Sicily’s beloved King Enzo is dead. Now Princess Rosa, a stroppy spinster, must navigate the tempestuous waters of belching Step-Fathers, lusty suitors, popping cod pieces and menopausal witches, to face her destiny.
Award Winning Comedian Penny Ashton (Promise and Promiscuity, Olive Copperbottom) presents her latest literary solo musical with this Shakespearean frolic. She’ll spark 11 characters into life in an Elizabethan tale of magic, meddling and puffed bull’s pizzles.
Thanks to Matthew Harvey, international cycle man of danger and excellent hugs. Ruth Spencer for all her advice and ideas. Rita Stone-Berridge for the same. Thanks to Niall Spooner Harvey for script reading and suggestions. Thanks to Allison Horsely, Murray Lynch and Salesi Le’ota at Playmarket. And thanks to allllllllll those I talked to, gleaned info from, and to those of you crazy wonderful people buying my bloody tickets!
Honestly this is my 25th year in solo showbiz. I have entertained thousands of people all over the world and don’t take for granted your buying my tickets. I so appreciate that we can all come together and laugh at the world’s nonsense as I subtly shove some feminism into you. Hope it doesn’t hurt.
Finally thanks to those I plunder mercilessly for their genius in creating my works. From Austen to Dickens and now the best giver of idioms to the English Language the world has ever known; William Shakespeare. As I said at the St Andrew’s Theatrette in Christchurch in 1990: “Thou speak’st with all thy wit” Mr Shakespeare, verily, thanks to thee.
Compiled by the musical encyclopedia inside Robbie Ellis’ head!
Anonymous English: Staines Morris
Peter Tchaikovsky: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, from The Nutcracker
Felix Mendelssohn: Wedding March, from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Léo Delibes: Galop, from Coppélia
Traditional American: “Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits”
Johann Sebastian Bach: “Die Art verruchter Sünden”, from Cantata No. 54, “Widerstehe doch der Sünde”
Sergei Rachmaninov: Variation 18 from Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Niccolò Paganini: Caprice No. 24
Giacomo Puccini: “E lucevan le stelle”, from Turandot
Giacomo Puccini: “Nessun dorma”, from Tosca
George Gershwin: No. 1 from Three Preludes
George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Vivaldi: Presto, from The Four Seasons: Summer
Richard Wagner: Ride of the Valkyries, from Die Walküre
Peter Tchaikovsky: Waltz of the Flowers, from The Nutcracker
Neighbourly relations and a shared vision for a thriving performing arts precinct has brought together The Piano and Isaac Theatre Royal for their second co-presentation for tonight’s wonderful show, after the widely successful co-presentation of An Evening Without Kate Bush.
A simple phone call and some venue diary management resulted in the exciting pilot collaboration in March 2025 – which aims to explore resource and expertise sharing, collective programming, and artistic development opportunities for the benefit of Ōtautahi Christchurch audiences and artists. Once again the opportunity to co-present another fabulous show was too good to pass up!
“By joining forces with The Piano, we are creating new opportunities to showcase world-class performances in Christchurch and expand the city’s reputation as a hub for live entertainment.”
— Greg Ward, CEO Isaac Theatre Royal
“After the success of our first collaboration, we're thrilled it's resulted in tonight's presentation of The Tempestuous. Co-presenting An Evening Without Kate Bush and The Tempestuous perfectly embodies our shared vision of exceptional arts experiences for Christchurch audiences to enjoy.”
— Marcus Norman, Director The Piano
Working across the city’s performing arts precinct is a key driver behind tonight’s co-presentation, celebrating collaboration and cementing Christchurch’s reputation as a destination city for the arts.
The Piano and Isaac Theatre Royal in association with Arts on Tour
Penny Ashton
Penny Ashton and William Shakespeare
Robbie Ellis
Max Koenig
Helen Beswick
Elizabeth Whiting, with some added by Penny Ashton
Construction most definitely NOT by Penny Ashton but wondrous Elizabeth.
Katie McGettigan with some added Elizabeth and Penny
Penny Ashton and Ben Crowder
Suzanne Hannau – Flute
Nora Shaffer – Clarinet
Victoria Moreira – Violin
Hope Shepherd DeCelle – Cello
Dan Linsenmann – Piano
Eric Arunas – Recording Engineer
Jake Dewar – Assistant Producer
Recorded in the Fay and Daniel Levin Performance Studio at WFMT Chicago