Story: Plays and playwrights

Foreskin's lament, 1981

Foreskin's lament, 1981

Greg McGee's Foreskin's lament, set in a rugby changing room, became a landmark of New Zealand theatre from its first performance in 1980. McGee had earlier trialled for the junior All Blacks, and the authenticity of his play's action and dialogue both shocked and enthralled audiences. Foreskin's lament appeared immediately before and during massive nationwide protests against the visiting Springbok rugby team. Both the play and the protests ensured that rugby's place in New Zealand identity would never be the same again. This is the poster for the 1981 season of Foreskin's lament at Wellington's Circa Theatre.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: Eph-C-CIRCA-1981-02

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Courtesy of Circa Theatre

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How to cite this page:

Murray Edmond, 'Plays and playwrights - Social issues on stage', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ephemera/43968/foreskins-lament-1981 (accessed 19 March 2024)

Story by Murray Edmond, published 22 Oct 2014