Brrrrr - in his element

A Blockhouse Bay actor hopes warm temperatures will continue during the 10-day run of a play in which water is hurled over him, reports Sharu Delilkan.
Despite extensive acting experience, Edward Newborn confessess to being thoroughly perplexed by his character's lines when he first read Gagarin Way.
"Normally, when I read a play, I get a feel for the part," he says. "The most interesting thing was that I could understand all the other characters, just not mine. There didn't seem to be anything to hang onto except that he's a financial consultant who's seen as a capitalist."
The play's Scottish writer, Gregory Burke, gave it the name of a street he knew in West Fife, near Edinburgh - a street whose name honours the first man in space, a cosmonaut of the Soviet Socialist Republic. It's a tale of anger and disillusionment. In it, two factory hands, avowed socialists Gary and Eddie, kidnap a Japanese businessman to show the world just how hacked off they are with corporate globalisation.
However, their plan comes adrift when the abducted businessman, Frank (Newborn), turns out not to be Japanese.
Newborn says working with actor Gareth Reeves, who's making his directorial debut, has been extremely enjoyable.
Less enjoyable - deliberately so - for the Blockhouse Bay actor is being hooded, tied up and carried in a sack from a van into the garage. All part of the plot.
"It's challenging not assisting my fellow actor and appearing a dead weight, after being knocked unconscious in my hotel room."
In keeping with the play's theme of disappointment, Newborn says Frank is a sad character who is ashamed of his life. He's very unhappy, lonely, divorced, hasn't seen his kids for a while and uses business success to mask all this.
"The play touches on how we've allowed politicians and the banks to take control. It's about the way we live our lives and how everything's dictated by what we are told to consume, which is shown in different ways through each of our characters."
Frisky Productions presents, The Gagarin Way, The Gagarin Way Garage, 181 Hobson St, Dec 1-11, 8pm. Tickets: see www.eventfinder.co.nz