Our Story

Moving from New York City to a small tourist town in the South Island of New Zealand, might be considered a slow creative death for the founder and Producer/Writer/Director of Whirlwind, Margaret O'Hanlon - but the truth of the matter is that Queenstown is an international community full of ex-pat entertainers and artists who are drawn to the inspirational natural beauty of this unique landscape.  Within this environmental 'freedom from mental noise' we have time and space to create.  

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So in 2010, over a plate of Eggs Benedict in a small cafe, we thought up a tribute show named "Tom Waits For No Man" using some of the most talented performers in the district to perform songs wrtiten by Mr Waits.  The joy of seeing such a "loose" idea come to life inspired us to pull together a lifelong dream;   creating a rock-opera using the compositions of David Bowie. That production was "Rock and Roll Suicide", and gaining the rights to do this show is a highlight of our portfolio.  From there we continued to choose topics of social significance and curiosity, exploring themes of mental illness, tragedy in friendship, the fall of local radio, changing society in Britain, the social upheaval of 1969, and the age-old artistic dilemma of choosing commercial success vs. your creative expression.  We enjoy exploring these topics  We live in a community without an actual theatre to work within, so we constantly have to re-invent our spaces to accommodate for theatre production.   

Our endeavours will most likely die with us never seeing recognition anywhere else but on this page - but while we're living, we will continue to create in all the ways we can,