Too Much Punch for Judy

Kia ora! 

We’re Aidan Theatre Company, it’s good to meet you! We’re so pleased to have you with us on this amazing journey but before we go any further, let us introduce ourselves a little! 

Aidan Theatre Company is an up and coming independent theatre company with a BIG heart! We have a passion for talking about topics that we don't often talk about as a society in the hopes of sparking important conversations within our community. We have a long-standing commitment to our artists and patrons; supporting the theatre community and generating greater public interest in the arts. We offer something for everyone and we work with our partners to create events that stay in audiences memories. 

Our team for Too Much Punch for Judy is made up of our incredible Director, Kimble Henderson, who has more than 20 years of theatre experience and has a Masters in Theatre Arts Directing from Toi Whakaari NZ Drama School and Victoria University of Wellington. It goes without saying that she knows her stuff! 

Next up we have five recent graduates of Victoria University of Wellington’s Theatre department and an up and coming Auckland-based actress who make up our absurdly talented cast! Teag Mackay, Daniel Nodder, Austin Harrison, Prea Millar, and Kate Low have all worked together in different ways on different projects but have never come together in this configuration before! They can’t wait to finally get in the same rehearsal room together after such a long period of anticipation!

Last but not least, we have our crafty tour manager who doubles as the show's operator throughout the tour, Fay Van Der Meulen. She graduated from Victoria University alongside the others and is hoping to be the glue that sticks the touring team together! 

So now you know a little bit more about the team behind the dream! If you’d like to find out more about us and our tour, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, or on our Website!

Much love,

Aidan Theatre Company

Photo by Brad Reeve from our South Canterbury tour of Too Much Punch for Judy in October 2020.

So you may be wondering, why are we doing all this anyway?? And to that we say:

On average, road crashes in New Zealand kill one person every day.

They injure one person every hour.

And alcohol is the second biggest contributing factor.

When you read a statistic like that it’s clear to see there is a problem. What you might not realise though, is that the problem is closer to home than you may think… The unfortunate truth is that each of us probably (and statistically) knows one or two people who have been involved in a car accident. Most of us can probably think of at least one person we know who has been seriously injured or even died in a car crash. And while accidents do happen, drink-driving accidents are preventable and entirely unnecessary.

Young people are most inexperienced in situations where choices need to be made around drinking and driving. We want to give them the tools to be able to make informed decisions if and when they need to.

We know the power live performance has with its ability to take real-life events and present them in an accessible way to audiences of all shapes and sizes. Many students have already told us that our show has had a greater impact on them than any lecture or ad on TV ever has. Theatre teaches us about ourselves and prompts us to think and have difficult conversations. By touring Too Much Punch for Judy we will be highlighting the negative effects of drink-driving and we will put the power of choice into the hands of our audiences. We will remind our audiences that we all have a part to play in preventing drink-driving.

By supporting our Boosted Campaign you are doing your bit and helping us raise awareness about this important issue.

Picture by Brad Reeve: Kate Low as Judy in the rehearsal room for our South Canterbury tour in October 2020

We can’t believe there’s only 48 hours left for our campaign! We’ve come a long way in the last 28 days and it’s all thanks to our generous donors! Thank you so much to all our wonderful supporters who have helped us reach our initial target!

However, we have had to increase our Boosted goal to cover an extra $3,000 as we have had one of our funding partners pull out. Their decision to withdraw has left us with two schools booked in but no funding to cover them. We are doing everything we can to make sure these performances can still go ahead and we’re asking our boosted family to help too. The last thing we want to do is have these students miss out on seeing this important and powerful play. Please continue to share our message and donate if you can and, as always, keep up to date with our adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and on our Website!

Last 48 hours, we can do this!!

Photo by Brad Reeve: Rehearsals are underway!

We have been absolutely BLOWN AWAY by the amazing generosity of our community who have contributed in such a MASSIVE way! We could not have achieved this target without you – our friends, family, local businesses, loyal supporters and new followers. We want to say a huge THANK YOU to each and every one of you! We are so stoked!! 👏

Our journey is only just beginning! We have just under one week of rehearsal to go and then we hit the road with our first performance on the 11th of June! Unfortunately, we can’t squeeze you all into our suitcases but we’d love to take you with us virtually. You can keep up to date with all our adventures on Instagram, Facebook, and on our Website! 

This is not the end, it’s only the beginning! Let’s keep in touch! 💖💖