Nicola Cheeseman is sick of trying to do it all.
Every generation has that one show – the show that challenges the way women are valued and regarded as they age. From Shirley Valentine to Sex in The City to Fleabag – we continue to try to figure out why women aren’t treasured as the vital, sexy, wild, creative, and relevant beings they are.
After their sell-out season of Prima Facie, Plumb Theatre, with support from Auckland Live, returns to present the world premiere of Kathryn Burnett’s new comedy Nicola Cheeseman is Back, playing at the Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre from June 19 – July 7.
Shortlisted for the Adam NZ Play Award 2023, Nicola Cheeseman is Back is a ride through the suburban to-do list of a 50-year-old woman as she navigates her husband moving out and her ageing father moving in, all the while wondering exactly when she shelved her dreams of being a nouveau punk goddess in order to please everyone else. In between raising the kids and holding it down at work, Nicola has lost her mojo and longs to be seen as more than a mum. With a messy vision board of butt-scrubs, home reno, and a vinyl jumpsuit for the ages, Nicola Cheeseman is falling apart in order to put herself together again.
Jodie Rimmer, known for her versatility and iconic roles on stage and screen, takes on her first one-woman show in Nicola Cheeseman is Back. Rimmer’s outstanding career includes acclaimed performances in In My Father’s Den and The Strip and starring in Netflix hit Sweet Tooth, Double Parked and the upcoming TV drama Friends Like Her. Jodie felt an immediate affiliation with Nicola Cheeseman: “I was drawn to this story but also hugely triggered by it because it felt like this character was saying things that my friends and I have said countless times – like ‘why is my face falling off?!’”
Award-winning playwright and screenwriter Kathryn Burnett (Under the Vines, Fresh Eggs, My Life is Murder) has created a bitingly funny and painfully relatable story that unpacks desire, ageing and gender double standards. Director Paul Gittins (Prima Facie, Collected Stories, Blonde Poison) has assembled an outstanding creative team, including set design by John Parker, costume design by Elizabeth Whiting, lighting by Jane Hakaraia, sound design by Jonathan Burgess and an original soundtrack from punk-rock dad band Stud Farm.
Bring your mum, your nana, your daughter and your bestie because Nicola Cheeseman is Back is a story every woman will get, and every man should see. Hilarious and honest, it’s a tonic for those days when you decide that, despite the pull of gravity, you don’t want to dress like an oldie. For those days, you wake up and think – what the hell have I done with my life?!
Nicola Cheeseman is Back plays:
Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre
Wed 19 June – Sun 7 July 2024
On sale 9 am, Thurs 2 May through Ticketmaster
