Sarah Delahunty was born and lives in Wellington. She is the author of over thirty works for the stage and focusses on work for young people.
In 1984 she wrote of the motherhood experience in Stretchmarks a musical written with composer Michelle Scullion. The play premiered at Circa Theatre in 1985, and was performed throughout New Zealand. Delahunty and Scullion collaborated on a follow-up, Lifelines, which premiered at Circa in 2002. In 1987, Delahunty won the prestigious Bruce Mason Playwriting Award.
Since that time, Sarah has been teaching, directing and writing. Her works include two plays for the ‘Young and Hungry’ season at BATS Theatre in Wellington. Sarah has written and directed many adaptations of well-known stories for children
She has directed the premieres of her original work in the 2005, 2006 and 2008 Wellington Fringe Festivals, and she also wrote and directed two seasons of Playstory, a storytelling and performance series for children at Downstage Theatre.
In the past three years, two of Sarah’s plays have toured New Zealand secondary schools: Driving U Crazy, about driving safety for teenagers, and Another Planet, which covers issues around healthy and unhealthy relationships. In 2008, 2b or nt 2b was nominated for Outstanding New New Zealand Play in the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.
Sarah Delahunty
2 b or nt 2 b is a contemporary humorous take on characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet and Midsummer Night's Dream , Chekhov's Three Sisters and The Seagull, Sophocles' Antigone and Ibsen's Hedda Gabler.
Hamlet and Antigone have dysfunctional families, Helena and Masha moon over unattainable boys and Irena and Hedda feel trapped in their boring lives.
Cast: 6
Sarah Delahunty
Another Planet takes a look at a week in the lives of four school students. Tanya is bored, Nathan is desperate, Tom is uptight and Christy's a bit of a dreamer - and the first fifteen are away at a tournament. The events of this week bring changes to all of them.
Cast: 4
Sarah Delahunty
The classic story adapted for the stage by an outstanding playwright for young audiences. First produced in 2003.
Cast: 4
Sarah Delahunty
An exploration of dating practices for 16-18 year old girls.
Cast: 9
Sarah Delahunty
A lakeside holiday bach in rural New Zealand is the setting for a contemporary family story of love, intrigue and ghosts from the past.
Cast: 6
Sarah Delahunty
"Dear Felicity Fiver, my friend has this problem...what should she do?"
A short sketch for 13 year old girls, about falling in love, friendship and growing up. Will Felicity Fiver, the columnist, be able to help?
Cast: 3
Sarah Delahunty
Want to take your chances out on the road? Playing heads or tails with your life? Driving You Crazy is a lively, fun play for young actors and schools about cars and driving, which speaks on young people's level, advocating safe driving without getting preachy.
Originally commissioned by Wellington City Council and toured around Wellington schools in 2003 , all that's needed are four actors, a sound-system and four chairs on wheels to form furniture and cars as needed.
Cast: 4
Sarah Delahunty
A tongue-in-cheek retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story, where Grandmother takes matters into her own hands, eating the wolf and running for Prime Minister. Along the way, we meet other liberated fairy-tale heroines, including Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Rose Red. Written to be performed with live cello music.
Cast: 6
Sarah Delahunty
FRIENDS FOREVER is a fun collection of tales, songs and poems about the importance of friendship Ð whether with other people, animals . . . or even your Great Aunt Muriel!
Our two young heroes Tom and Charlotte learn that friends come in all shapes and sizes Ð from mice to hippopotami Ð but the importance of friendship stays the same. Friends can argue and they can sometimes expect you to do the strangest things, but with a true friend, help is always there when you need it.
Cast: 3 - 14
Sarah Delahunty
Two sisters meet again at Christmas after one has been living in London for many years. It is a time of domestic reorganisation.
Cast: 7
Sarah Delahunty
Topsy turvy relationships and illegal carry ons in the Eliot's cosy upper middle class living room. A comic farce.
Cast: 11
Sarah Delahunty
Barnaby Blossom is a nervous boy. Bullied by his nasty nanny, teased by other children, he is afraid of the monsters behind the curtains and in the cupboard under the stairs. Until the day he meets Harry, the friendly monster who lives under his bed, who magically shows him the way to beat his fear - and also, that everyone is afraid of something.
