MY BRILLIANT DIVORCE Returns To Downstage Theater 3/26-4/11

See Ginette McDonald starring in the strictly limited return season of My Brilliant Divorce, a wittily observant, achingly funny and heart-wrenchingly real one-woman tour de force. A sell-out in 2008, this comedy explores what life is like for Angela, recently dumped by her accountant husband for a younger model. Emotionally bereft and with self-confidence at an all time low, Angela slowly and at times painfully rebuilds her life. She finds herself adrift in a sea of weird sexual encounters, sneaky solicitors, phone-in counsellors, a bad case of hypochondria and the spectre of poverty. Should she fight to keep her husband? Or should she sign the final papers and move on?

With My Brilliant Divorce, written by Geraldine Aron, Ginette McDonald is back once again at Downstage Theatre in Wellington, where she began acting professionally at the age of 14. "It was love at first sight. While still a 4th former, I apprenticed myself to the theatre, doing set building, prop making, prompting and waitressing, eventually graduating to acting roles. Downstage provided me with the opportunity to explore my potential - it is part of my DNA." It was at Downstage where she developed the famous Lyn of Tawa, a character that she describes as a "Cultural Ambassador & Certifiable Living Treasure". Ginette has been a vital part of the New Zealand entertainment industry for many years as comedienne, actress, producer, director and TV presenter.
My Brilliant Divorce premiered to full houses and rave reviews at Downstage in May 2008 and was the theatre's most successful show last year. Due to the short season many people missed out, so it is returning for a very limited season from Thursday 26 March till Saturday 11 April, Tuesday to Wednesday at 6.30 pm and Thursday to Saturday at 8 pm, with additional afternoon matinees at Sat 28 Mar and 4 Apr at 2 pm. There will be no show on Good Friday, 10 April. Prices for the show range from $25 to $49. Special Early Bird discounts apply. Tickets can be purchased online, by phone at (04) 801 6946 or in person at Downstage's box office. For up-to-date information, prices and bookings visit www.downstage.co.nz. Downstage is proudly sponsored by BNZ.
Starring Ginette McDonald

Written by Geraldine Aron
Directed and designed by John Harding
Sound Design by Gil Eva Craig | Lighting Design by Lisa Maule

"Just loved the show!" Sarah Bradley, Co-Host of TVNZ's Good Morning

GINETTE MCDONALD (Actress)
From a large Irish/French family, Ginette began acting professionally at age 14 at Wellington's Downstage Theatre. Her vowel-challenged alter ego Lyn of Tawa was born two years later. Lyn has become, in her own words, a "Certifiable Living Treasure".
Ginette's career has spanned over 30 years, including a five-year stint in England in the 1970s. As an actress she has done an enormous amount of theatre, television and radio in both countries and for many years she worked for TVNZ as a drama producer/director. She has written articles, opinion columns, reviews, after dinner speeches and debates and has won numerous awards for acting, producing and public speaking. In 2003 she won Best International Performance at the Radio Worldplay Awards in Dublin.

A nominee for Best Presenter in the TV Guide Awards, Ginette's TV roles include 5 years hosting the garden makeover show Ground Force and the reality series PA for a Day. Her recent documentaries have probed the New Zealand Police, alternative health and the nations' chefs.

In 2005 Ginette appeared in the BBC drama Kidnapped as a Gaelic speaking Highland rebel and the TV3 drama Doves of War as the Italian war crimes prosecutor. She played Madame Ranevskaya and Lady Bracknell in Circa Theatre's The Cherry Orchard and The Importance of Being Earnest.

Most recently, she starred in My Brilliant Divorce at Downstage Theatre in May 2008 and in The Rocky Horror Show as NZ's first female narrator. She has been a regular on TV1's Good Morning as a social commentator and agony aunt. Ginette is currently relaunching Lyn of Tawa as an Islam friendly cultural ambassador and living taonga. A believer in the healing power of humour and always willing to face any challenge, Ginette is much in demand as an empathetic MC and warm and friendly after dinner speaker. In 2007 Ginette was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to entertainment.

John Harding (Director & Designer)
John's career in theatre design started in Waipukurau. Although thoroughly enjoying a bit of acting, he noticed a need for designers, and has pretty much been in demand ever since.
After an innovative six years in education (teaching art, puppetry, video production, sculpture and lecturing at summer schools for the NZ Arts Council, teaching theatre crafts and designing) he joined the Mercury Theatre in 1988 as Head of Properties, then Assistant Designer and then, in 1991, Resident Designer with the good fortune to work on many large musicals, operas and plays.
In 1994 he became a freelance designer, art director and props master, where his diverse talents have led to an even more diverse range of projects including Lysistrata, his first theatre production for Downstage in 1992.
Other set and costume designs include A Streetcar Named Desire, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Irma La Douche, The Lover, Old Times, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Blood of the Lamb, The Crucible, The Merchant of Venice, Shirley Valentine, Conjugal Rights, Ladies Night, Single Spies, A Doll's House, Via Satellite, Weed, Amadeus, Riders to the Sea, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Solid Gold, All My Sons, Molly Sweeney, Uncle Vanya, Three Tall Women, Oleanna, Four Cities, Macbeth, Tell Me on a Sunday, The Magic Flute, Hamlet, Othello, Cabaret, Braindead -The Musical, Opera in the Park, Symphony Under the Stars, Christmas in the Park, Wind in the Willows, King Lear, West Side Story, Les Parents Terribles, How I Learnt to Drive, Jacque Briel is Alive and Well and Living In Paris (at Circa Theatre), The God Boy (at Downstage), The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Alice in Wonderland, The Full Monty and The Rocky Horror Show.

Film and TV credits include The Strip, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, As Dreams Are Made On, The Far Side of the World, Fracture, King Kong, The Man Who Couldn't Dance, Kidnapped, The Lost Children, Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America, Fog and The King Boys (Winner Air NZ Screen Awards 2007 for Design).

Recently John has been working as the Costume Designer for Avatar: Director James Cameron's latest major feature film, filmed in New Zealand and Los Angeles, and designed and directed My Brilliant Divorce at Downstage Theatre.

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