A play inspired by the Napier siege will have its Hawke's Bay premiere tonight.
The production focuses on five households under a police lock-down.
Playwright Lennie James said it was a "no-brainer" to use the tragic May 2009 incident as the main event for Havoc in the Garden.
The play is performed by
youth-based Massive Theatre Company, which began developing the play from workshops in 2009.
"During my downtime from the workshops I couldn't help but be sucked into the coverage of the Napier siege," Mr James said.
"When it came to finding the major event of the play that would encompass all the stories I wanted to tell, it was a no-brainer. The setting of a siege did everything I needed and wanted it to do."
The play makes no direct reference to the events during the siege, when policeman Len Snee was killed and two other officers injured.
Instead, the story focuses on families under police lock-down during a hostage incident.
"This is the story of the people forced to remain in their houses away from the windows and doors, not knowing what's really happening outside, in situations and in the company of people they would not have chosen," Mr James said.
Hundreds of Napier householders were unable to leave their homes while gunman Jan Molenaar remained holed up in his Chaucer Rd house.
In the play, the location has been shifted from Napier's Hospital Hill to a fictional "Monument Hill" in Auckland.
And Mr James said he hoped Hawke's Bay audiences would be transported into the fictional world, and leave thoughts of Napier in the foyer.
"If they come out of the show still talking about Napier, past the odd comment, I'd be staggered."
The 14 cast members are a mix of young and experienced actors, including Wesley Dowdell, who played truck driver Aaron Spiller in television's Outrageous Fortune. The play is on tonight and tomorrow night at Hawke's Bay Opera House in Hastings.