Cast: 4
Sarah Delahunty
Different teenage reactions to the homework essay 'A Goal I Shall Strive for in Life'
Cast: 10
Sarah Delahunty
Adaptation of children's story. Jack takes the cow to market and trades her for three beans. Lots of physical humour for children of 2-6 years.
Cast: 9
Sarah Delahunty
The outside world presses in on her - Jan's husband has left her for young Sherry, and Jan has moved almost permanently into the garage where she is attempting to establish a relationship with her ex-husband's abandoned car.
Cast: 5
Sarah Delahunty
MAGIC IN THE AIR - a collection of stories, songs and poems looking at the many magic moments found in tales from all around the world.
When Tom tells his sister Charlotte that there is no such thing as magic, a surprise visitor appears and shows them, through story, poem and song, that maybe there is more magic in the air than either of them had realised.
Cast: 3 - 15
Sarah Delahunty
An entertaining take, for children, on the familiar story of a clever cat who proves great ambition, a positive can-do attitude and a pair of magic boots can take you a long way.
Cast: 4
Sarah Delahunty
An adaptation of the classic story by one of New Zealand's best writers for children.
Cast: 4
Sarah Delahunty
Anna has an out of body experience when she is shot in her student flat. A play about the agonies of teenage love.
Cast: 7
Sarah Delahunty
Ellie has seen a DVD of the Sleeping Beauty and is now scared to go to sleep in case she doesn't wake up for a hundred years. Her long suffering father tells her the "real" story, when yes, the Princess does have a spell cast on her as a baby, prick her finger on her sixteenth birthday and does fall asleep. But thanks to some quick work from her owl friend Birdie, only an hour has to pass before she wakes to live happily ever after.
CAST - Written for two male and two females to play all parts but could use a cast of up to seven. Several songs - music CD available.
Cast: 4 - 7
Sarah Delahunty
An adaptation of the fairytale performed by 2 men and 2 women. For children about 4 to 9 years.
Cast: 4
Sarah Delahunty
A black comedy with one foot in medieval fairy tale and the other very much in the present day, SuperBeast is an exploration of privilege and power it's effect on those who have both and those who neither.
Cast: 9
Sarah Delahunty
An adaptation of Kenneth Graham's "Wind In The Willows".
Mr Toad of Toad Hall is in love with the motorcar which is his downfall.
For children from 4 - 9.
Cast: 4
Sarah Delahunty
When Princess Henriette makes promises to the Frog, she is only tricking. But when forced to let Froggie eat from her plate and sleep on her pillow, she finds her first friend.
2m 2w the rest interchangeable.
Cast: 8
Sarah Delahunty
A modern take on the story of the gingerbread "person" in which other fairytale characters appear. Written for four actors and intended for children between 4 and 8 years.
Cast: 4
Sarah Delahunty
When Jamie Lomax crashes the family car in a remote NZ country town, his business tycoon father suddenly sees the opportunity for some lucrative land development. But the customers of the Last Gasp Cafe surprise both Mr Lomax and themselves by their reaction to his takeover bid. And when Jamie falls in love with a local, the scene is set for some changes of heart.
The Last Gasp Cafe has great thematic richness and the opportunity for physical theatre work for the chorus.
Cast: 21
Sarah Delahunty
Kathryn is thrilled to be selected from thousands of young hopefuls to compete in the TV game show "The Life Cycle". She dreams, along with the other contestants, of what she would do with the twenty million dollars prize money.
At first it's fun, but as the game progresses through challenges and eliminations, Kathryn finds herself facing her inner fears and then fighting for her life.
A crazy black comedy based around the format of a TV reality/game show - aimed at fourteen to fifteen year olds.
Cast: 12
Sarah Delahunty
The traditional story told with a contemporary twist.
A Boy is skateboarding towards the Big City as he travels the World. A Fool has been tricked out of his money with a story of chests of gold under the ground. A Princess is kept locked inside the castle by her mother the Queen as it has been predicted she will marry a commoner.
A light hearted look at fears, adventures, riches and choices for 4 Ð 8 year olds.
Cast: 4
Sarah Delahunty
A group of teenagers take time out to address their future and their past. Considers the impact adult decisions can have on adolescents. Written for 13 -14 year olds. The male part can be played by a female.
Cast: 5