Pompallier Mission will be transformed into a performance venue next month. Photo / File
Pompallier Mission will be transformed into a performance venue next month. Photo / File
Russell's Pompallier Mission will be transformed into a performance venue for two days during the Bay of Islands Arts Festival next month.
The atmospheric attic of the historic printery, which is cared for by Heritage New Zealand, will serve as a backdrop for three performances of the play The Bookbinderby award-winning Wellington-based Trick of the Light Theatre Company.
The play is a story of mystery, magic and mayhem, inspired by the works of Chris van Allsburg, Neil Gaiman and Joy Cowley, which weaves together shadow play, paper art, puppetry and music into an inventive one-man performance for adventurous adults and curious children.
The tagline used to promote the play - "They say you can get lost in a good book, but it's worse getting lost in a bad one ..." gives a hint of the imaginative rollercoaster ride audiences can look forward to.
"It would be hard to imagine a better performance venue than the attic of the Pompallier Mission printery," mission manager Scott Eliffe said.
"The attic has a real ambience that lends itself to live theatre. The fact that actual bookbinding took place in the building by Bishop Pompallier's team of Marist brothers, who were producing religious literature in Maori there more than 170 years ago, just makes the setting even more evocative."
The Bookbinder had received rave reviews, he said.
-The play will be performed on Saturday, April 25 (6pm, 8pm) and Sunday, April 26 (6pm).
