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Salient. Victoria University of Wellington Student's Newspaper. Volume 31 Number 2. March 12, 1968

Night of the Ding Dong

Night of the Ding Dong

Elizabeth Coulter and Brent Whitwell in a scene from The Night of the Ding Dong, playing at the Aro Street Unity Theatre from March 14-23.

Elizabeth Coulter and Brent Whitwell in a scene from The Night of the Ding Dong, playing at the Aro Street Unity Theatre from March 14-23.

Protest has taken many different forms in Unity Theatre's rather erratic career of the last 25 years.

In 1942 a group of politically pale pink people combined to perform a "living newspaper" play exhorting patriotism and struggle during World War II. Its propaganda was abundantly obvious, and during the first years of production Unity's impact on its audiences, while welcomed as a significant contribution to the rather sparse dramatic fare of the city, gave the establishment qualms and led to the branding of the theatre's entire membership as "a bunch of communists".

But now, as then, protesting is by no means confined to left-wing agitators, and having become reasonably well dug in after a quarter-century of production, Unity still keeps its basic ideals although most of the original personnel have long departed.

The latest production, "The Night of the Ding Dong" which opens at the society's theatre in Aro Street on March 14, is a delightful example of history disguised as entertainment and principles presented as major comedy.