9 August - 6 September 2025








9 August - 6 September 2025
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Victoria Abbott Viola
Cast
Emma Katene Olivia
Jonathon Hendry Malvolio/Officer
Kathleen Burns Maria
William Burns
James Kupa
Duke Orsino
Sir Andrew/Valentine
Alison Walls Director
Dan Bain
Sir Toby Belch
Hester Ullyart Feste
Nic Kyle Sebastian
Cameron Clayton Antonio/Captain
Production
Mark McEntyre
Set Designer
Giles Tanner
Lighting Designer
Hester Ullyart Music Composition
Jenny Ritchie
Costume Designer
Tim Budgen
Sound & AV Designer
Louise Topping Stage Manager
Hannah Everingham
Studio Musician
Shaun Malloch
Studio Musician
Ruairi Boyd Operator
Ted Eason (Photography & Videography), Rahil Uddin (Character Photography), Charlie Rose of Charlie Rose Creative (Stage Photography), Sandra Roberts of Skip Ink (Publicity), Sarah Rowan (Video Editing), David Bosworth of 4th Wall Theatre Services (Rigging), Sarah Chisnall & Maryanne Smyth (Costume Construction), Richard van den Berg (Set Construction), Annabelle McClure of My Glam Booth, and Dr. Jennifer Thompson. Proudly printed by Caxton.
Running Time: 150 minutes including a 20 minute interval.
Twelfth Night staged at The Court Theatre 9 August - 6 September 2025
Nau mai, haere mai,
Richard Aindow Chief Executive
Welcome to The Court Theatre and this performance of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. This is the first programme introduction I have written in my role of Chief Executive, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to welcome you and our community into our new home. Whilst acknowledging there are far more exciting and talented people at The Court Theatre than the Chief Executive, please do not hesitate to stop me and say hello if you would like to.
When we welcomed this stellar cast and creative team into our new whare in my second week here, I reflected on one of the most well-known whakatauki, Ka Mua, Ka Muri, which is often translated as ‘walking backwards into the future’ and seemed apt when producing the first Shakespeare work in a brand new building. The Court Theatre hasn’t been around since Elizabethan times, but as we move into the future as a contemporary arts organisation, we do have over fifty years of history to pay attention to and help inform us.
William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night may have been written over 400 years ago, but its themes of love, identity, and social
expectation continue to resonate. In an age where conversations around gender fluidity and the complexities of human connection are more relevant than ever, the play offers a surprisingly modern lens through which to explore these issues. Its comedic disguises and mistaken identities speak to the performative aspects of identity we see in both social media and everyday life, while its messages about love’s unpredictability and resilience remain timeless. As you will see in this production, directed by our Artistic Director Dr Alison Walls and supported by an incredible creative team, Twelfth Night endures not just as a classic comedy, but as a reflection of this moment in human history.
We would particularly like to thank our 2025 Season Sponsor, Ryman Healthcare, show sponsor, John Rhind Funeral Directors, and our core funders Creative New Zealand and Christchurch City Council. We were humbled to receive the incredible support our community gave to help us bring this new home to life and are thrilled to see so many people across our community already wanting to be a part of The Court Theatre in the heart of the city.
Enjoy the show!
Alison Walls Director
William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is not titled for anything within the play itself. The action doesn’t even take place around Twelfth Night (the last day of Christmas celebrations and the coming of the Epiphany). Archival evidence indicates that the play was probably first performed early in 1602, perhaps written for Twelfth Night celebrations. Rather than tell us what takes place, therefore, the title—and its subtitle, “Or What You Will”—tells us the spirit of the play. This is a world of festive possibility, the wonderful upheaval of romantic love, and the liberation from predetermined societal and gender roles.
Not bound by the constraints of Realism, which would revolutionise European theatre in the Nineteenth Century, Shakespeare is more concerned with psychological truths than geographic or historic ones. Characters speak directly to the audience. Time and place appear to be quite slippery things. We leap into scenes in media res, the action moving swiftly along from scene to scene with characters’ exits and entrances. Shakespeare’s Illyria is a fantasy world, taking only the slightest inspiration from the Ancient Illyrian kingdoms along the Adriatic coast. We are on the coast, but not in Antiquity. The character names are a mix of Italian, English, and invented (Viola was coined from “violet”). Illyria serves as an “other place”, an exotic land, a utopia (in the true sense of “no place”), and a place where rules may be upended, even—as it turns out—for its locals.
