Sunday Roast

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When:

Tue 22 Mar ’11, 7:00pm–8:00pm	Saving
Wed 23 Mar ’11, 7:00pm–8:00pm	Saving
Thu 24 Mar ’11, 7:00pm–8:00pm	Saving

Where: Globe Theatre, 104 London Street, Dunedin Show map

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information:

Full: $13.00
Concession: $10.00
Groups 6 +: $10.00
Booking fees may apply

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Sunday Roast runs as a part of the Dunedin Fringe Festival 2011

Dunedin audiences will find a lot to laugh about in an upcoming comedy about a dysfunctional farming family who take in a teenage foster son a few short weeks before their (traditionally fraught) annual family dinner.

Written by Thomas Sainsbury, the show is a laugh-a-minute window into a family's quirks and foibles – with a dark undercurrent. The script was first premiered in Wellington in 2009 where it impressed audiences and critics alike.

Thomas Sainsbury is one of New Zealand's most prolific and exciting playwrights, and is also a co-creator of an upcoming TV sitcom. Supercity showcases Sainsbury's talent for writing zingy one liners and inventing memorable characters. It also showcases the talents of chameleonic actress Madeline Sami, who plays the six zany main characters, who are all inhabitants of New Zealand's diverse supercity Auckland.

Actors playing multiple roles is a trademark of Sainsbury's work, and it is exploited to full comedic effect in Sunday Roast, the eight roles are divided between just two actors, who are required to transition seamlessly between their characters – sometimes in the same scene!

The two actors, both still students, met while performing in Otago University's popular annual Capping Show, and relished the opportunity to band together to portray the bizarre cast of archetypal Kiwis who feature in the world of Sunday Roast.

Caitlin McNaughton, who plays three generations of women in the same family says “I have a lot of affection for these characters even though the first time I read the script I was shocked! Playing multiple characters is a workout, but a real blast!”

Alex Wilson plays five characters including brand new foster son of the family, and could relate a lot to the situations the characters were in. He says, “Rupert, the foster son, is a lot like me at that age. I feel sorry for him, ending up at the Giles' Farm! At first the characters seem normal, dysfunctional people, but the longer you spend with them, the more you realise the truth – this family is totally crazy!”

Director Paul Rothwell describes Sunday Roast as a “very funny, very dark satire on middle-class New Zealand family values.” Despite being tinged with horror, he thinks audiences will find a lot to like about the “madcap romp through two busy weeks in the life of an unusual, yet somehow archetypal, family.”