22-26 September 1981, Southern Ballet Theatre, The Arts Centre
ROUND DANCE (REIGEN, LA ROUND) is a play in ten scenes written in Vienna in 1900 by Arthur Schnitzler, the most famous Austrian playwright of his time. When the play was performed for the first time in 1920 it caused a theatre scandal. As is often the case, the scandal was based on a misunderstanding. Far from being immoral or pornographic, the play can be seen as a moralistic comedy of sexual manners that still has disturbing relevance for our own so-called permissive society.

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

WORKSHOP THEATRE originates from a university  drama course and tries to work at a different kinds of theatre. The members of the company  want to explore the plays they are performing in order to make them their own. Their work, always in progress, tends to be experimental and an ongoing theatre experience. The audience is invited to share this experience.

SCENES:
FORE-PLAY
ROUND-DANCE
PLAY: 10 scenes
AFTER-PLAY: The audience is invited to join actors for some wine and sympathy.
 ​

Article

Released play rehearsed
The Press
The group believes "Round Dance" has as much relevance to New Zealand's social and sexual climate today as it had when written two generations ago.

NZ Premiere of 'banned' play in city
publication unspecified
*image above from NZ Times review

Reviews

"Round Dance" is not really typical of Schnitzler, at least not in Peter Falkenberg's production where the message seems to be that all men are lechers and women seem moderately glad of it.... four hours, which is much, much too long and becomes an endurance test giving not a few bouts of tedium.... runs at escargot pace....Much more needs to be done, like some judicious and drastic cutting to shorten the play to a civilised two hours when it would be a jolly good jeu de sex esprit.

Too much of a good thing
*published with image top
Harold Pointer, The Star, 23 September 1981
A Christchurch theatre group has brought off a coup by performing a play which has been banned for 60 years. The ban on Der Reigen (The Round-Dance) was lifted at the beginning of September, and while a host of European companies jostled to get the play into production, a Christchurch experimental group called Workshop Theatre pipped them all by staging it last week.... this was an intelligent and carefully detailed version. And it was also the first.

Banned Round Dance gets airing
NZ Times, 4 October 1981
Sadly, the violence in sexual encounters still exists. Is "Round Dance" satire or satanic? Picturesque or pornographic? Art or artifice?... It seems a pity that such a dedicated group of actors did not choose a play more suited to their undoubted talents.

'Dance' verdict awaited
Claire Marsh, The Press