Seeing Red

Holiday time,

and another of Dale Hartley-Brown's productions

hits the stage.

She has built up, over the years a pool of talent,

that she now draws on to produce

both her senior and junior shows.

Dale's graduate and current senior students

enjoy working across the board in stage-production,

directing and choreography, sound, lighting, crewing,

set-design, wardrobe and make-up.

Oh yes; they sing, dance and act too!

And now a rising crop is putting on a musical version of

Little Red Riding Hood...

Like her big sister, in the last production

(Alice! An Adventure inWonderland ),

Kitty indulges in shameless self-promotion:

during the costumed Street-Walk;

during a radio interview with Madeleine Wesselingh,

- the show's director -

at local radio station, Compass FM;

and also in a CTV interview in Christchurch.

Then after a final dress rehearsal under the watchful eyes

of the production team,

which includes big sister Bryony Jamison as joint vocal coach

(with Tess Stephen), Tegan Patrick, Madeleine,

and Ciaran Searle at the sound desk,

(able technician he, but even more able

Shakespearean actor,

surely destined for the Royal Shakespeare Company).

the season begins,

the musical numbers roll...

And Kitty sings her heart out.

Then today, after six shows, it's all over.
Hard to let go: of the buzz of it all, the children's excitement,
the teenagers' easy competence,
the social buzz of friends and neighbours filling the theatre
with generosity and delight in one another's children.
And Kitty, yes I am proud of her performance.
On stage for most of the show, she managed to maintain her character with conviction: bubbly, cheerful, dreamy...
I am full of admiration for her acting and singing ability.
But - she has walked on the fly walk
and high above the auditorium,
and I can see already,
that the technical side of theatre production has her in it's thrall.