Even though Kate Goodwin and Luke Brown were nervous and a “bit frightened” on opening night, the two cast members enjoyed being part of the Waihī College production.
The college recently held its school production called Wheelers Luck – a larrikin comedy set in rural New Zealand and written by Nigel Collins, Toby Leach and Damon Andres.
Directed by Ingrid Berry, the play is about a tight-knit community who experience division when a rich developer emerges on the scene.
Waihī year eight student and cast member Kate Goodwin told The Profile she was excited on both opening and closing nights of the production, but also “sad that it was going to be over so soon”.
It was her fourth time being in a play and she got involved because she could do it alongside her friends, she said.
Kate played two different characters – one was an old lady and the other was a committee member, she said.
To prepare for opening night, Kate said she went over the lines and then “didn’t think about it”.
But the best part about being involved was meeting new people and performing in front of people, she said.
Meanwhile, fellow cast member Luke Brown said the best part for him was “definitely performing”.
“Especially on the closing night, we were a lot more comfortable on stage.”
Luke said once you’re on stage with the bright lights, “the audience isn’t even visible anymore”.
The year 13 student said being in the production was a great experience “although we didn’t think we could pull it off”.
“We only had a limited time to practice, however the crew and teachers helped pull it all together and we had two great shows and it was lots of enjoyable fun,” he said.
It was the “first proper play” he’d been involved in, and he was drawn in because his whole drama class was part of it, Luke said.
He played a character called Perry De Winkel who was a “typical old Kiwi farmer” he said.
Even though Perry was 80 years old, Luke said he felt Perry was a “really easy character for me to play”.
His advice for students who wanted to be part of the next school play was “definitely get involved”.
“The more people, the better,” he said.
