The Shakespearean drama of Brash's politics
5:00AM
Thursday April 10, 2008
By Dionne Christian
Six months after the political play The Hollow Men debuted in Wellington, it comes north to Auckland - but will allegedly apolitical Aucklanders see it?
Director Jonathon Hendry suspects Aucklanders are not as apathetic as the rest of the country - especially Wellington - believes.
"I think Auckland's political apathy is a myth promulgated by Wellingtonians because we have the Beehive but ultimately Auckland is the powerhouse of the country," he says. "It is where much of the political behind-the-scenes action takes place and a lot of the major political battlegrounds are in Auckland electorates."
While some of the political players portrayed in The Hollow Men may have changed, Hendry says the game of winning hearts and minds in order to run the country remains the same. This maintains the play's relevancy, especially as this is an election year.
He also stresses that The Hollow Men is not an extended news broadcast, replete with dry facts and sound-bite platitudes. Instead it focuses on the nature of politics and our part in creating political reality.