Dolphin Theatre presents JOYFUL AND TRIUMPHANT

by Robert Lord
Director Jacquelyn Harding

Meet George and Lyla Bishop, a typical small-town New Zealand couple making the best of married life in the wake of World War II, with adult daughter Rose still living at home. All scenes take place on Christmas Day in their dining room, with the occasional interruption of neighbour Alice Warner, and visits from their son Ted and daughter-in-law Brenda. Tom and Brenda have two children, including a wild-fire daughter, Raewyn (often referred to as a child, she appears on stage from age 28).

Always Christmas, the play starts in 1949, with each scene moving forward – 1957, 1961, 1968, 1972, 1978, 1981, and finally 1989. The action of each scene builds on the previous scene, with the desired eTect to provide the unity of a single day’s activity with the sweep of a forty-year history of the Bishop family.

The story travels through our experience of life as we come together as family - sharing intimate secrets, chaos, tragedy, political opinions, our hopes and fears, in between moments of fighting for the toilet and demanding a cup of tea.

WHEN: 8 - 23 November
WHERE: Dolphin Theatre, Onehunga
TICKETS: https://nz.patronbase.com/_DolphinTheatre/Productions/2406/Performances