Covid 19 coronavirus: Te Puke events hit by snap lockdown

Siobhan (Sammie Campbell), Annabel (Brenda Cooke) and Helen (Bridget Maher) get to grips with building tools in Te Puke Repertory's The Pink Hammer.

A number of local events fell victim to last week's snap alert level 4 lockdown.

Te Puke Repertory Theatre had to cut short its season of The Pink Hammer, with the final two performances not taking place.

Last week was cultural week at Te Puke High School, but neither the cultural gala on Wednesday nor Thursday's cultural concert could go ahead and the Peach Talk about women's cancers, organised by the local Rural Women New Zealand branch, was also a non-starter on Friday.

The Pink Hammer director Michelle Cliff took a positive stance.

''We are very grateful and very happy that we were able to do eight performances,'' she says.

The timing of the announcement meant everyone knew before the performance began it was likely to be the last.

''The president and committee members were doing front of house and we said we are probably not going to pick this up again, this will be it,'' says Michelle.

''So the cast knew it was going to be their final performance and it was magnificent - and poignant to say farewell to a really successful show.''

She says the society is sorry those people booked to see the show on Wednesday and Thursday missed out, but there will be refunds.

''I'm just really grateful we were able to get as far as we did - it was always at the back of my mind, 'what if we have a lockdown through it?' So I'm really grateful actually.''

She says the season was very successful, with lots of positive comments from those who saw the play.

''We were full house on a number of occasions, and very close, with only half a dozen seats or so left, on the other nights and it was looking like that for the last two nights.

''Te Puke Rep were thrilled to put it on, and there'll be something else come up. I've got a script in my back pocket at the moment - but that's another story.''

Rural Women New Zealand's Te Puke-Rotoehu branch secretary Margaret Scrimgeour says while last Friday's Peach Talk didn't go ahead, a decision has yet to be made on whether it will be rearranged.

''At this stage it's postponed, but we haven't thought about a [rescheduling] date, we might just wait until things settle down and see where the country goes, but people still want this event to happen,'' she says.

The event was to feature talks from two local women on their cancer journey and was organised to raise awareness of gynaecological cancers.

''People were really keen and there was a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of interest in it, so to suddenly, a couple of days before, to say 'sorry, you can't have this', was a bit of a blow, but I guess we have to be prepared for that scenario.

''We'll see how the land lies in a couple of weeks and see if things have settled down and, if not, we'll have to reassess.''

Te Puke High School deputy principal Polly Thin-Rabb says having to cancel the cultural concert was ''really disappointing''.

''We had just had our dress rehearsal on Tuesday and the kids were all raring to go and ready to go, so I am feeling for them.

''Some of the dances and performances are assessment items as well, so we are just going to have to find a way to manage that, but I know the kids will all be disappointed.''

She is unsure whether time will be found to restage the concert.

''Our term's really jam packed,'' she says.

The short notice of the lockdown meant there was no time to distribute computers for students to learn at home, but there is material on Google classroom they can access.