Amanda Stone

Amanda has been involved in performing arts all her life, having being born into a theatrical family. Her grandfather was a member of the Flying Gordon's circus troupe during the nineteen thirties and her grandmother performed as the floating lady in the Tivoli Theatre in Melbourne with magician, Charles Breton and her mother has been performing in musical theatre for over fifty years.

Amanda has taught youth drama classes and has taken on roles in most aspects of theatre including stage managing, acting in and directing many shows, wardrobe, props and sound. She was awarded the prestigious Merit Award by Musical Theatre New Zealand and her shows have won several New Zealand Theatre Federation Awards including Best Original Script & Music.

Amanda particularly enjoys comedy, she loves hearing an audience laughing and enjoying watching her shows. She has been directing and acting in school holiday pantomimes for children for over ten years. These pantomimes are often children's first experience of theatre and she loves to make the experience a positive one for the new young theatre goers.

Deborah Martin

Deborah was a playwright, actor, director and arts teacher and taught in primary schools and youth theatre for over 20 years. She ran professional development for teachers and published a wide range of performing arts materials for schools. She wrote and directed over twenty musicals for young people including school productions, youth theatre and shows for community theatre and over 12,000 children each year perform in her shows all around Australia and New Zealand.

We estimate that over half a million people have seen her shows over the years. Her work is fun, contemporary and appealing to children. The shows aim to provide experiences in music, drama and dance and include music in a range of styles including rock and roll, rap, swing, pop, folk and world music.

Carol B Cole

Carol Cole's plays and musicals have been performed successfully many times throughout Australia and New Zealand. Her popularity is due to her turn of phrase when she relates a funny true story, and her ability to weave such stories into her writings, make a comic composite picture, be it a play, story, poem or solo performance. She writes about life, people, family, and subjects the audience can relate to, such as weddings, funerals, sports, melodrama, family events, children, everything and anything.

Her latest play "Nothing Wrong With My Memory" tells the story of a daughter coming to grips with her mother's forgetfulness and the subject of caring, early dementia, complete with multi-media, beautiful songs with her own lyrics and original music by Warren Peart. Even this subject with a serious message has humour and plenty of laughter. After all that's what makes the world go around... or so they say.

Lynelle Kuriger

Lynelle lives in Taumarunui and is no stranger to dairying, having been a dairy farmer for ‘too many’ years and not likely to change any time soon. A mother of 3, she spends a good deal of time involved in theatre when she probably should be helping her husband on the farm. She writes plays (usually with music) that center around small towns or farming in some way and is fair aching to write by the time the calving / mating / silage season settles down.

Farm Supplies and Other Lies was produced in 2012 in Opunake. This tells the story of Anna who is shocked to learn her family farm is up for sale, so with the help of her friends they set out to save the farm but end up with more than they bargained for. All accompanied by 80's music. Jersey Girls, Farmed and Dangerous, another of Lynelle's plays has been a hit wherever it has been produced. Should a heifer fall for the first bull she meets? Never! They just move on to other cows! The herd sings along to doo-wop 50's music in a hilarious twist on a teenage love affair - with cows. Look out for Fleeced which will have its premiere in Taumarunui August 2017. Think big afros, even bigger Romneys, disco dancing Rameo and Juliet, then throw in Bo, the gender confused wether, for good measure.

Lynelle prefers a quiet life and her favourite place in the world is camping by the river on their farm.