It's time to get back to enjoying the theatre! The NZ premiere of Paragon Dreams is the latest show playing at the LAF in Lyttelton, Christchurch, and we have your chance to win free tickets!

Tandem Studios has been working with the LAF to produce some trailers for the show, hoping to encourage locals to get back into the theatre and enjoy some live entertainment. The show's writer, Hester Ulyart, says New Zealand is one of the first countries in the world offering live theatre after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. We're giving you the chance to win tickets to see the show on it's opening nights, 16th - 18th July. All you have to do to enter is like our Facebook page! 

‘SHE ALWAYS LIKED TO MAKE AN ENTRANCE, WHY STOP BEYOND THE GRAVE?’

‘15 years ago, my mother went missing-presumed dead. Her fiat cinquecento found stranded on the estuary bed.’ Rain soaked, pregnant and alone, Hannah Stirling turns up at an old laundrette in the middle of the night. With nowhere else to go, will old loner Uncle Stan take pity on her?

Set in a gritty port city in the neon lit week of a travelling fair, ‘PARAGON DREAMS’ is a breath taking contemporary take on the noir thriller genre from hot property on the UK live performance scene, Hester Ullyart. Two parts family drama, one part Lynchian mystery, Ullyart shapeshifts her way through an intricate maze of characters as we follow our heroine Hannah’s brave step towards the truth. As we delve deeper into the secrets leading up to her mother’s disappearance 15 years ago, we ask ourselves- are some things better left alone, or does the past always catch up with you? Can we ever forgive? Should we?

A fiercely talented writer/performer, Ullyart’s charismatic character portrayals and rich emotional expanse, combined with her vividly poetic rhythmic script and the beating pulse of Joe Ropers’ original soundtrack make for a powerful story of love, deception and survival that will leave you breathless. Witty, dark and visually beautifully with a haunting soundtrack and an incredible central performance, this is one show that will stay with you in dreams.

★★★★★
‘If you ever incline to the belief that good, original story-telling is dead, then an evening in Hester’s company is highly recommended. No. Change that to “absolutely imperative”…Here we have that rare thing – a play that is both honestly felt, and truly expressed.’
YORKSHIRE POST

★★★★
‘In many ways, it expresses the pinnacle of what theatre is capable of. It is dynamic and highly theatrical, its storytelling is slick, clever and expertly crafted. Hester Ullyart’s performance is breath taking. A writer-performer, she carries the production with vigour and works in seamless synergy ‘
A YOUNGER THEATRE

★★★★
Ullyart superbly plays Hannah, she’s gritty, northern, has dry humour, and her acting is passionate. This play is gripping.

ABOUT HESTER ULLYART:
A multi-disciplinary artist; a classically trained actress, an experimental writer/performer, photographer and theatre maker from Hull, UK, Hester’s self-performed debut play 'The Ballad of Paragon Station' received critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival 2018 described by the NZ Press as ‘lyrical and profane…crackles and fizzes’ (Stuff NZ) it was a recent award winner of ‘STELLAR ORIGINAL CONTENT’ at the NZ Fringe 2020.
www.hesterulllyart.com