The Truth Game: Q & A with Acushla-Tara Sutton

Acushla-Tara Sutton talks to drama on the waterfront about her experience in the current Circa one show, The Truth Game.

Acushla-Tara Sutton on the set of The Truth Game.

Q: Is this the first time you have worked at Circa?

A: Yes, this is my first time performing at Circa. It has been such an amazing experience working with such an experienced cast and crew at such a prestigious theatre. In Wellington, I've only ever worked at BATS for the 2010 and 2011 Young and Hungry seasons.

Q: You are the youngest member of the cast – has that been special?

A: I would definitely say I'm very lucky. Although I don't think being the youngest has had a huge effect on the experience, being the newbie to the group has meant over the past couple of months I have been able learn from some of the best in the business. I'm very fortunate to have landed this role!

Q: Tell us about the character you play in The Truth Game.

A: Jo Pointer is a recent journalism school graduate and has landed a job at a local newspaper 'The Advocate' as a sub editor. She is bright eyed and optimistic, although that is not to be mistaken for immaturity. Jo has arrived with a strong belief in the growing importance of technology, social media and the like, which makes for interesting relationships with those that have been working in the business for a long time without the need for these. Deep down Jo has a great passion for journalism, but she may have other motives for wanting to work at 'The Advocate' as well.

Q: What is the most memorable moment of the season for you? The most difficult?

A: I think the most memorable moment had to be opening night, my first night on the stage of a professional theatre, with my family in the audience cheering me on. I'm not going to forget that in a hurry! However, for the most difficult, probably having to learn to do a scene entirely on roller blades a week out from opening. I had practised skating around the theatre, but it was not until the set was finished that I could practice the details - such as carrying a tea tray.

Q: This is the final week of the season – how do you feel about that?

A: As is always the feeling when a show is coming to a close I'm feeling a little down that it will all be over soon. I have had such a great time with the cast and crew that it is going to be sad to see it end, but I'm very lucky to have had such a long performance season. The community shows I am use to doing in my home town of New Plymouth only run for two weeks (if you're lucky), so a four week season has been fantastic!

Q: What do you do when not acting?

A: I am a third year business student at Victoria University majoring in Tourism Management, Marketing and Human Resources and International Relations. After this year I have one more year of study to complete both degrees (BCA and BTM). I also have a couple of hobbies and a new kitten to keep me busy.

Q: What is next for you?

A: Who knows! At the moment I am looking forward to finishing my exams and then I will be focusing on helping with my sister's upcoming wedding. Next year is a full year of study but I have a few acting jobs lined up which I am very excited about. Hopefully it is not too long before I can tread the boards at Circa again, just hopefully not in roller blades next time!

The Truth Game is on in Circa One until 10 November. To book a ticket, call the Circa Box Office on 801-7992 or visit www.circa.co.nz.

The Naming of The Tigers of Wrath

Playwright Dean Parker talks to drama on the waterfront about the challenge of choosing a  title.

"There’s a famous disaster movie entitled Krakatoa, East of Java. A sea-borne salvage expedition heads to recover a cargo of rare pearls. It anchors close to the rumbling volcanic island of Krakatoa. The volcano blows. The captain’s mistress has a child on the island. The child has to be rescued. The crew becomes mutinous. So forth.

Krakatoa is actually west of Java. But “west”, the producers decided, was not really a saleable geographic garnish. “Krakatoa, West of Java”… didn’t have that ring.

Sometime ago I wrote a play about the post-war New Zealand diplomatic legation in Moscow. I gave it what I thought a reasonable enough title: The Moscow Legation. When I circulated the play I found theatres asking, “Who knows what a legation is?”

I came up with a list of pretty limpish alternatives, then, getting into the swing of things, suggested we call it after a Kenny Ball pop hit. It became Midnight In Moscow.

There was a TV series I worked on with Greg McGee, a series commissioned by TVNZ and set against the 19^th century land wars and which we wrote without a settled title, thinking we’d leave that to the TVNZ head honcho so he’d bond with the show. This head honch was a fairly typical TVNZ import, “a big, booming Australian”—in the words of one media sleuth—“who said what he liked and liked what he said”. Greg showed him our list of possible titles, all of them taken from blood-thirsty lines in Macbeth, said we couldn’t make up our minds, suggested he choose one.  The CEO ignored all these and came up instead with “Greenstone” (he was an Aussie; to be fair, I imagine any Kiwi in a similar position in Australia would have come up with “Koala” or something). Greg then went and did a re-write job, inserting a totemic greenstone comb into the plot as he felt—ludicrously—a sense of accountability.

I felt no such tug of conscience with Midnight In Moscow—none of the scenes occurred at midnight, or referred to midnight, but Midnight In Moscow it became and everyone was happy. (And so they should have been. Recently I was watching a TV doco series on Woody Allen which ended with the unexpected success of Midnight In Paris. “I think it was the title,” said one of the participants.)

