Little Theatre supreme

TE AWAMUTU Little Theatre’s 2001 production of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ which director Kim Barclay reprised for the 2005 North Island tour. Te Awamutu Courier file photos.

One of Waipa’s smallest organisations took out the largest of prizes at last night’s 2006 Trustpower Waipa District Community Awards.

Te Awamutu Little Theatre was named Supreme Winner for its 11-centre North Island tour of the play ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ staged to mark the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II and the Holocaust.

This project was staffed entirely by volunteers, yet still had to meet the same standards as professional theatre in New Zealand. Planning for the project began in 2003 and continued until the show took to the stage between May and October last year. Show dates were mostly between Thursdays and Mondays on alternate weekends in order to accommodate the cast and crew’s work commitments. The team had to take Thursdays, Fridays and Monday’s off work and often travel long distances on these days.

Before even getting to the stage the cast went through a full 12 weeks of rehearsal, while the crew worked to design and build a safe and complicated two storey set representing the Franks Amsterdam home, stocked with all the functioning accoutrements of a house with eight inhabitants. All of this had to be capable of disassembly for packing into the truck.

The production also began with a special Dutch-New Zealand Memorial Service in Te Awamutu, involving the Dutch embassy, RSA and Jewish Council. All the cast and crew were later given plaudits by the Dutch Ambassador and Jewish Council.

Over the course of the tour the Theatre performed to thousands of people across the length of the North Island, collecting rave reviews and offering an educational experience to many young New Zealanders.

In making the award the judges commented this was a small group of volunteers who together put on a huge and significant production.

TrustPower community relations manager Graeme Purches says the competition for this year’s awards was fierce with more than 50 groups nominated.

For winning the Supreme Award Te Awamutu Little Theatre received a framed certificate, a trophy and $1,500 prize money. The Theatre also now has the opportunity to represent the region at the TrustPower National Community Awards, which are being held in Taupo in March next year, following in the footsteps of Kihikihi Waikato Eventing which took out this year’s national title.

In total, TrustPower has given away $5,250 to various community groups through last night’s awards.