Twin City Productions

Property partner: Maurice and Kaye Clark

Grand Hall, Public Trust Building, 131 Lambton Quay

23 November - 3 December 2016

Images: Gabrielle McKone

Dominion Post Review

Located in one of Wellington's most significant spaces, the Grand hall at the Public Trust Building, Galathea: Into the Bush is a reinvention of an old play provided a suitably Shakepearian venue. Working with leading youth group InsideOUT, it provides both a community space and a theatre, celebrating Wellington's vibrant LGBT community today.

Galathea was originally written in 1588 by Shakespeare's contemporary John Lyly. The 1588 version has a focus on lesbian desire that was radical for its time. Twin City Productions have decided to use the original play as inspiration for a new show.

Director Ania Upstill says, “As a queer director, I have found that Wellington theatre tends to neglects the experiences of LGBT people. At the start of our project we held public forums for Wellington's LGBT community to tell us what representation they would like to see on stage. We also held a forum with local LGBT youth group InsideOUT. The dominant message from these voices was 'we want more'.”

In addition to being the performance space, during the run of the show from 1pm– 5pm Twin Cities open up the venue as a space for the public. Activities in the space will encourage people to play with their ideas of gender before seeing the performance in the evening.