News
My short play New Tricks about two (human-sized) assistance dogs in a bar will be presented as part of Remarkable Theatre’s Pint-Sized plays in four different locations around Queenstown.
Thursday 02 May: Arrowtown, 7pm
Friday 03 May: Te Atamira (Frankton) 7pm
Saturday 04 May: Bannockburn, 7pm
Sunday 05 May: Yonder (Queenstown) 7pm
The Ngaio Marsh Awards, in association with Hutt City Libraries, invites booklovers to a thrilling event featuring four Kiwi novelists.
Past Ngaios finalist Helen Vivienne Fletcher is joined by award-winning poet and climate change author Tim Jones, and debut novelists Kate Mahony and Carolyn Swindell for a criminally good conversation about creating memorable characters, the importance of setting, and exploring real-life issues through fictional tales.
WHEN: Wednesday 1 May 2024
WHERE: War Memorial Library, 2 Queens Drive, Lower Hutt
WHEN: 6.15 for a 6.30pm panel discussion
This is a free event.
Being inclusive is important, but how does it apply to writing? Discuss the hows, whens and whys of writing diverse characters.
WHEN: Wednesday 15th May
WHERE: Online
WHEN: 10AM – 12PM
FEE: NZSA Members – $35. (Non-members – $65)
DATE: 07 – 10 FEB, 8PM
VENUE: Basement Theatre, Auckland, NZ
PRICE: Choose what you want
Find Tickets
6 bite-sized plays by new queer writers.
Whether they’re stories from the heart (broken or otherwise) or from some clever minds, there will be something for everyone in this theatrical pick-n-mix. Get ready to think, laugh or even cry as we share our deeply human stories of what it means to be queer today.
DATE: 29 FEB — 1 March, 7.30pm
VENUE: Theatre@36, Dublin, Ireland
PRICE: €15/8
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A programme of queer short plays performed by Acting Out, an LGBTQ+ performance group from Dublin.
These plays will be a mix of new writing, Irish premieres of modern international LGBTQ+ Plays and classics of the queer canon.
DATE: 24 February
VENUE: TBC
DATE: 05-09 June
TIME: 6.30pm Wed-Sat, 4pm Relaxed Sunday Matinee
VENUE: The Stage, BATS Theatre, Wellington, NZ
TICKETS: $15-40 Book now at bats.co.nz
A sniper just shot a bullet through Briar’s window.
Or… Briar had a nightmare and went crashing into a solid wooden door. Hopefully the MRI machine can tell her which.
Briar’s always been a sleepwalker, but when a new relationship sends her sleep disorder into overdrive, it’s not just her REM cycle that suffers. Briar’s grip on reality is slipping, and her life is coming apart with it. Her one hope is the possibility of an assistance dog, but with injuries a nightly occurrence and her girlfriend’s patience wearing thin, will Briar live long enough to meet her furry saviour?
Based on the true story of a series of things that didn’t really happen, playwright Helen Vivienne Fletcher draws on her lifetime of sleep misadventures in this solo play.
Falling asleep, or falling in love – which one is about to crash?
Live Streaming, Captioning, and Audio Description are thanks to the ANZ Staff Foundation.
Wednesday June 5th 6:30pm - Opening Night
Thursday June 6th 6:30pm - Live Streamed/ Captioned Performance
Friday June 7th 6:30pm - Audio Described (Touch Tour 6pm)
Saturday June 8th 6:30pm - NZSL Interpreted Performance (NZSL Briefing 6pm)
Sunday June 9th, 4 pm - Relaxed Matinee Performance
The Stage is wheelchair accessible. Please contact BATS Theatre with any access requests.
Performer: Pauline Ward
Director: Emma Katene
Writer and Producer: Helen Vivienne Fletcher
Designer: Kate Anderson
Sound Designer: Emma Katene
Stage Manager: Crystal Pulkowski
NZSL: Nicola Clements
Deaf Consultant: Theresa Cooper
Confessions of a Sleepwalking Insomniac was commissioned by TAHI and had a developmental season in the 2022 TAHI Festival. This season has been made possible thanks to funding from the Wellington City Council.
A woman finds a body in a park. A girl watches for witches next door. A cruel town turns against a young mother, while a man kills with humour. A teenager tries to keep a library alive in a world where paper crumbles; a cursed piece of jewellery changes necks.
Beside the River Styx brings together nine dark, twisty and comically criminal tales. If you like creepy magic, heart-breakingly human moments, and a touch of black humour, then you’ll love Helen Vivienne Fletcher’s new short story collection.
