Russell Street School presents: Blast to the Past
Directed by Rachel Lenart, Dean McKerras and the teachers of Russell Street School
Russell Street School has just turned 90 and to celebrate, the kids of RSS are going back in time with their school production.
“How’s this for elearning! A time machine! How better than to connect to the school’s history than to EXPERIENCE IT! Not in VR but IRL! Show me some wairua and come with me! “
For four kids at Russell Street, the opportunity for adventure (AHEM… Learning) proves too tempting. But their actions have some serious consequences. Will they be able to fix what’s been broken?
Each class focused on a different decade, learning about New Zealand and what life was like for kids ‘back in the day’. Sometimes poignant, sometimes ridiculous, these ideas were threaded together into an irreverent and vibrant play by award winning theatre director Rachel Lenart (Vinegar Tom, Modern Girls in Bed) a Russell Street mum with clearly too much time on her hands. Because it takes a village, she was joined by Russell Street mums and dads on choreography, local legend Dean McKerras (Dance NZ made, Shortland St the musical), Marika Harvey of Dance Works (choreographer of the year, Mary Poppins) and Chantelle Christiansen (Dean McKerras School of Dance).
“Oooh, look! A big red button!”
“Don’t press it!”
“Dude, I’m totally going to press it”
Join Russell Street School for one night only on a journey through time. Where the children find the values of today, by celebrating and sometimes clashing with what came before. Music, dance, comedy, doubtful physics, over their heads political gags and school history have never been so much fun!