This offers a freedom to production and performers also. While there can be great interest and value in meticulous, historically accurate productions, I have chosen to hew more faithfully to the immediacy and energy of the play, as I believe Shakespeare wanted his audiences to experience it, than to the Renaissance period. We are treating the
world of the play as essentially contemporary (hoping you will forgive us a few anachronisms), imagining a wealthy and fashionable coastal town; one of those places tourists go to escape their lives and themselves. Shakespeare’s actors wore contemporary dress and played contemporary music, so why shouldn’t we? This is a delightful rom-com—with far better poetry than most.
I am joined by brilliant collaborators, who have picked up my ideas and turned them into something even better. Mark McEntyre has created a playing space for our actors that matches the fluidity of the script, and allows us to emphasise the ever changing skies through Tim Budgen’s skilled AV and sound design and Giles Tanner’s superb lighting design (weather being a motif in the play, its changeability fitting the identities and emotions of the characters). Costume designer Jenny Ritchie magicked my initial thoughts into designs that are molded to the actors’ characterisation and are recognisably contemporary, but—like the world of the play—a little ”extra”. Music is another constant thread in Twelfth Night, and when I cast Hester Ullyart as Feste, knowing that she is also a brilliant music creator, I had to ask her to compose original music for our production. She has melded Renaissance lyrics with music that is entirely our own (and to which I will happily be listening well after this production closes).
My cast is phenomenal. The level of talent, skill and intelligence in that room would be intimidating if it wasn’t also so much fun. I am beyond grateful to work with such people. I am grateful too to all my supportive colleagues at The Court Theatre, to our funders and sponsors, and—always—to our audiences. I hope you enjoy your time in Illyria, friend.
Orsino, Duke of lllyria, is despairing that he is spurned by the Countess Olivia. She has forsworn romance for seven years while she mourns the death of her brother and rebuffs all Orsino’s advances. Nearby, a captain arrives on shore with a young woman, Viola, whom they have rescued from a storm at sea. Viola laments the loss of her twin brother, Sebastian, in the shipwreck. She resolves to fend for herself by dressing as a boy to get work as a page to Duke Orsino.
Despite his former rejection, Orsino sends his new page Cesario (Viola in disguise) to court Olivia for him. Cesario/Viola fell in love at first sight with her master Orsino, so she goes to court Olivia unwillingly. To make matters more complicated, Olivia continues to reject Orsino but is attracted to Cesario. She sends her proud steward, Malvolio, after him with a ring. A love triangle arises between Olivia, Viola/Cesario, and Orsino.
Meanwhile, members of Olivia’s household plot to expose the self-love and aspirations of the steward, Malvolio. These include Olivia’s uncle, Sir Toby Belch, her handmaid, Maria, and Sir Toby’s rich & foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Sir Andrew also happens to be seeking the hand of Olivia. Together, they use a letter to trick Malvolio into believing Olivia loves him. The letter demands that Malvolio appear in yellow stockings, cross-gartered, and smiling to show his love for Olivia. The Countess is horrified and Malvolio is shut in a dark room. Meanwhile, Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian, has also survived the shipwreck. He comes to Illyria with Antonio, who is a wanted man for former piracy against Orsino.
Sir Andrew’s affections for Olivia lead him to be jealous of Cesario, and Sir Toby persuades him to declare a duel between them. Thanks to a prank by Sir Toby, both Andrew and Cesario believe that their opponents intend to fight to the death and try to back out of the fight. However, Antonio passes by and mistakes Cesario for Sebastian, and intervenes to defend his friend. He is recognised by Orsino’s men and arrested. Later, Sebastian comes along and is challenged by Sir Andrew, who thinks he is Cesario. Sebastian is a stronger fighter but Olivia intervenes and invites Sebastian into the house, also thinking him to be Cesario. Olivia and Sebastian are married that night.
Malvolio, held in a dark cell for his apparent mental break, is cruelly manipulated and taunted by Maria, Sir Toby, and Feste, the court fool. Feste dresses up as a priest to convince Malvolio that he is, in fact, insane. After realising that they might get into trouble for treating Malvolio this way, they allow him a pen and paper to write a letter to Olivia.
Antonio is brought to talk with Orsino, and upon seeing Cesario, he accuses him of betrayal. Just then, the real Sebastian arrives to apologise for fighting Sir Toby. The twins see each other and discover that they are both alive. Feste brings a letter from Malvolio, and on his release, Maria’s letter is revealed to be fraudulent. Malvolio departs promising revenge. Maria and Sir Toby have already married in celebration of the success of their plot against the steward.
