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Kapi-Mana News : August 7th 2012
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2012 PORIRUA CITY & TAWA www.kapimananews.co.nz Faith, fads, fun in drama Divine comedy: Tawa College students Briana Boele van Hensbroek, Braeden Foster and Rohan Liley play corporate angels overseeing a materialistic religion in their upcoming production Desperate Antics. By ANDREA O'NEIL It's a matter of faith Shopping is a religion for teenagers, the joke goes, but an upcoming Tawa College production takes a closer look at the link between consumerism and faith. The college is in the midst of intense rehearsals for Desperate Antics, a black comedy by Auckland playwright Kevin Keys. The play centres on Fad, a religion which controls the play s characters from cradle to grave. A series of sketches poke fun at society s materialistic obsessions, from fashion victims to gym addicts. Overseeing fad s reign on earth are three corporate angels , played by students Rohan Liley and Briana Boele van Hensbroek, both 14, and Braeden Foster, 18. It looks at how consumerism has become a new religion, Rohan says. Fad is god. The play, which all three actors describe as hilarious despite its thought-provoking subject matter, is hugely relevant to teenagers, Rohan says. It s what you let yourself be -- a slave to that or not, he says. I think our generation needs to have a bit more personal choice. Over the course of the play wars are fought in the name of Fad, but its characters also start to wake up and challenge it. Students in the audience will get a huge kick out of seeing their fads held up to mockery, Briana says. College is a big part of people s lives. It s going to be something to do with them and their society, she says. There are lots of examples in our lives -- girls being really obsessed with how they look because of these influences. The $150 ugg pants everybody seems to wear on mufti days are the perfect example of a materialistic fad at Tawa College, Braeden says, but students materialism can be seen every day. Desperate Antics and The End of the World as we Know It double bill, August 15-18, 7pm. Tickets $14 adults $8 students, from Tawa College office or Drummond pharmacy. INSIDE: That Was Then 8 Letters 10 Weekly Workout 20 Classified 34 Sport 37 Horses died on Hobbit time By ANDREA O'NEIL Speaking out: Former horse wrangler for The Hobbit John Smythe protested on Gray's Rd last Wednesday about the deaths of three horses in film staff's care. Three horses due to appear in The Hobbit film died due to the incom- petence of film staff, a protester stationed on Gray s Rd claimed last week. John Smythe worked as a horse wrangler for The Hobbit pro- duction team from November 2010 to October 2011, when he claims he was fired for speaking out about the deaths of three horses in his care. Mr Smythe, a farmer, horse trekking business owner and ex- shepherd from Kaitieke Valley near Taumarunui, said he buried the horses himself at 260 Gray s Rd, where all the horses were kept while filming. Mr Smythe protested outside the address last Wednesday, call- ing for an investigation into the horse deaths. Three horses dying when they re not even filming, they re in the care of wranglers in the farm, you can t tell me that s the means to not having an investigation, he said. Mr Smythe said the first death happened in February 2011, when a knee-high pony named Rainbow was put in a paddock with high- strung geldings , who trampled the pony to death the first night. The pony had a broken neck and back, and had been cowering by the border fence all night, he said. This little fellow had no chance. The geldings behaviour could have been expected. We questioned it. We were told to do our jobs. The second death was of a horse, Claire, which was put in a paddock with a sheer bluff down to a stream. Again, wranglers questioned the decision, but were assured the horse would be safe, Mr Smythe said. Two days later the horse was found submerged in the creek. After the two deaths it was decided all horses would be housed in stables, which Mr Smythe believes led to the third death. Stabled horses were fed grain, and a horse called Zeppelin died because its stomach was accustomed to grass, he said. He died a slow, agonising death. That was pretty much it for me, I had had enough of seeing incompetence from people who had had no background on farms. When Mr Smythe spoke to man- agement about the decisions that had been made, he lost his job. 3Foot7 production company did not deny horses had died while filming The Hobbit. Instead of answering our ques- tions about Mr Smythe s allega- tions, a spokeswoman released this statement: "Throughout production we have worked closely with, and have been monitored by, the American Humane Association and have taken great care to fol- low their guidelines. We also work with a local vet- erinary surgeon to ensure the ongoing health and welfare of all the animals in our charge. The production has complete and ongoing confidence in the integ- rity of, and care provided by, its animal team."
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