Past Events at the Te Puna Quarry Park

Quarry Festival of TheatreSports, Auckland Anniversary Weekend, 2011

Six teams of four people and a couple of late-registering ring-ins gave their best to a small but appreciative crowd of onlookers, under the watchful eye of coach and MC Steve Wrigley and the calm, supportive judgement of Vanessa Byrnes. The day was fine, the pace was snappy, the competiton built through the afternoon - and the winners of the second "shock and awe" trophy were the Improvised Electronic Device, with Teamartus as runners up. There'll be more to come on this, but it was a great day and, as the skills and craft went on display, many more learned how easy it is to performatthequarry!
 
 
Jess Stringer, Chris Parnell, and Steve Wrigley organise something goin' on at the Te Puna Quarry Theatresports
 

Carols at the Quarry
11 December 2010

This summer's concert was the first time that the Te Puna Quarry Choir and the band Emmaus actually came together to sing at the Park itself, thanks to a great summer evening! Three hundred people made their way to enjoy the amphitheatre and each others' company for this fantastic event. Check out the Gallery page for highlights of the 2010 photos, and our thanks to Jyri, of www.unforgettabletymes.com, for taking the Carols photographs. We hope to see you next year!

The choir singing Silent Night at the end of the evening

Opera on the Rocks - Dame Malvina Major performs at the Quarry
Saturday 27th February 2010

Dame Malvina Major

A wonderful New Zealand voice and personality, the essence of opera, supported by selected up-and-coming vocal artists, came to the magical space that is the Te Puna Quarry amphitheatre.  Organised by the Te Puna School Board of Trustees, with help from the Te Puna Quarry Summer Trust, the event took place on a cloudless night, under a perfect sunset sky that darkened to display the brightness of the moon and stars.

Quarry Festival of TheatreSports
Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st January 2010

A weekend of fun and furious competition using whatever nature allowed us. Steve Wrigley workshopped and then MC'd 8 teams of improv actors, making wild and wacky fun with theatre genres, unusual props, and anything and everything else! 

All concerned had great fun, despite a relocation from the Quarry Park to the Te Puna Memorial Hall due to a 900 ml dousing of summer rain. We also had some fantastic winners! The great prize of the trophy (sounds of awe from the audience, please) and buying power of $200 at Ajay's useful Emporium in Tauranga was taken by:

The 'Home ImprovMent' team of Chris Parnell, Jess Stringer, Gabriele Beran and Phoebe Thwaites!

'Baggysox', made up of Michael O'Hara, Jeremy Tomkins, Robbie O'Hara and Ryan Wood, took the gleaming trophies of the runners-up, as well as a $100 voucher at Ajay's. Congratulations and well done to both teams!

• MC: Steve WrigleySteve Wrigley

• Facebook Events page

People learnt about improv in the open air because they came to Steve's FREE workshop at the Quarry amphithteatre on Saturday 30th January, which started at 10.00am.
 


What is Improv Theatre?

Where can I find ideas for improv?

 

Get more information:

This festival of TheatreSports is the first of what we hope will be many, and it's all about fun.

Sunday started at 10.00am with a two-hour open workshop - more games and fun experiences, this time in front of the audience. Steve, alongside our judge, Vanessa Byrnes, a former Toi Whakaari tutor, did a bit more work with teams, including the wonderful demo team (the 'Guinea Pigs') and the audience in order to get things really humming.

At 1.00pm the games began! And at the end of the day Vanessa announced our prizewinners for 2010.

 

Vanessa Byrnes

We had been planning to keep it an open competition, with teams of four members, but we found that changes to the teams were part of the fun, and (by emailing info@performatthequarry.org.nz or calling (07) 578 8480) even right up until 12 noon on Sunday we were still able to find most people a place in a team. Best of all, all of our competitiors found lots of friends to work with as they learned the skills!

Carols at the Quarry
2004, 2007, 2009

This event is fast becoming a favourite of the Quarry's year! Locals form the backbone of the choir (and often the orchestra too) as we entertain young and old with carols fit for the season. Come along with the family to celebrate a wonderful time with some wonderful music.

Summer Sundays and Open Days

The Sound of Music in concert – singalong