The play ends with Orsino giving his blessing to Olivia and Sebastian’s love - but it’s his own heart that finally speaks. Realising his feelings for ‘Cesario’, he turns to Viola and asks for her hand, choosing love in its truest form.
September
Victoria is a writer, performer, voice artist, clown, deviser, and director from Ōtautahi, now based on Gadigal Country in Sydney. She recently appeared in the Australian premiere of Kate Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice, followed by her solo show Run Rabbit in Sydney. A graduate of Otago University and Toi Whakaari, her stage highlights include a year-long stint with Pop-Up Globe, and multiple seasons of Kororāreka: The Ballad of Maggie Flynn with Red Leap Theatre. On screen, she has appeared in Top of the Lake, Power Rangers, and Educators.
Victoria started her career at The Court Theatre as a multitude of baby woodland animals in 1995’s The Wind in the Willows. She is delighted to be returning to The Court Theatre for Twelfth Night.
Emma (Ngāti Kahungunu) is a Pōneke based actor, excited to perform in her third Court Theatre show. She made her debut with her performance of Anna in The Girl on the Train and also played Medium Alison in Fun Home last year.
Her other theatre acting credits include Cringeworthy: Boppin in the 50’s and Swinging in the 60’s (Centrepoint Theatre), Mannbannd (Centrepoint Theatre), Pinocchio: The Pantomime (Circa Theatre), Land of the Long Long Drive (Circa Theatre), Sing to Me, and Destination Mars (Te Papa).
Emma also enjoys working as a director, sound designer, and emcee.
Dan Bain is ‘one of New Zealand’s most experienced theatre practitioners’ (RNZ) and is a multi-award-winning playwright, director, and standup comedian. He is the creator of Sleepy Time Mumbles, a bafflingly popular sleep-aid podcast and the cult hit improv show Perfuct Storm
He was the Artistic Director of the Court Jesters from 2014-2020, the Associate Director of The Court Theatre from 2017-2020, and is currently the Artistic and Programming Director of Little Andromeda Fringe Theatre.
Nestled in the heart of Christchurch, The Victoria Free House is a warm and inviting pub where great drinks, delicious food, and good times come together. We pride ourselves on our welcoming atmosphere, friendly service, and a lively lineup of events From live music to comedy, there is always something happening at The Vic
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We have a selection of snacks, and generous sharing platters, and a fast, pre-theatre dinner service If you're after a quick bite with your drink with friends, or a hearty meal before the show, we serve up quality, flavour, and fast service.
Maria
Jonathon (Jonty) is delighted to return to the stage in his Court Theatre acting debut. A fellow of Shakespeare’s Globe in London and a graduate of Toi Whakaari, he’s played Shakespeare in various theatres around Aotearoa NZ. In 1989 he was Malvolio in a raucous late night offering at The Depot and BATS Theatre Wellington under the direction of Simon Bennett. He returned to the role in 2017 at the Fortune Theatre Dunedin with director Benjamin Kilby-Henson.
Jonty’s passion for Shakespeare has led to success in other roles such as Richard III, Macbeth, Iago, Jaques, and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream which toured to the Isaac Theatre Royal in 2001.
Hester Ullyart trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London.
Her previous Court Theatre credits include A Doll’s House and A Streetcar Named Desire. Her other theatre credits include King Lear (Auckland Theatre Company), Woyzeck (Free Theatre Christchurch), Paragon Dreams (various venues internationally), and The Mousetrap (UK Tour). Screen credits include One Lane Bridge S2, One Of Us is Lying, and Cracker
A multi-disciplinarian, Hester also directs and writes music, plays and poetry. She runs Common Ground Spoken Word Kā Tūka Toikupu.
Kathleen’s career began at The Court Theatre in 2003 with The Court Jesters, and she still performs in Scared Scriptless. Since then, she has worked the country as an actor, writer and director. She is also a graduate of the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art. Her previous Court Theatre acting credits include The End of the Golden Weather, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, Educating Rita, Ladies Night, Steel Magnolias, RENT, and Sense and Sensibility. Other theatre credits from around the country include A Servant to Two Masters, Under Milkwood, Cinderella, and Treasure Island (Circa Theatre), Avenue Q, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, and Flagons and Foxtrots (Fortune Theatre). Her screen credits include Sextortion, Ghost Shark 2, The Bostrom Scenario, and Wilbert Wire
Nic Kyle Sebastian
James (Ngāti Kahungunu) is a graduate of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School (Bachelor of Performing Arts).
