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King Lear, A Resounding Tinkle / Black Comedy, Say Who You Are, There's a Girl in my Soup and The
Anniversary plus two popular Music Halls. After Warwick Slyfield left in mid-1970, the English actor David Phethean was appointed as Artistic Director. During his time with the Trust he directed Relatively Speaking, The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew, Macbeth and What the Butler Saw. The final Artistic Director, Alistair Douglas, directed one production, Luv, in late 1970. After the Trust was wound up, Douglas led an amateur group, The Playhouse Theatre Club, which in 1971 staged late night revues, Winnie the Pooh and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, before the Playhouse Theatre was sold to the Dunedin Repertory Society.
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Canary (1959), Blithe Spirit (1959), Love in a Mist (1962), House on the Cliff (1964), three productions at the
Playhouse (The Pohutukawa Tree, The Shifting Heart (1963) and The Living Room (1964)) and a revival of Salad Days staged at His Majesty's Theatre, Dunedin, in 1963. With the exception of 1959, there were Drama Trios playing to schools' audiences. A full production of Beauty and the Beast was also toured nationally to schools' audiences.
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Queen, The Public Eye / The
Private Ear, Rattle of a Simple Man, The Knack, The Creeper, Johnny So Long, The Boyfriend, The Importance of Being Earnest, Hedda Gabler and Pygmalion. The Arts Council subsequently also encouraged the formation of the Southern Theatre Trust, which acquired the assets of the privately-owned Southern Players company in 1969.
80:. The intention was to use the Playhouse as a venue for plays of less mass appeal than those which were played in lyric theatres and town halls on its major tours. At this point the Southern Comedy Players were the only surviving professional theatre company in New Zealand. The Playhouse was later reconfigured and its seating capacity increased to 170.
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was selected by the trustees as the
Artistic Director, and although Menlove and Esquilant had positions as stage manager and business manager respectively, they left the organisation within a matter of months. In Slyfield's time the major productions were See How They Run, A Streetcar Named Desire,
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By 1965 there had been four national tours - Salad Days (1959), Free As Air (1960), Watch it Sailor (1961) and Johnny
Belinda (1962), nine South Island tours - Charley's Aunt (1957), Private Lives (1958), Sailor Beware (1958), Doctor in the House (1958), While the Sun Shines (1959), The Cat and the
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Grahame
Clifford, who had a career in English theatre, settled in Dunedin following a J. C. Williamsons' Gilbert and Sullivan tour in 1957. He directed Sailor Beware, Doctor in the House, While the Sun Shines, Salad Days and The Cat and the Canary for the Southern Comedy Players. Frank Newman, who
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desire to see a broader repertoire and permanent repertory companies in New
Zealand's major cities. After this, the company included more classics and drama in their offerings, as well as supporting a Quartet which toured schools nationally. The Southern Players' productions were Portrait of A
90:, directed by the playwright. As a result of this production Mason made some changes to the script which were incorporated in the second published edition. Some early Southern Comedy Players productions were produced for them by Patric Carey of the
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The company initially toured throughout the South Island, and then occasionally nationally. Menlove and
Esquilant's intention in forming the company had been to focus on the South Island towns that were too small to merit a visit by the
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New
Zealand actors with English training and / or experience who worked with the Southern Comedy Players included Averil (Rilla) Stephens, Jonathon (Jon) Elsom, Sybil Westland, Jonathon (John) Hardy, John Kim and Bryan
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had also trained and worked in
England, directed Johnny Belinda for the Southern Comedy Players at the conclusion of a seven year stint as professional producer for the Canterbury Repertory Theatre in Christchurch.
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Australian actors who worked with the Southern Comedy Players / Southern Theatre Trust included Myrtle Woods, John Elveved, Colin Lehmann, Bruce Kerr, Fran Kelly and Dalvern Thom.
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John Hunter, a long serving member of the Kiwi Revue Company who also acted with the New Zealand Players, starred in the Players' second production, Private Lives.
73:. They played 134 performance in 78 towns to approximately 70,000 people, which equalled the achievements of the New Zealand Players with the same show in 1956.
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The initial repertoire was mainly popular contemporary West End comedy and musicals. After the success of the first two shows,
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New Zealand actors who worked with the Southern Comedy Players / Southern Theatre Trust early in their careers include
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In 1962 the company converted the former Foresters' Lodge hall on Albany Street in Dunedin into the 100-seat
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first professional engagement was touring with The Southern Comedy Players as Gwendolen in
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274:"Bernard Esquilant, 1926-2021 (As published in the Otago Daily Times, 11 March 2021)"
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Carnegie, David (December 1980). "The Southern Comedy Players: A Brief History".
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In 1966, the company changed its name to Southern Players, as a response to the
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185:"Story: Theatre companies and producers – The rise of professional companies"
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34:, active between 1957 and 1971. They were founded by
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402:. Dunedin: Southern Comedy Players. 1964. p. 8.
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69:, the company toured nationally with the musical
25:Southern Players and the Southern Theatre Trust
345:A Theatre in the House: The Careys' Globe
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189:Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
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314:McDonald, Alister (16 April 2021).
469:1957 establishments in New Zealand
433:"Contributor Bio: Terry MacTavish"
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464:Theatre companies in New Zealand
127:The Importance of Being Earnest
103:Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council
239:The Cambridge Guide to Theatre
83:In 1963 the company presented
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400:House on the Cliff programme
316:"Bernard Esquilant obituary"
16:New Zealand theatre company
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210:"Southern Comedy Players"
235:Banham, Martin (1995).
21:Southern Comedy Players
474:1971 disestablishments
437:www.theatreview.org.nz
349:Otago University Press
320:www.theatreview.org.nz
278:www.theatreview.org.nz
216:. Archives New Zealand
92:Globe Theatre, Dunedin
214:The Community Archive
162:New Zealand Players
88:The Pohutukawa Tree
52:New Zealand Players
479:Culture in Dunedin
63:and Noel Coward's
122:Terry MacTavish's
78:Playhouse Theatre
40:Bernard Esquilant
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347:. Dunedin:
29:New Zealand
458:Categories
421:: 342–347.
383:Q106816634
168:References
71:Salad Days
27:, were a
415:Landfall
379:Wikidata
375:6854103M
367:42920246
343:(1999).
156:See also
442:10 July
220:31 July
194:31 July
137:Aitken.
44:Dunedin
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325:19 May
284:19 May
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120:Actor
444:2021
363:OCLC
353:ISBN
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286:2021
249:ISBN
222:2016
196:2016
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