva and rejuvenating and extending the Twin Coast Cycle Trail.
They have also restored the much-loved steam locomotive Gabriel and in July, for the first time in seven years, the fully renovated train engine chugged down the main street of Kawakawa for an excursion run.
School joins Project Island Song
Kerikeri Primary School Leaders Group recently joined an expedition to some islands in the Bay.
It was part of Project Island Song’s Youth Programme and 17 pupils and six adults, which included a couple of teachers, left Paihia to travel to Moturua Island. The objective was to build some rat traps, learn how to bait them, how to make tracking tunnels and generally explore the surroundings.
The group split into two on arrival. One group walked across the island and the other headed to Army Bay on Moturua to complete the construction of traps. They swapped activities after lunch.
On the walk they saw a variety of birds – tui, piwakakawa (fantail, also known as tirairaka), kingfisher, tieke (saddleback) and pōpokotea (whitehead) a North Island robin and a red-crowned parakeet (kakariki).
They also saw a “huge” kauri tree and a “supertall” cabbage tree. They made six traps which they brought back to school and they were shown how to make tracking tunnels using a card with ink on it and some peanut butter, which is a delicacy to a rat.
They declared their favourite bay to be Army Bay “because it was sunny and we got to see the old army posts”. What they got out of the trip was a “bigger respect for the wildlife and an understanding of why it is important to protect it”.
They also said they had more respect for Project Island Song employees “and the hard work they have put into the project”.
The expedition was made possible by funding from the Joyce Fisher Foundation which has allowed Project Island Song to take 12 schools on the Youth Programme voyages.
Inline hockey tournament for Kerikeri
A national premier league inline hockey tournament is being held in Kerikeri this coming weekend.
The local club, The Northland Stingrays, will host Round 3 of the IHNZ (Inline Hockey New Zealand) Premier League competition for 2023 on their home ground at Bay Sport Complex in Waipapa.
It’s the first time the club has hosted such a tournament since it was first formed in 1997.
The tournament will see seven clubs from around the North Island compete in the national inline hockey event held over two days.
Northland Stingrays spokesperson Carl Cooper said the club has worked hard over the years to build the sport and the facility at Bay Sport.
“With the Northland Stingrays club and its Warrior Hockey agency putting up a first-place cash prize of $2000 this takes the sport into a new semi-professional level.”
The tournament starts on Saturday 19th with the Stringrays playing first against the Hamilton Devils at 1.00pm. Each game plays for 2 periods of 20 minutes, with a 2-minute break at half time.
All teams will play on Saturday, with the Stingrays playing again at 5.10pm against the New Plymouth Ravens, and their last game at 8.30pm with Wanganui Lightning.
Back-to-back games continue on Sunday with an early start at 7.30am. Teams will battle it out for the top spot throughout the morning, with the final playing at 12.45pm.
Inline hockey is similar to ice hockey but played on inline skates (rollerblades) usually on a plastic tile or wooden court. Goalies can face shots of over 100 kph.
The speed of the game requires bench players to substitute usually every two minutes. The exception is the goalie who is on for the whole game.
Spectators are welcome at the Baysport complex, Harmony Lane, Waipapa and entry is free.
For more information contact Northland Stingrays spokesperson Carl Cooper, warriorhockeynz@gmail.com
The latest news bites from around the region.