His Court Theatre credits include The Perfumed Garden, Frankenstein, The Girl on the Train, Dance Nation, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, and The End of the Golden Weather His other theatre credits include Betty’s Summer Vacation, Twelfth Night (Toi Whakaari), A Streetcar Named Desire (Circa Theatre), Strange Resting Places (Taki Rua), Penalties, Pints and Pirouettes (Centrepoint Theatre), and Dungeons & Comedians (Little Andromeda).
James’ television credits include Dark City: The Cleaner, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Ka Pai Living, Agent Anna, and Nothing Trivial.
Nic has spent 18 years performing across New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Germany, and the UK—with stints in the West End, on tour with Elaine Paige, and in immersive hits like Star Wars and Back to the Future (Secret Cinema London). Credits include Kinky Boots, The Music Man, Sweeney Todd, The Producers, Cabaret, Jesus Christ Superstar, Le Cage Aux Folles, and Shrek The Musical
A Broadway World Best Actor nominee and Variety Club’s 2023 Top Male Artist, Nic is thrilled to be back at The Court Theatre—where it all began.
Nic is a proud member of Equity New Zealand.
William is a theatre director, actor, maker, tech, and teacher.
At The Court Theatre he has most recently been seen as Rhys in Appropriate and Pinkie in Flagons and Foxtrots. Other Court Theatre credits include Stage Manager for The SpongeBob Musical: Youth Edition and Disney’s The Little Mermaid JR., sound and AV design for Dance Nation and Katzenmusik, and various projects as director with The Court Youth Company.
William has produced five solo shows including The First Annual Parnell Croquet Club Facebook Live Telethon.
He is a proud member of Equity New Zealand.
Cameron studied at the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts (Bachelor of Performing Arts). His previous credits include Cats (Showbiz & AMICII Productions), RENT (AMICII Productions), The Witches of Eastwick (Riccarton Players), Shrek the Musical (Showcase Entertainment), Flagons and Foxtrots, RENT, Cinderella, Something Rotten!, and Strictly Ballroom The Musical (The Court Theatre).
Cameron’s television credits include Sextortion (2020) and David Lomas Investigates (2021).
Cameron has also performed in country music throughout NZ, Australia, and USA, and was awarded Gore Gold Guitar Award Overall Winner (2004), NZ Entertainer of the Year (2005), and Trans-Tasman Entertainer of the Year (2001).
Alison Walls Director
Mark McEntyre Set Designer
Jenny Ritchie Costume Designer
Alison is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College (MFA, Acting) and The Graduate Center (PhD, Theatre and Performance Studies).
She directed Katzenmusik (The Court Youth Company) and Dance Nation for The Court Theatre. Other theatre highlights include Henry V (Wellington Summer Shakespeare), Fuddy Meers (director, BATS, Chapman Tripp Award nominee), When the Rain Stops Falling (Circa Theatre), and Antony and Cleopatra (Director, Wellington Summer Shakespeare). While living in New York, Alison was a proud company member of theatre non-profit The Upstart Creatures.
Mark is best known for his set designs for The Court Theatre, Tawata Productions, Pacific Underground, NZ International Festival of the Arts, Christchurch Arts Festival, Taki Rua Productions, and Auckland Theatre Company.
Mark has represented New Zealand in the Prague Quadrennial of Scenography and Theatre Architecture. His recent designs include The End of the Golden Weather (The Court Theatre), Transmission Beta (Circa Theatre), and Prima Facie (Birds of a Feather).
Mark is also the Portfolio Manager in Creative at Ara.
Jenny is a multidisciplinary artist specialising in visual arts, costume, aerial apparatus design and choreography.
The diversity of her career has allowed her to explore many roles in a variety of performance industries, from working as a movement artist with Robert Lepage’s Ex Machina for the Metropolitan Opera of New York, to touring internationally as a choreographer and performer for experimental Zurich contemporary circus company Rigolo, to her current roles as Aerial Director for the World of Wearable Art and costume work for NZ film, television and theatre.
Her passions lie in any realm where bodies and design collide.
Giles is a graduate of Hagley Theatre Company (Diploma in Performing Arts), where he concentrated on technical production, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Canterbury.
Currently Head Technician at The Court Theatre, Giles has worked on more than 50 Court productions including Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, Mr and Mrs Macbeth of Heathcote Valley Road, A Doll’s House, The End of the Golden Weather and Black Faggot.
Giles was one of 2023’s The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Out of the Limelight Awards, recognising dedicated theatre practitioners in Aotearoa.
