Playbox Theatre: Company tackles Ben Elton’s raw and raunchy Popcorn

Director Lee Owens (left) with a copy of the programme from the 1998 London performance of Popcorn, and (right) Wayne Hudson (Jono Freebairn) with on-stage partner in romance and crime, "Scout" (Olivia Turner). Photos / Geoff Lewis

Does art influence reality? That’s the big question behind Popcorn, a production by Hamilton Playbox set to hit the stage in October.

Written by British playwright Ben Elton and first performed in Nottingham in 1996, Popcorn is a dark comedy which asks the basic question - is violence in society influenced by what people see on screen or the other way around?

For Hamilton Playbox director Lee Owens, it’s a production she has hankered to take on since seeing the show live in London’s Apollo Theatre in 1998.

“The premise behind the play touches on reality TV as a whole and how some things we see as entertainment may influence how some people behave,” Owens says.

“It’s about two murderers. The scary part is that it was written in the 1990s and it’s still relevant today. It’s really for mature audiences. There’s violence, sexual activity and drugs. I’ve left the language as it was written by Elton and it’s pretty raw compared to anything Playbox has done recently.”

Killer Wayne Hudson (Jono Freebairn, left) with victim Karl Brezner (Jonathan Kay). Photo / Geoff Lewis

Playbox plans its shows two years ahead. Owens last directed Cosi fan Tutte in 2019 and was most recently in an acting role in Mamma Mia in 2022. In the interim, she has acted as stage manager in other productions. She is on the Playbox committee and a member of the Riverlea Theatre board.

The nine-person cast was recruited from the Hamilton and Waipā areas with a good range of prospective cast members answering auditions in July, Owens says.

Popcorn is set in the Beverly Hills mansion of movie director Bruce Delamitri (Arthur Van Resseghem) who becomes an early victim of the villains - the charming Wayne Hudson (Jono Freebairn) and his creepy girlfriend “Scout” (Olivia Turner) - both psychopaths.

Delamitri is in the throes of a passionate introduction to Brooke Daniels (Anna Mulligan), a model and actress when Wayne and Scout interrupt - but they want more than an autograph from their screen idol. Wayne intends to use Bruce’s “art” as justification for murder. At the end of it, there is blood and a body count.

“There’s a debate going on around society’s perception of who is the villain and who is the hero,” Owens says.

The Hamilton Playbox production of Popcorn runs from October 7-21 and can be experienced at the Riverlea Theatre. For bookings, go to www.iTicket.co.nz or book at the theatre.