Latest news with #Hermans
Scoop
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Call Me Mother. Or Don't.
A gin-soaked martini of memory, glamour, and Mommie Dearest theatrics, The Milford Asset Management Season of Mother Play is the latest triumph from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, playing 04 – 20 Sep at Q Theatre. This gloriously unhinged new work makes its Aotearoa debut in a Silo Theatre production directed by Sophie Roberts, whose 11-year tenure as Artistic Director comes to a close with this bold, beautiful farewell. Fresh from Broadway and a 2025 season at Melbourne Theatre Company, Mother Play lands at Q Theatre with fierce poise and a matching handbag. This is not a gentle homage to motherhood. It's a work of high style - an outrageous yet intimate portrait of a family that just won't stay packed, no matter how many times they're evicted. Told over five domestic evictions and four decades of American upheaval, it's a story about staying, leaving, returning, and the psychic rent we pay for love. It's 1962. Phyllis Herman - cigarette in one hand, drink in the other - is dragging her children, Carl and Martha, into yet another cockroach infested crumbling apartment. Since their father disappeared with the family savings, the Hermans have been on the move. Phyllis is fierce, fabulous, and wholly unequipped for the changing tides of the twentieth century, especially when those tides arrive in the form of her children's sexual and political awakenings. As the Hermans lurch through the decades - the idealism of the '60s, the sexual revolutions of the '70s, the grief and reckoning of the AIDS crisis - they carry with them every eviction notice, every insult, every brutal act of devotion. The question that echoes across the eras: can you choose to love, even when it hurts? Mother Play is both a feast for actors and a balm for any audience member who's looked their mother in the eye and seen both a monster and an angel. Vogel's script is filled with high camp humour, theatrical flair, and moments of crushing vulnerability. It's the poetic intensity of Tennessee Williams entwined with Grey Gardens ' faded flair, and David Lynch's surreal edge, wrapped in leopard print and laced with Schitt's Creek 's sharp wit. The cast devouring this feast is Aotearoa screen and stage legend Jennifer Ludlam as Phyllis (in the role originated by Jessica Lange on Broadway), alongside Amanda Tito (Scenes from the Climate Era, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.) and Tim Earl (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time). This is theatre for those who grew up queer in a house that never quite felt like home. It's for the children of complicated women and the survivors of tangled family politics. It's for the fans of Vogel's How I Learned to Drive, the readers of American family epics, and lovers of stories that ache and glitter in equal measure. It's not sentimental. It's not safe. But it is spectacular. Bringing the spectacular to the stage is a stacked design team – lighting and sound design by Sean Lynch (Camping, Hir), costume design by Tautahi Subritzky (A Slow Burlesque, ScatterGun), and set design by Daniel Williams (Taniwha, Camping) and Talia Pua (A Slow Burlesque, Rituals of Similarity). Mother Play is also a significant moment for Sophie Roberts, who signs off after more than a decade of bold, genre-defying work at Silo Theatre. In curating her final season, she's chosen to explore the theme of motherhood in all its forms, and this play is its crown jewel. 'As I finish this chapter of my life, I've been drawn to stories about evolution, of self, of family, of identity,' says Roberts. 'The 'mother' of the title is metaphor, myth, tragedy and comedy rolled into one. Phyllis is the mother of all mothers. And this play is a riot. And a reckoning.' Mother Play earned four Tony Award nominations in 2024, won two Drama Desk Awards and an Outer Critics Circle Award, and has already been heralded as a new American classic. If Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie had a queer cousin who rearranged the furniture, sprayed roach killer, and lit a cigarette with your childhood trauma, this would be it. The Milford Asset Management Season of MOTHER PLAY a play in five evictions By Paula Vogel 04 – 20 September 2025 Q Theatre, Rangatira Presented with support from Q Theatre Duration: 105 minutes, no interval On sale now at
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Farmers face devastating blow as weather wreaks havoc on annual harvest: 'We're still lagging behind'