Two women wait to be rescued from a burning building. Another finds salvation in a box of chickens. Things get awkward in a cafe. A detective investigates himself, and a blind seer delivers one last prophecy.
Five new short Kiwi plays, written by and featuring disabled and neurodiverse folk – are you ready to step into another life?
21-24th September at BATS Theatre
Two women wait to be rescued from a burning building. Another finds salvation in a box of chickens. Things get awkward in a cafe. A detective investigates himself, and a blind seer delivers one last prophecy.
Five new short Kiwi plays, written by and featuring disabled and neurodiverse folk – are you ready to step into another life?
21-24 September 2023
BATS Theatre Wellington Tickets on sale now!
7pm Thurs-Sat, 4pm Sun
With support from CNZ, Wellington City Council and National Foundation for Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
BATS The Stage is wheelchair accessible
Thursday 21 and Friday 22, NZSL interpreted performance
Saturday 23, audio described performance and touch tour
Sunday 24, relaxed matinee performance, audio described
Written by: Henrietta Bollinger, Hamish Boyle, Helen Vivienne Fletcher, Steff Green and Angela Pope
Director: Jo Marsh
Designer: Jules Daniels
Stage Manager/Production Manager: Lani Swann
Produced by: The Magnificent Weirdos
Performed by: Henrietta Bollinger, Hamish Boyle, Helen Vivienne Fletcher, Dane Isherwood, Hilary Norris, Shaun Swain, Susan Williams
Toby and Callie thought learning magic would be a dream come true. Now they'll be happy if they just get out of this school alive.
As teachers, a decades-old prophecy, and their own spells fight against them, the pair must figure out what brought them to the school, and more importantly, what’s causing their magic to spiral out of control.
Will they conquer their powers, or will magic lessons turn deadly?
For the first time, find the complete Reactive Magic series in one volume. If you like darkly magical tales, life or death drama, and a little bit of danger, you’ll love this fast-paced series.
We are looking for a theatre-maker with lived experience of disability to direct a developmental season of a show featuring disabled characters.
The show will take place in Wellington September 2023 with six weeks of rehearsals leading up to the show.
To apply, please send an email telling us about yourself and your theatre experience to Helen at Helenvivienne@hotmail.com by January 16th 2023. If you don’t have previous directing experience, but it is something you are interested in pursuing, please consider applying, as mentorship will be provided by an experienced director.
We want this opportunity to be accessible to everyone, so if you would like to submit your application another way, such as a video proposal, please get in touch.
Any questions, please contact Helen on helenvivienne@hotmail.com
By applying to this opportunity you are confirming you have lived experience of disability*.
We are looking for a playwright with lived experience of disability to write a short play (7-15 minutes run time) which will be staged with five other short plays all featuring disabled characters in Wellington in September 2023.
The play must feature a disabled or neurodiverse main character
The play must be 7-15 minute long
The play can be about anything and does not have to focus on the experience of disability (but can if you wish).
This can be a work you want to act in yourself, or one you would like to be performed by others.
The play can be an existing work, as long as it fits the above criteria and you own all necessary rights for it to be included in this show.
To apply, please send a brief explanation of your play idea, some information about yourself, and a short sample of your writing to helenvivienne@hotmail.com by January 30th 2023. The writing sample could be a couple of pages from the script you want to write, or from something else.
If you don’t have much previous playwriting experience, but it is something you are interested in pursuing, please consider applying, as support will be provided by experienced playwrights.
We want this opportunity to be accessible to everyone, so if you would like to submit your idea another way, such as a video proposal, please get in touch.
Any questions, please contact Helen on helenvivienne@hotmail.com
By applying to this opportunity you are confirming you have lived experience of disability*.
*We are using a broad definition of disability, including physical and sensory disabilities, neurodiversity, chronic illness or lived experience of mental distress. If you feel the term “disability” applies to you, then we want to hear from you.
The show will consist of five short plays, all featuring disabled characters. Two of these plays have already been written, three will be written specifically for this show. The two existing plays are “Lessons Learnt from Hannibal Lecter” by Angela Pope and “Interrupt-able” by Helen Vivienne Fletcher.
Cast and crew will come from the disabled community.
Sameena Zehra from The Magnificent Weirdos will be taking on the role of mentor to the director.
Rehearsals will be evenings and weekends.
We are currently applying for funding for this project, and plan for these to be paid roles.
