RED HEAVENS  

From Stromboli to D’Urville Island
Martine Baanvinger

‘Red Heavens’ portrays the true story of Angelina Moleta, an Italian pioneering immigrant on D'Urville Island, whose fate is intertwined with the forces of nature and her deep connection with a high-born Māori woman.

Grown up on the active volcanic island of Stromboli, Angelina is betrothed to her cousin at an early age who, in 1906, brings her as a 16-year-old to the even more remote D'Urville Island, in the Marlborough Sounds.  Through hardship and an unlikely friendship, she grows into womanhood and motherhood.

This bitter and beautiful tale is inspired by the bestselling book ‘Angelina’ by New Zealand author Gerard Hindmarsh, who wrote this book about his grandmother.

          Click on this link to see a video form Martine     https://youtu.be/B5virBFyGik?t=26 

Martine Baanvinger

Martine attended the Theatre Academy in Amsterdam in the Netherlands in the 1990s, where she co-founded the BARR-theatre collective in Rotterdam. BARR produced experimental performances and would always approach the creation of a performance with the goal to create something unique, honest and raw which resulted in exciting, unusual performances for their loyal audiences. 

After Martine settled into beautiful Golden Bay, New Zealand, she established the theatre company DramaLAB and has been producing, writing, directing and/or acting in numerous performances including the powerful solo shows 'Solitude'(2019) and 'Aperture' (2021) with Arts on Tour NZ.