A WEEKEND OF ART DECO - by Mike Hallett and Tery Hicks

"Face Without A Face" - Featured in A STAGE KINDLY presents "Encore"

On the 3rd of February 1931, a powerful earthquake devastated the city of Napier in New Zealand. The city's central business district was rebuilt in the architectural style known as Art Deco and today Napier is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on account of its second-to-none collection of outstanding Art Deco buildings. It is also home to the 'Art Deco Weekend' that every year sees devotees from around the world flock to see the city's architecture and revel in the stylish clothes, cars and music of the 1930's.

Into this scenario steps Heidi Meeks, a thirtysomething out of time with the modern world of sound-bites, instant gratification and style without substance. Heidi only feels at ease when she slips on a period dress and steps back in time to the 1930's, when the world moved more slowly and beneath the glitz and glamour of its stylish trappings lay a foundation of true substance. Nowhere is the combination of style and substance more evident than in the beautiful statuette by French artisan Rene Lalique which is the prize for the 'Art Deco Weekend's' gala event, the 1930's fashion contest.

Heidi arrives at the 'Art Deco Weekend' to escape her modernist blues but soon finds herself attracted to Brett Ormond, a suave architect who seeks to learn the secret behind Art Deco so he can incorporate it into his work. However, it's not all plain sailing for Heidi as Veronica Glaze, a highly confident catwalk performer who seems certain to win the fashion contest, also has designs on Brett. And it's not just the contestants who are interested in the Lalique. Event organiser Percy Rawlings, American Art Deco collector Randolph J. Sturges and Napier museum curator Murdo McJames all have their eyes on the prize. Caught up in this maelstrom, Heidi seems set to lose the only peace of mind she ever knows - hiding behind the façade of the 1930's - but ultimately embarks on a journey of self-discovery that leads not only to love but to self-assurance and triumph over her alienation from the modern world.

http://www.myspace.com/aweekendofartdeco