The play weaves together three major events coinciding in New Zealand in 2011: our 50th general election, the Rugby World Cup, and, significantly, the 30th anniversary of the controversial 1981 Springbok Tour. The ‘81 tour has become recognised as a turning point in our history, something we hold up alongside events such as Women’s Suffrage and Gallipoli. Through the lens of the 2008 general election the weight placed on past events and decisions at both a national and personal level is explored. The Engine Room tackles this well-known and divisive period of our history without sermonising, and with a sense of irreverence.