Round about the same time as the Moscow play I wrote another, set in Afghanistan, which I called Hindu Kush. I thought this had an exotic East-of-Java ring to it but I was wrong. “Are we going to need a geography lesson for this?” I was asked.  It became The Perfumed Garden—nudge nudge, wink wink.

A play that began with the honest and unadorned working title Muldoon ended up—at my own venal instigation—Slouching Toward Bethlehem. Later I saw the title intriguingly mis-spelled as Sloughing Toward Bethlehem.

With adaptations I’ve generally stuck to the original title. There’s an obligation. More important is the producer argument—“it brings its own market segment”. I do remember a Monty Python sketch about a movie adapted from a book. The movie was titled The Black Flag. Beneath the title was: “Based on the novel, Le Drapeau Bleu.”

A new play I’ve written, The Tigers of Wrath, which starts off in Red China in the 1970s, had China Reconstructs as a working title. Now this adequately enough described an important element of the play and was also the title of a well-known Peking English-language magazine of the time. But I knew it wouldn’t last; too, too, too prosaic.

I carried on writing and was well into the first act, in which a young kiwi Maoist touring China on a student trip declares his love for a fellow traveller, when I finally came up with the title it now bears.

During breaks in the writing I had been reading some journal or biography—I have a feeling it might have been to do with Dame Edith Sitwell—and in it someone recollected dreams in which they were talked to by horses, by a whole lot of Mister Eds. A terrifying thought.

But I figured it could be quite a sweet image, too, and I was at a stage in the script when I needed my fellow traveller to draw closer to her suitor by revealing something personal. So I had her confiding that at night she dreamt of horses that whispered to her. Upon waking she could never remember what they had said.

A short time after this I came across a mention of the tigers of wrath. I knew the reference. William Blake: “The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.” Already I had the horses of instruction in the script. Why not add the tigers of wrath? As the title?

It had resonance. My fellow traveller later becomes a Labour politician, while another of her comrades from the China trip remains a rank-and-file union stirrer. And a rank-and-file union stirrer is the place to be. Everyone knows a half-decent strike is worth a dozen pieces of handed-down Labour Party legislation. The confidence and lessons learnt during a strike are more important than anything to be gained from parliamentary politics: the tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.

And thus did I realise what the horses were trying to tell my dreamer. It was the title of the play she was in."

The Tigers of Wrath opens on 3 November in Circa Two and runs until 1 December. There are $25 ticket specials on Friday, 2 November and Sunday, 4 November. To book, visit www.circa.co.nz.

Cinderella Needs a Leg Up!

The crew of Cinderella - The Pantomime are in need of an item for their upcoming season and wonder if you might be able to give them a hand (or a leg ...)?

Needed as a prop for the season of Cinderella - The Pantomime, 17 November - 23 December, 2-12 January (although it might be needed a bit earlier for rehearsals) is the following:

- a mannequin leg, whole - thigh to foot - preferably female and elegant 

If you have this item and would be interested in lending it to Circa to be used in the production (in exchange for a couple of tickets and acknowledgement in the programme!), please contact:

Cara Hill

Audience Development Director

cara.hill@circa.co.nz

p.s. If you don't have it but can point us in the direction of someone who does, that would also be much appreciated!

Encore Restaurant Shares the Best Bolognese

Encore Restaurant owner Jacinta Saeki shares one of her favourite homestyle recipes.

Simple recipes have a way of warming the hearth and home and getting everyone around the dinner table without feeling like you’ve run a marathon. The following Bolognese recipe is just that, taught to me by a Sicilian many years ago, simple and delicious. The bonus is that it has lots of vegetables (that you barely see), it can be used in other dishes such as: lasagne, eggs on toast, pie; can feed many or few, and it always infuses a sense of full satisfaction that accompanies every good meal.  For a pot that will stretch for 2 meals you will need:

Bolognese Sauce

1kg lean beef mince
2 carrot
2 stalk of celery
2 onion
2 zucchini (optional including other veg)
2 tbsp garlic
3 tbsp olive oil 

1 cup red wine
800g tin peeled tomato
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp pepper (to taste)

1. Finely dice onion, carrot and celery and fry in a pot with garlic and olive oil for 5 minutes.
2. Gradually break up mince into pot stirring after each addition until all mince is used and browned. 

3. Add red wine, stir, then crush peeled tomato through your fingers into the pot.
4. Simmer on low heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour stirring occasionally. The longer it cooks the better the flavour and texture.
5. When finished cooking season with salt and pepper and mix in chopped parsley.
6. Serve with your favourite pasta and cheese or use for lasagne.

Buon Appetito!

Encore Restaurant is open as a cafe during the day, Tuesday to Sunday, and for pre-theatre dining before the show, Tuesday to Saturday. On Sunday evenings, enjoy a delicious roast. Bookings are strongly recommended - call 801-7996 or email enquiries@encoreatcirca.co.nz.