Drama in the pub to be regular

Remarkable Theatre members (from left) producer Sarah Bogle and actors Tiffany Menzies, David Cantwell and David Oakley rehearse their play-reading in Dux de Lux in preparation for their debut public performance in the Church St pub on Sunday. Photo by James Beech.

Audiences will be required to suspend disbelief and engage their imaginations a little more than usual when the Remarkable Theatre stages its new series of plays without costumes, props, or even a stage.

The non-profit Queenstown society will present its first "Play of the Month" in the Dux de Lux on Sunday and the first Sunday of the month from then on. The informal format will involve "rehearsed readings" from scripts by Wakatipu actors and actresses standing in the pub's lounge.

"The point is to give the opportunity to cast, aspiring directors and audiences of a theatre experience on a regular basis and maintain interest between our two major productions a year," actor David Cantwell said.

The first play by Remarkable Theatre will be a satirical dissection of celebrity culture called Dumb Show (2004) by British journalist turned playwright and screenwriter Joe Penhall.

Tiffany Menzies and David Oakley play a pair of down-market newspaper reporters orchestrating a classic tabloid sting against a television personality played by Mr Cantwell, who doubled as director.