Wednesday to Come

{{Short description|Play by Renée}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=September 2021}}

{{Italic title}}'''''Wednesday to Come''''' is the first play in a trilogy by New Zealand playwright Renée. The second play in the trilogy is ''Pass It On'', and the third is ''Jeannie Once''. The play follows the women of a family during the Great Depression in New Zealand.

== Background == ''Wednesday to Come'' by writer Renée is her best known play.<ref name=":0" /> It was written for a Playmarket script competition and Renée had received a New Zealand Arts Council Grant to support the writing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Parry |first=Lorrae |date=2005 |title=Meat and Potatoes |journal=Playmarket News |volume=Autumn |issue=35 |pages=6 - 7}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Smythe |first=John |url=https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123786467 |title=Downstage Upfront: the first 40 years of New Zealand's longest-running professional theatre |date=2004-01-01 |publisher=Te Herenga Waka University Press |isbn=978-0-86473-489-1}}</ref> It was presented at a playwrights conference in May 1984 directed by George Webby who went on to direct the premier production.<ref name=":2" />

Renée forged a path in New Zealand with her writing 'about working-class women, takatāpui and Māori' and ''Wednesday to Come'' included four generations of working class women.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Mabey |first=Claire |date=2023-12-12 |title=Renée: The one and only |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/12-12-2023/renee-the-one-and-only |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=The Spinoff |language=en}}</ref> The first performance took place at Downstage Theatre in Wellington on 17 August 1984, directed by George Webby.<ref>{{Cite Q|Q108043471}}</ref> The play was published in 1985 by Victoria University Press.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=1997 |title=Spotlight: Renee |journal=Playmarket News |issue=16 |pages=9}}</ref>

An example of Renée's feminist lens in the play is the statement by the character Iris speaking to her position as a working-class woman:<blockquote>Who will remember us? We need someone because it seems to me that everyone’s forgotten about us. And even if they do remember it’ll only be bits. We’re the ones they leave out when they write up the books.<ref name=":0" /> </blockquote>''Wednesday to Come'' set during the 1930s is the first in a trilogy of plays featuring the same family. The second play is ''Pass It On'' (1986) set during the 1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute and the third play is a prequel ''Jeannie Once'' (1991) set in 1879 featuring the great-grandmother of Jeannie from ''Wednesday to Come.''<ref name=":1" />

== Characters == * Granna – in her late seventies * Mary – fifty-five * Iris – thirty-four * Cliff – fifteen * Jeannie – thirteen * Ted – thirty-six * Molly – twenty-eight * Dot – thirty-five

== Synopsis == The play is set in early spring of 1934. It takes place in Mary's family house, halfway between Palmerston North and Wellington. Domestic tasks such as ironing, washing, dishwashing and cooking take place during the play. Granna, Iris, Mary, Jeannie and Cliff are in the kitchen, waiting for Ted to come home. He arrives with a coffin, and it becomes apparent that Ben has killed himself while working at a labour camp in the Great Depression.

== Productions == {| class="wikitable" |+ !Producer (Location) !Date !Crew !Cast |- |Downstage Theatre (Hannah Playhouse), Wellington |17 August – 22 September 1984 |Director: George Webby Designer: Janet Williamson

Lighting: Stephen Blackburn |Granna: Davina Whitehouse Mary: Kate Harcourt

Iris: Jane Waddell

Cliff: Tim Homewood

Jeannie: Lucy Sheehan

Ted: Cliff Wood

Molly: Michelle Leuthart

Mary: Judie Douglass

Iris: Wickham Pack

Jeannie: Eilish Moran

Ted: John Curry

Molly: Janet Fisher

Dot: Yvonne Martin

Cliff: Christian Boje |- |Theatre Corporate (Auckland) |9/11/1984–22/12/1984 |Director: Sarah Peirse Designer: John Parker

Production Manager: Murray Lynch |Granna: Yvonne Lawley Mary: Dorothy McKegg

Iris: Elizabeth Hawthorne

Jeannie: Alison Bruce

Cliff: Phillip Gordon

Ted: Ross Duncan

Molly: Vivienne Laube

Iris: Miranda Harcourt

Jeannie: Hilary Halba

Cliff: James Maclaurin

Ted: Nic Farra

Molly: Anne-Marie Speed

Dot: Beverley Reid |- |Globe Theatre (Dunedin) |4/6/1992–13/6/1992 |Director: Renée Set design: Bruce Appleton

