Top 10 Reasons to See Mike and Virginia

The 10 Reasons why YOU should tell all your friends to come to Mike and Virginia at Circa 2 Before the 20th April. (According to actors Will (Mike) & Gentiane (Virginia) . . .)

1. Because if you come after the 20th April the actors will have packed up and left. Will Hall (Mike) will be stalking in the Nelson Lakes and Gentiane Lupi (Virginia) will be back in the ring preparing for her next kick boxing bout. There's a strong possibility these two fine actors will never be allowed to work together again, after word gets out about their behaviour over the last month at Circa, so get in quick to see them in action. Two weeks left folks!

2. Love & Monsters.
Who doesn't love monsters?
Or Monster love?
Or lovely Monsters?

This show has all of the above in abundance.

3. Circa 2 is a lovely intimate space. You get so close to the action. You can almost taste it, smell it, feel it. In fact we don't mind if you do want to do those things. The sponsors product the very delicious Moa Beer and Weka Cider, as seen in the play are available at the Theatre Bar, Encore. Come and taste, feel and smell it with us after the show. First rounds on Gentiane! (LOL).

 

4. It is the only play you'll be able to see this year that really celebrates Romantic Comedies. Come and relive some memories of some of your favourite Rom-coms. From "Love Actually" through to "Sleepless in Seattle”. Everyone has a favourite Rom-Com. And if you don't then maybe Mike and Virginia is it!

5. At some point two props get absolutely disseminated! Everybody likes a bit of carnage right? Come and see Gentiane's brute strength on display as she destroys the props and our budget, left, right and centre!

6. The script is a monster that will carry you away in its hairy paws. Thank you so much, Kathryn Burnett and Nick Ward x.

7. Four out of the five cast member’s orgasm during the show. You won't even find an 80% hit rate like that in the classic "Sperms of Endearment".

 

8. So many great lines in this play. Fun for the whole family to quote the lines on the car ride home. It's always fun when your Mum quotes lines like "Didn't you have that guys cock in your mouth?"

9. A cat dies. It's common knowledge in Hollywood you should always save the cat in your scripts. Well we choose to bend the rules. And whilst we're down there we might just shave it as well.

10. If you don't like the sound of either Gentiane or Will after reading their first 9 reasons to see the show. Then think of the amazing support cast. Wellington Legend Perry Piercy, the Incomparable Stephen Papps and the up and coming Show Stopping beauty, with fire in her hair, Jen Martin. The three of them have more talent in their pinky fingers than the two idiots out front. Why then weren't they asked to write this blog?

Thank you for your time,Gents & Will

Mike and Virginia is on stage in Circa 2 until 20 April, to book call Circa on 801-7992 or visit www.circa.co.nz.

Mike and Virginia

Mike and Virginia co-playwright Nick Ward talks to drama on the waterfront about preparing the runway for ideas and the experience of writing with Kathryn Burnett.

Nick Ward.

“Where do you get your ideas from?” That is the question that every writer dreads. Well, this writer dreads it anyway. It’s not because I’m afraid of giving away my trade secret, not at all. I fear this question because I don’t have an answer. Ideas seem to spring out of the ether - it’s the closest thing I know to real magic.

Many years ago I remember hearing a very successful writer speak and he said he never has any ideas, he simply spends all his time preparing a runway for the ideas to land. At the time I thought he was just giving us a glib answer. However in my main years as a proper writer I have come to believe him. You have to ensure that runway lights are on and ground staff are in position - all in the hope that, out of the blue, an idea will arrive. 

You have to be open to ideas. In the case of Mike and Virginia, Kathryn Burnett and I didn’t have clue that there was a story was circling, waiting to touch down. The concept for the play started when we were taking a long car journey. Confined together in a small space with no chance to escape the interior of the car was either going to become an incubator or a bloodbath. With Kath and I it’s always a bit of both but with a healthy amount of laughter thrown in for good measure.   

Kathryn Burnett

On this particular journey we started having a conversation about our students as we were both teaching screenwriting at the time. I was convinced my students worshipped me (how could they not) and Kathryn was equally certain her students adored her (doubtful).  This quickly turned into a hilarious argument and by the end of the journey we both looked at each other and said - there’s a story in this. 

So were born Mike and Virginia, two film studies lecturers who hate each other and then the worse possible thing happens - they fall in love. It’s a romantic comedy about romantic comedies, so it gives us the chance to explore and deconstruct the way romantic comedies work and have a fun time doing it. Honestly we were laughing until we cried some days working on this show. However there’s always a fear that we might be having more fun writing the play than the audience will have watching it. 

We needn’t have worried. On the first read-through of Mike and Virginia we found ourselves surrounded by smiling faces, belly laughs and a few bittersweet tears. Our journey that started with a funny squabble in a car ended with a very happy audience. Ironically on closing night of the play’s first run a young woman approached me and asked me where Kathryn and I get our ideas from. For the first time in my life I had a firm answer to that question. I smiled and replied “We get them from being locked in a car.”  

Mike and Virginia

23 March − 20 April
Tues – Sat 7.30pm and Sun 4.30pm (no show Mon)
Circa Two, 1 Taranaki St, Wellington
BOOKINGS: www.circa.co.nz or 04 801 7992
TICKETS: $46/38/25
$25 preview Fri 22 March and Sun 24 March

Mike and Virginia is a fast-moving romp of a play from two of New Zealand's busiest screenwriters. Kathryn Burnett (The Strip; Amazing Extraordinary Friends; The Cult) and Nick Ward (Stickmen, Second Hand Wedding and Love Birds) who have set out to explore and subvert every romantic comedy convention in the book resulting in a love story that is smart, funny and surprisingly tender.

Starring Will Hall, Gentiane Lupi, Jennifer Martin, Stephen Papps and Perry Piercy