Tim Budgen is a digital motion designer and animator based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Tim has over 25 years’ experience in animation and postproduction design for video installations, online media, theatre and corporate events. He has directed and produced music videos, and creates motion graphics and visuals for live music events and festivals including Electric Avenue and Homegrown, and for artists including Tiki Taane, Shapeshifter, and Fly My Pretties.
In addition to his freelance work, he has taught animation and motion graphics for over 20 years and is currently a lecturer in Game Art & Animation at the University of Canterbury.
Mark McEntyre
Twelfth Night, what a gift to be able to design for such a great text and to work with awesome creatives, Alison Walls, Giles Tanner, Jenny Ritchie, Julian Southgate, Tim Budgen, and Hester Ullyart.
The design process starts with a reading of the text and an intuitive response to the ideas that emerge from the script. Those ideas are tested in a collaborative process, working closely with Alison and the other creatives. The set design is a component of that process which is made up of light, colour, texture, sound, image and it’s when all these elements come together on stage with the text and the actors that the full design is realised.
What inspired my thought processes was this idea of gender and how it shifts and blurs between the characters in the script. I wanted to reflect a sense of transparency but at the same time not really knowing that what we are seeing is true or not. We focused on keeping the space abstract so the characters could shift and glide through from scene to scene.
It is exciting to be designing for the new theatre and being back in the CBD as part of the creative precinct.
This is my first time creating costumes for The Court Theatre. My usual roles in the costume world are as an artist in the textile rooms of film and television productions, helping out on the occasional friend’s theatre show and 23 years of making my own costumes in my past life as a circus artist. So being given the opportunity to lead the design on this scale is a new challenge but one that comes with a lot of collaborative support from the great costume team at The Court Theatre.
With the set design creating such a neutral and fluid performance space it gave a great opportunity to incorporate a cohesive approach across the costumes through the decision to work with monochromatic tones for many of the characters.
With the setting established as an ‘elsewhere location’, we also needed the costumes to have a subtle element of difference in their designs to help disconnect them from associations with a recognisable contemporary world.
Many of the costumes were dyed by local artist Rose Salmon, a breakdown and textile artist for film and television whom I have worked with on several projects in the past. Despite being an Ōtautahi artist, she is often away on film projects, and so discovering that she was in town allowed me to pass this work onto her expert hands.
In Twelfth Night, Viola’s cross-dressing is one example of how Shakespeare brought focus to the performative aspect of gender. With this in mind, I have shifted around some fashion design elements generally associated with a specific gender, for example the incorporation of suit elements in Lady Olivia’s black mourning dress and the fluidity of fabric and colour palette of Duke Orsino’s look.
Collaboration is everything on any creative production and working closely with Alison Walls (Director), Mark McIntyre (Set Designer), the costume team; Maryanne Smythe, Daniella Salazar and Findlay Currie and all the actors has been essential in developing the characters’ individual looks.
It has been an absolute pleasure to work in this beautiful new building, in a costume room where one of the walls is almost floor to ceiling windows, allowing the presence of natural light to support our creative processes and long days working to bring everything together.
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It is a privilege to have been tasked with the music for such a beloved tale. Shakespeare brings the link between love and music to the fore front of the audiences’ minds from the off – “If music be the food of love, play on” with songs ‘O Mistress Mine’, ‘Come Away Death’, and of course, ‘Hey, Ho, the Wind and the Rain’, reflecting the various sensual, biting, and bittersweet themes that weave and flow throughout the undulating plots. My brief was to bring this lyrical poetry into modern ‘catches’, to create a fun, eclectic, sound world through the character of Feste, a roaming contemporary musician of our Illyria who could turn out pop, romance, or silliness at the turn of a hat, with sultry pushes here and there to temper the lovers’ fervour just that little bit more - not that they need much help from me.
Since loss and searching is also a key story plot, (our twins notably losing each other in a sea storm, the Countess Olivia in mourning her dead brother), you will hear a new song within the play that I took the liberty of creating from some of the fool’s lines -
“Thy mind, is a very opal
Now the melancholy God protect thee
Oh to have you put to sea, to have you put to sea
Another Good Voyage of Nothing”
I am indebted to my fellow music-makers behind the scenes, local musicians Shaun Malloch and Hannah Everingham, who added their invaluable talents throughout our collaborative process, and of course, this wonderful company.
Feste x (Hester)
Hester Ullyart is an artist and actor with a great love of collaboration and mixed discipline projects. Works include forthcoming album The All Clear, with her band Hester Ida and the Music. Other original performance works include notes on a migration, poetry film I am all the rooms of the house, and plays Paragon Dreams and The Ballad of Paragon Station
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