In a news release published by FreshPlaza, Giel Hermans of the Dutch agricultural hub Hermans Suikermaïs discussed his strategy for coping with a recent sweetcorn shortage. Because of heavy rains across Spain, Hermans has set his sights on cultivating sweetcorn in Morocco. In March, several Spanish regions experienced devastating rainfall that wiped out various crops, especially melons and vegetables — the latter most affected by the pests and mildew brought on by humidity, Hortidaily wrote. Spain's sweetcorn exports reached an all-time high of 711 metric tons prior to a drought in 2023. The damage inflicted by last month's sudden rainfall only added to a year of gradual crop decline, and now Spain's sweetcorn production may be down for the count. After losing cultivations in Spain, Hermans turned to fields in Morocco to contend with high demand in the Netherlands. "We're heading towards spring, so consumption is increasing," Hermans said, "but even though more corn is coming in now, we're still lagging behind. Demand is strong — as always, everyone wants corn when there's a shortage." Spain isn't the only place where unexpected weather conditions have threatened sweetcorn and other crucial crops. Ukraine, a key corn exporter, suffered the effects of an intense drought in 2024, and even U.S. cornstarch prices are rising because of extreme weather in the Midwest. The downturn of sweetcorn production worldwide not only challenges corn farmers, who rely on strong crop yields, but also may affect global corn prices. If supplies continue to fall short of demands, the corn and corn-based products at your grocery store will likely be more expensive than before. Sweetcorn decline is both a symptom of our overheating planet and a warning for other crops. The carbon dioxide we release on a regular basis via industrial pollution, electricity usage, fuel-based transportation, and the like clogs our atmosphere and traps the very heat that causes droughts and intensifies extreme weather events. To protect our food supply, farmers around the world are focusing their efforts on drought-resistant crops, working alongside engineers who are bolstering crop durability via genetic engineering. In the long run, however, only the reduction of carbon pollution can mitigate extreme weather and prevent further changes to the climate. International agreements to cap emissions are a major step in the right direction, as are eco-conscious technological developments to curb industrial pollution. For your part, you can make your home greener by installing solar panels, repurposing your waste, or growing your own food. Do you worry about how much food you throw away? Definitely Sometimes Not really Never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fed-up homeowners confront senators on Capitol Hill over energy policy: 'We'd made our point'
A couple from Arizona made the trip to Washington, D.C., to advocate for clean energy and federal tax credits, reported KGUN. In 2022, Gwenn and Malcolm Herman installed solar panels in their Tucson home thanks to the government's solar energy tax credits. Prior to going solar, the couple dealt with electricity bills that totaled around $1,700 annually, per KGUN. However, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, the Hermans were able to afford solar installation, which caused their electricity expenses to total just $140 in 2024. This past month, though, their bill was $0. Moving forward, the future of IRA tax credits is uncertain. President Donald Trump has stated he intends to remove these subsidies, though this would ultimately require an act of Congress. However, homeowners like the Hermans are taking a stand and spreading awareness about the economic and environmental benefits of affordable renewable energy. The Hermans spoke directly with Arizona lawmakers, including Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego and Rep. Juan Ciscomani. Overall, their discussion ended on a positive note, with Ciscomani telling the couple that he is "100% on board with solar," per KGUN. Going solar is one of the best ways for homeowners to decrease their energy bills while reducing their environmental footprint. After installing solar panels, homeowners can save $1,500 each year and earn an average of $4,600 in federal tax credits. Switching to solar energy isn't just good for your wallet. By going solar, you'll decrease the total amount of pollution your household emits, helping to combat rising global temperatures. For homeowners looking to make the switch, EnergySage offers free tools to get quick installation quotes. After their trip to D.C., the Hermans expressed their hope for the future of solar energy in the U.S. What's the biggest factor stopping you from investing in solar panels? The cost The technology I'm a renter I'm already invested Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. "I felt encouraged that people were willing to see us," Malcolm Herman told KGUN. "I feel like we'd done our job as constituents; we'd made our point." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
