Seventy years may have passed since Howick Little Theatre first opened its doors, but the reasons its members join its ranks hasn’t changed.
Discussing this with life members Elizabeth Amiss and Cath Syme and teenage members Nicole Johnson and Matthew Palmer, their reasons for getting involved can be narrowed down to two words: community and passion.
“What I enjoy most is the social side of the theatre,” says Matthew, who attends Botany Downs Secondary College.
“I love going to member parties and having fun with people who love theatre like I do.”
The others agree.
“Seeing the casts and crews at social events, and at other plays, is what I really enjoy,” adds Nicole, who also attends Botany Downs Secondary College.
“What I also love is audience reactions [when onstage].”
Cath can relate to that, telling the story of one of her first roles where she played Piglet in Winnie the Pooh opposite a 6ft6in Christopher Robin.
She used to entertain the staff in her work lunchroom, which led her to being invited along to an HLT show by a colleague in the early 1970s.
“The plays are changing,” says Cath, who joined HLT as a member in 1975.
“And, when I started, there were no drama classes.”
That’s very different to now, where Nicole is doing NCEA Drama at BDSC, and HLT’s drama classes have waiting lists.
Of the four, Elizabeth is the only ‘non-actor’ in the group, becoming a member in 1979 and starting behind-the-scenes in 1981’s Lady Windemere’s Fan.
Her specialties are props and décor, where she helps make the set and its scenes look as real as possible.
Despite not wanting to be on stage, she loves “dressing up”, especially when members used to take to the streets in costume to help promote shows.
“I love seeing shows and staying afterwards to chat to the cast and crew,” she says.
There are fond memories all round of ‘afterparties’ and the different ways each cast and crew bonds over the three months they spend together.
Dinners and backstage shenanigans feature highly.
So what do the following years hold for these four?
“I’m an actor at heart,” says Nicole. “I’d like to play bigger roles as I get older.”
Matthew agrees, saying: “Me too. I’d love to get involved in more plays and projects in the future, so I can make more memories and meet new people.”
Elizabeth says, “Doing more props and décor is what I’d like to continue doing,” while Cath’s looking to doing the “odd cameo [onstage]”.
The theatre says it has no doubt their future plans will come to fruition.
“It’s the friendships and love of theatre at the heart of all community theatre, and HLT is no exception.
“With these at its core, we hope HLT will continue to thrive for many more anniversaries to come.”
