Plays 1

Most of our myths are 'true stories'. They fascinate us because they are us. Award-winning playwright Ken Duncum tackles three of the biggies. Horseplay A hypothetical meeting between the novelist Ronald Hugh Morrieson and the poet James K. Baxter in Hawera in 1972. Death approaches as the novelist and the poet share the stage with the rear end of a horse. Flipside Four men confront the elements, each other and themselves, during 119 days adrift in the overturned Rose-Noelle. Trick of the Light Two generations, and the long shadow of the Crewe murders. A brother and sister brings their mother's ashes to a motel room that hasn't been opened for three decades.

Ken Duncum is the Michael Hirschfeld Director of Scriptwriting at Victoria University's International Institute of Modern Letters. His plays Blue Sky Boys, Cherish, and Trick of the Light are all winners of the Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for Best New Zealand Play.

Each of these three plays takes as its kernel a news story from the past that captured the imagination of New Zealanders. In "Horseplay "novelist Ronald Hugh Morrieson and poet James K. Baxter meet and share the stage with the rear end of a horse, while in "Flipside "four sailors confront the elements for 119 days, adrift on the overturned boat "Rose-Noelle. "Finally, "Trick of the Light "revisits the infamous Crewe murders when a brother and sister bring their mother's ashes to a motel room that hasn't been opened in three decades.

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