6 HOPES When a group of acting friends explore a life from the vantage point of death, what do you get? Flippin’ Norah!
This month BATS Theatre presents a home-grown play originally written by a group of Wellington acting friends for PlayFest 2016, a 48-hour play competition held in Lower Hutt. They won the Best Ensemble award and were encouraged to develop their entry to the full play the public will see at BATS.
The friends met mainly through acting classes at Whitireia in Vivian Street, Wellington, and formed the Scene It Group.
“My acting friends then jumped on board enthusiastically when I began my weekly scene group. The main core of our group consists of women over 40,” says co-writer Susan Holt.
They decided to form a team and compete in PlayFest 2016.
The theme was “New Beginnings” and over 48 hours they came up with the concept for Flippin’ Norah!
It would be a 12-minute play about a recently-deceased woman looking at all the new beginnings she had experienced in her life – her birth, leaving home, marrying, having her own children, divorce and retirement.
The play was chosen as a finalist and the group got to work with a dramaturg (to help with the play-writing), stage management, lighting, sound, and professional director Geraldine Brophy. After a week, they performed the result at the finals and won the Best Ensemble award.
“All the professionals we worked with that week thought the concept was something we should develop further and put on at a ‘proper’ theatre,” Susan says.
“They were all really enthusiastic about it, so we went ahead and did just that. Shirley Domb (co-writer and producer), Annette Cochran (co-writer) and I met many Saturday afternoons over a period of months and filled out the script until it was 45 minutes long.
“Then we found a director, Deborah Rea, and another couple of actors, Lauren O’Hara and Sue Reeves. Through the rewriting of the script and working with Deborah, the story evolved beyond its original parameters.”
Flippin’ Norah! From left, Lauren O’Hara, Shirley Domb, Susan Holt, Sue Reeves and Annette Cochran.
Cafes have been the birthplace for much of the play content with interesting comments from other customers who overheard discussions.
“Shirley and I met in a cafe in Johnsonville early on and began to outline the story and what it was all about.
Unbeknownst to us, a lady was listening at a nearby table. As she left, she dropped by our table and said, ‘I’d come and see that play!’ We wish we could let her know.”
“In fact, many of our memories of this production are set in cafes. We have gone past their closing time more than once and been asked to leave. We’ve sat for hours (buying tea, coffee and food, of course) laughing and talking loudly. I can imagine what confusing things other patrons might have heard during those times – especially when we were planning the birth scene: Set in the 1940s with an insensitive doctor wearing white coat and boots, both splattered with blood.”
Susan says the main challenge she’s faced with the play has been confidence.
“At the beginning of January, I was scared that the play would flop and that we would become a laughing-stock in the acting community. I almost wanted to pull out. But, since rehearsals began, I have seen the production grow around us and become something I am really proud of. I can’t wait to see what kind of reaction we will get. Still a little nervous, though.
I’ve learnt that sometimes you need to walk into the unknown, trusting in yourself and those you walk with. This new beginning has helped me realise that I CAN do this – with the help and support of my friends and co-workers. And that I need people who have different skill sets to cover the bases I am unfamiliar with.”
Shirley in particular knows all about putting on an actual production and all the details around that. I am SO thankful for her! She took the play to a workshopping evening called the Sandpit to get feedback from experienced writers. Brilliant!
“The current challenge is getting together the funding to make sure the production is of the best quality. Hence the Boosted crowdfunding push.”
Highlights of the process were when filming promotional interviews recently.
“We asked each other questions (on camera) about ‘Flippin’ Norah!’ – what it was about, how we were finding the process, etc. I was thrilled to discover that everyone else was enjoying the rehearsals and how things were progressing. That they felt comfortable in our little group – enough to make suggestions of their own and for our 18-year-old actress to feel like a peer among us, this being her first foray into independent theatre production outside of her acting schooling.
“I was immensely gratified and moved to find that we had created a warm, welcoming, safe environment for us all to play and enjoy. It is not often the case, it seems.”
Susan says something they discovered about themselves was that;
Our ideas are good ones, especially if we play around with them with our friends and fill them out with our lives and memories.”
Susan has some special words of encouragement for anyone wanting to step outside their comfort zone.
“For any who doubt their ability to actually put a theatre production on: Find friends, try things out, keep going. Pull people around you who know about the things you don’t – fill those gaps. And GO FOR IT!
“ Set yourselves a deadline (the show dates) and break it all down into little bits that you can do week by week, delegate them or do them yourself. Keep each other accountable. And be kind to each other!”
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For more information about Flippin’ Norah:
To make a contribution towards funding this play click here
You can attend Flippin’ Norah!
BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace, Te Aro, Wellington
March 14-16, 2018
6.30pm
$13-$18
Book at www.bats.co.nz
6 HOPES 
If you’d like to contribute to putting this play on, we have a Boosted crowdfunding campaign on at the moment: https://www.boosted.org.nz/projects/flippin-norah
Thank you, DE!!