Teentheatre production based on the Parker-Hulme story
Teentheatre’s latest production Daughters of Heaven by Michelane Forster represents a challenging new departure for the Bay’s young actors.
At the play’s heart is the intense and all-consuming relationship between Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker. The girls’ lives are set against a backdrop of 1950s Christchurch full of puritanical conservatism and class-consciousness. They had each been isolated in various ways during their childhoods and when they began their relationship it quickly intensified, which attracted adult disapproval. When they feared they would be separated, they murdered Pauline’s mother and scandalised the nation.
Director Ronnie Short says that the challenging production had called for a lot of research and serious preparation by the cast.
“Act one of the play examines the passionate but not sexual relationship between Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker and the circumstances leading to the murder. Act two deals with the court case and its aftermath, so it’s a gritty, gnarly story. I really admire the way the cast has approached it. They’ve undertaken this mission with maturity and integrity. They’ve become compassionate and understanding rather than judgemental.”
Forster has made a speciality of turning New Zealand stories into stage plays. She was commissioned by Court Theatre legend Elric Hooper to write Daughters of Heaven in the early 1990s. She has described the play as being “like a crystal with many facets”.
Peter Jackson’s 1994 film Heavenly Creatures also dealt with the Parker-Hulme murder.
The cast of 14 are all Teentheatre members, and Ronnie says that everyone “jumped at the chance to undertake this challenging piece.
“I can guarantee the play will send shivers up spines in the audience at times. It’s not suitable for children.”
Daughters of Heaven is at Takaka’s Village Theatre at 7.30pm on Monday and Tuesday 3 and 4 October at 7.30pm.
Tickets ($15/$10 for secondary students and community card-holders) are at Unlimited Copies.
Neil Wilson