Lighting design: Bruce Appleton

Costume design: Maryanne Douglas |Granna: Marion Coxhead Mary: Mary Sutherland

Iris: Bernadette Doolan

Jeannie: Petka Dragonoff

Cliff: Chris Holdsworth

Ted: John Forman

Alex Bolton, Belinda Meyer |- |Russell St Theatre (Melbourne) |13/5/1993–12/6/1993<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wednesday to Come|url=https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/25120|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-06|website=The Australian Life Performance Database|archive-date=6 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906024914/https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/25120}}</ref> |Director: Janis Bolodis Lighting design: Jamieson Lewis

Designer: Trina Parker |Granna: Iris Shand Mary: Helen Tripp

Iris: Robynne Bourne

Jeannie: Shanti Gudgeon

Cliff: Eugene Wheelahan

Ted: Robert Menzies

Molly: Christen O'Leary

Dot: Beth Child |- |Downstage Theatre (Wellington) |27/5/2005–25/6/2005 |Director: Geraldine Brophy Costume design: John Senczuk

Lighting design: Lisa Maule

Set design: John Hodgkins |Granna: Kate Harcourt Mary: Jane Waddell

Iris: Miranda Harcourt

Jeannie: Ellen Simpson

Ted: Jed Brophy

Cliff: Michael Whalley

Molly: Rachel More

Dot: Katherine McRae |- |Circa Theatre (Wellington)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wednesday to Come|url=https://www.circa.co.nz/package/wednesday-to-come/|access-date=2022-07-16|website=Circa Theatre}}</ref> |23/7/2022–20/8/2022 |Director: Erina Daniels Set and lighting design: Natala Gwiazdzinski

Costume design: Cara Louise Waretini

Sound design: Maaka Phat |Granna: Jane Waddell Mary: Grace Hoete

Iris: Neenah Dekkers-Reihana

Jeannie: Mia van Oyen

Ted: Jonny Potts

Cliff: Reon Bell

Molly: Hannah Kelly

Dot: Amanda Noblett |} Amateur productions include * Theatrevue at the Left Bank Theatre, Hamilton, in April 1985, directed by Marc Shaw * Marlborough Repertory Society at the Boathouse Theatre (Blenheim), March 1987, directed by Pam Logan * Te Awamutu Little Theatre, in April/May 1987, directed by David Broadhurst * Globe Theatre, Dunedin, in 1995, directed by Hilary Halba * Riccarton Players in Christchurch, in 2005, director by Doug Clarke * Hutt Repertory in 2012, directed by Doug Buchanan

== Response == The premier production at Downstage attracted positive reviews. It was described as a 'triumph',<ref name=":0" /> Downstage was rewarded for programming it, Renée was acknowledged as one of New Zealand 'finest playwrights', and reviewers also acknowledged the presentation of a women's perspective and experience's usually absent from centre-stage.<ref name=":2" /> The prime minister of the time David Lange attended and had his photo taken for the newspaper.<ref name=":2" />

Playmarket published in 1986 a schools study guide of ''Pass It On'' and ''Wednesday to Come'' in their ACT Magazine (v.11 n.3 Jun 1986).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Schools supplement - Renee |url=https://www.playmarket.org.nz/playmarket-db/schools-supplement-renee-2/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=Playmarket |language=en-NZ}}</ref>

Extracts from ''Wednesday to Come'' were included in ''A Country of Two Halves'', and ''Whaddarya?'', productions by Young and Hungry National Schools Tour, which appeared at BATS Theatre in Wellington and toured schools nationally in 2018, in July 2021 respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PRODUCTION INFORMATION: A COUNTRY OF TWO HALVES - Theatreview |url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/production.php?id=6356 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812232332/https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/production.php?id=6356 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |access-date=2021-08-12 |website=www.theatreview.org.nz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=PRODUCTION INFORMATION: WHADDARYA? - Theatreview |url=https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/production.php?id=7525 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812232334/https://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/production.php?id=7525 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |access-date=2021-08-12 |website=www.theatreview.org.nz}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

Category:New Zealand plays Category:Plays about families Category:Plays set in New Zealand Category:Great Depression plays Category:1984 plays