Hollywood at Bats
The Wellington actor has performed in August Osage County at Circa, McKenzie Country at Bats and in the sell out political satire Public Service Announcements. Now she’s treading the boards in Richard Huber’s Glorious, opening at Bats Theatre this week.
In Glorious Tate-Manning plays the part of the outrageous rich American socialite Gloria Lord. It’s a part she knows well. She played Gloria in the world premiere of the show at Dunedin’s Fortune Theatre in 2009.
Set in America in the 1930s, Glorious is a screwball comedy in which Gloria, the beautiful heiress, is determined to marry the impoverished writer Jimmy, whom she meets when he’s moonlighting as a waiter at her father’s lavish birthday party.
“It’s written in the style of the old screwball comedy films of the 30s and 40s,” Tate-Manning says. “There’s lots of witty banter, the language is cutting, and the dialogue is delivered at flying high speed.”
Tate-Manning says she likens Gloria to Katherine Hepburn and imagines herself as the queen of the screwball comedy when she plays the part.
“Gloria is my version of Katherine Hepburn. Delivering 90 minutes of dialogue in an American accent gets quite tiring so I need to be alert. Playing the part like Hepburn keeps me focused.”
Tate-Manning is originally from Dunedin. She is a graduate of the NZ Drama School Toi Whakaari and has also studied film and theatre at Otago University. She has been nominated for best female newcomer and for outstanding new playwright of the year at the Chapman Tripp theatre awards for her show Pirates vs Ninjas.
Joining Tate-Manning in Glorious is Auckland actor Sam Bunkall, as Jimmy, and director Patrick Davies, who directed the original production of the play at Fortune Theatre.
Glorious by Richard Huber, Bats Theatre, August 16-27.










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