The Crew
Peter Hambleton - Director
One of Wellington's most experienced actors and directors, Peter was awarded a Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand International Artistic Fellowship in 2002 and spent a month training at the Globe Theatre in London. The recipient of a 2007 Winston Churchill Fellowship to study Shakespeare production in the UK, he travelled there earlier this year and saw 15 productions while meeting with leading directors and actors.
Peter has won several Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards as an actor and has directed Cymbeline for Victoria University Summer Shakespeare, Pericles for Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School and A Midsummer Night's Dream for Circa Theatre, where he is also a council member.
Amanda McRaven - Assistant Director
Amanda McRaven is originally from Charlottesville, Virginia where she began acting at the age of 14 and directed her first play at the age of 20. She has a BA in English and Theatre from the University of Virginia and an MFA in Directing from the University of California, Irvine. She is most interested in creating collaborative, interactive performance with no fourth walls. In addition to directing, Amanda's interest in social arts programs led her to The Voice Project, a writing and performance program for female inmates.
Amanda is the recipient of a 2008 Fulbright award to study community-based theatre and its relationship to culture in New Zealand. She now resides in Palmerston North, where she has recently been working on The Suitcase (Voice Project Aotearoa), an ensemble-based piece on cultural identity in a multicultural society.
Adam Dodd - Producer
Adam has been involved with local drama for some years now, and finally after a period of hiatus has returned to Summer Shakespeare. While he enjoys acting, Adam wishes to further explore playwriting and directing. Currently he is writing a play for the student drama society which he expects to complete by 2512.
Angie Farrow - Executive Producer
Dr Angie Farrow is a senior lecturer at Massey University, New Zealand specialising in drama and creative processes. She is a playwright having written numerous plays for theatre and radio in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Angie emigrated from the UK in 1990 and now lives in Palmerston North with her daughter, Leda.
Natala Gwiazdzinski - Production/Costume Designer
A fan of Shakespeare, contemporary & New Zealand works. Toi Whakaari Graduate 2005 in Entertainment Technology, theatre experience in lighting design & operation, costume and set design. Productions include Streetcar Named Desire, Glass Menagerie & End Game; NZ works: Festival of New Arts, Nga Pou Wahine, Fallow and Taki Rua's Te Reo Childrens' Tour 2005. Wish list: lighting design for a contemporary dance piece and more time to write.
Lynda Williamson - Stage/Production Manager
Lynda loves self devised theatre having trained for two years in the discipline at the Performing Arts Diploma course at UCOL. She has kept up her acting skills along with teaching children's drama, writing and producing self devised and new plays. She has been involved in several productions locally, including work with the now disbanded Bloodworks group, performing in Amanda McRaven's The Suitcase in this year's Festival of New Arts and playing Juliet's nurse in the 2008 Summer Shakespeare production.
Joy Green - Publicist
While this is Joy's first Summer Shakespeare, she has been involved with the Palmerston North arts and theatre scene for several years, writing, directing and (very occasionally) performing. She's a writer and tutors writing papers at Massey, and since she has a passion for Shakespeare, and especially sharing his work with as many people as possible, publicity seemed the ideal role for her.
Virginia Jamieson - Artist/Image Design
As Director of >PUHiPRESS, Virginia produces works with connections to old worlds. The studio has a focus on prints, drawings and books. Currently one of her prints fronts the 2008 Manawatu phone book. In her role at GLADDEN Arts Management, Virginia supports the local arts scene and has had lots of fun with Peter Hambleton reworking the 'look' for Manawatu Summer Shakespeare. Enjoy!
Nick Skarrot - Sound and Lighting
Kane Parsons - Musical Director
Erin Matthews - Front of House
Carol Seelye - Administrative Assistant
