Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Play attracts big audiences

By John Maslin
Whanganui Chronicle·
14 Feb, 2016 07:42 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

GRUMPY: Nadine Rayner [Witch Number 1] makes her point during Saturday's matinee performance of Madbeth at Bason Botanic Gardens.

GRUMPY: Nadine Rayner [Witch Number 1] makes her point during Saturday's matinee performance of Madbeth at Bason Botanic Gardens.

If the audience numbers were anything to go by, organisers of Shakespeare in the Park can be justifiably proud.

They trotted out four performances in all of William Shakespeare's Macbeth from an outdoor set erected in the lower reserve at Bason Botanic Park.

The first show on Thursday was to local schools with public performances on Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday night.

Karen Craig, who directed the production, was thrilled with the audiences, which totalled about 1000 over the four shows.

The performances dovetailed with the Great Bason Fair at the reserve yesterday, which itself had an Elizabethan theme in keeping with the Bard's play.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The fair is annual, so my hope is next year the Bason has four or five groups applying to be the front-end entertainment."

She said she would probably apply a year down the track, "because it's going to take me a year to get over this".

Ms Craig had high praise for her cast, who were "brilliant".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Temperatures on Saturday afternoon were "so, so hot" the cast huddled under a tree behind the set trying to find shade.

"But they were just troupers. They got out there and gave their all, and went out and did it all over again on Saturday night's final show."

Ms Craig said people from outside Whanganui had made a special trip see the show.

"I got feedback from the director of the Palmerston North Shakespeare festival, and we had people through from New Plymouth as well."

Production manager Edwyna McDonald said she had been involved in amateur theatrics for years. Putting on shows in a theatre was one thing but outside performances were "something altogether".

She said the actors were outstanding. "Remembering Shakespeare's lines in a play like this is very hard. But all of them handled it so well. It just underlines the talent we have here in Whanganui."

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Police seek sightings of car linked to missing person

06 Jul 11:50 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

How a spray painter is mastering conflict resolution with NZ Army

06 Jul 05:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

'He's just scared of me': Teen's Māori wards challenge to PM

06 Jul 03:55 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Police seek sightings of car linked to missing person

Police seek sightings of car linked to missing person

06 Jul 11:50 PM

The victim had been missing since June 27 and was last seen driving his white 2002 Mazda.

How a spray painter is mastering conflict resolution with NZ Army

How a spray painter is mastering conflict resolution with NZ Army

06 Jul 05:00 PM
'He's just scared of me': Teen's Māori wards challenge to PM

'He's just scared of me': Teen's Māori wards challenge to PM

06 Jul 03:55 AM
Brazen hammer heist: Police hunt jewel thief, staff distressed after store raid

Brazen hammer heist: Police hunt jewel thief, staff distressed after store raid

05 Jul 05:11 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP