A Nelson actor is returning home to perform in the debut play for the revamped Nelson School of Music.
Comfrey Sanders and her fellow performers, Andrew Paterson, Jack Buchanan, Susie Berry and Jonathan Price, are bringing the modern adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde to the Nelson Centre of Musical Arts on 3 July.
The 25-year-old says she grew up performing in musicals at the venue and is excited to be making her return.
“I haven’t seen the venue since it has been revamped, but I used to do a lot of performing in that space with the Nelson Youth Theatre Company.”
Comfrey moved to Nelson from the UK when she was seven and attended Hira School, Nelson Intermediate School and Nelson College for Girls.
She moved to Wellington when she was 18 to study at Toi Whakaari, and has been based in Auckland for the past four years at her drama company, A Slightly Isolated Dog.
The last time Comfrey was here was in 2016, when she performing Don Juan at the Nelson Arts Festival.
Comfrey says their rendition of Jekyll and Hyde is “loosely” based on the 19th century novel by Robert Louis Stevenson about Dr. Henry Jekyll and his beast within, Mr. Edward Hyde.
“It’s told through actors pretending to be part of a French touring company. Dr Jekyll is a very revolutionary doctor and he does all sorts of naughty things. It has been described as kids’ theatre but for adults, with alcohol and sex, so expect the unexpected.”
Nelson is the first stop in the South Island leg of the tour and she says she is expecting plenty of supporters in the audience, including family, friends and teachers.
The play has toured through New Plymouth, Hamilton, Rotorua, Tauranga, Hastings and Palmerston North. After Nelson it will head to Christchurch and Oamaru, before finishing in Dunedin.
Jekyll and Hyde is on at the Nelson Centre of Musical Arts on Tuesday, 3 July, at 7:30pm. Tickets are available from TicketDirect.
Nelson Weekly has a double-pass to the show to give away. To go in the draw, email your name and contact number to [email protected]
