Sightings - compelling new work aligns with 125th anniversary of Women's Suffrage in NZ

Co-director Kura Forrester.

A gutsy new drama celebrates New Zealand past, future and all things mana wahine - even women's fight to be able to vote.

If a slightly odd phrase could describe the direction taken by a bright new play soon showing in Whangarei, it could be "walking backwards into the future".

In Massive Company's clever play Sightings, five smart and sassy women characters track connections, hunt possibilities, and navigate their future.

Funny, deep, dark and delightful, Sightings is an invitation to audiences to consider everything about being a New Zealander.

It encapsulates what it means to have arrived in Aotearoa, to have been born here, have ancestors whose bones lie in the soil.

The unspoken question is how do you measure a life? More outspokenly, the characters figure out how to carve their own existence, unwittingly leaving clues for others travelling their own path.

Anyone who has a sister, mother, grandmother or daughter will find the contemporary, courageous piece of theatre taking them on a strangely familiar journey.

This compelling new work is well timed to align with the 125th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage in New Zealand. (On September 19 1893 the Electoral Act 1893 was passed, giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.)

Developed under the keen eye of artistic director, Sam Scott, Sightings' personal, individual stories resonate strongly with audiences.

The play pushes two celebrated artists, Miriama McDowell and Kura Forrester, to the centre of the frame. Experienced stage, film and tv actor, and the writer of Sightings, McDowell was in Northland last year with Red Leap Theatre's Kororareka: The Ballad of Maggie Flynn.

Co-director Kura Forrester steps up for the first time at the helm of a Massive production, bringing with her a wealth of knowledge, having performed with the company since 2008.

Celebrated for her comedic gifts, Forrester appeared in every season of Funny Girls, in Taika Waititi's What We Do in the Shadows and the hit web series, The Adventures of Suzy Boon.

In 2014 Forrester studied with French master clown and professor of theatre, Philippe Gaulier. She debuted her solo show Tiki Tour in the 2015 International Comedy Festival in April.

Sightings will be at Forum North, Whangarei, Wednesday August 1 at 7pm. Tickets from Ticketek.