Lysander’s Aunty

— or A Most Rageful Irreverent Comedy Concerning An Offstage Character From A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Jumping from Athens to Aotearoa, with a cast of New Zealand’s finest comic talent, Lysander’s Aunty is a wild ride of magic and mutiny.

In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, young lovers Lysander and Hermia defy the Duke by eloping to an aunt’s house in the woods. But who is this law-snubbing, free-loving aunty? What’s she doing in the bush? And what happens when the law comes knocking at her door?

From the makers of The Bookbinder, and in the tradition of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, comes a riotous reworking of Shakespeare’s most popular play that takes a cannon to the canon.

Lysander's Aunty was originally commissioned by The Court Theatre, in Ōtautahi (Christchurch) and developed with the support of the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Auckland Theatre Company and Auckland Arts Festival.

SEASON CANCELLED

Lysander’s Aunty was commissioned by the Court Theatre in Ōtautahi / Christchurch and set to premiere in March 2020 until the lockdown forced its cancellation just four days out from opening.

A new production was due to premiere in 2022 with Aotearoa New Zealand Festival, Auckland Arts Festival, and Auckland Theatre Company until this too was forced to cancel due to lockdown.

Cast

Anya Tate Manning — **Dogberry**
Anya Tate-Manning

Crew

Writer

Ralph McCubbin Howell

**Producer**
Shane Bosher (Brilliant Adventures)

**Composition & Sound Designer**
Eden Mulholland

Lysander’s Aunty was commissioned by The Court Theatre in Ōtautahi (Christchurch) and rehearsed in early 2020 with the following cast and crew. We were just four days out from opening when the pandemic forced the season’s cancellation.

Cast (Court Theatre rehearsals)

Aunty

Julie Edwards

Ricky

Trubie Dylan-Smith

Dogberry

Hannah Kelly

Lysander

Manuel Solomon

Hermia

Millie Hanford

Demetrius