Chocolate On Your Board?
Greetings from the other side. Outside Mullingar closed with a standing O on Saturday. Needless to say the ole blog took a back seat this last week. True to his word though, playwright Victor Roger sent his thoughts through about PI representation in the South (or lack thereof)...so I have taken the liberty to include it in the body of this blog. I'm very curious to read your response.
Arohanui,
Lara
Talofa all. Lara, I said my big brown self would jump on here one day and here I am. ..
Last year I had three plays on in Auckland: A return season of Black Faggot, a revival of my first play Sons and a remount of At The Wake which debuted at Centrepoint in 2012. This year, so far I’ve had a remount of My Name is Gary Cooper in Honolulu, a return season of Black Faggot in Melbourne and the debut of my latest work Girl on a Corner. Things are going pretty well…But the fact remains that I hustled pretty hard to get my work on at The Court when I was back home in Christchurch for 18 (very long) months…all to no avail. I don’t say this as sour grapes, though - even though it may sound sour. (And full disclosure: I sent a bit of a hands on hips email to the Court and was, rightfully reminded they did indeed commission me in 2009 to write a play (along with Silo Theatre)...That play is in the cab rank, waiting with the others that are starting to flow out of me at a faster pace)...Still it’s disappointing to me that my hometown has only ever done one of my plays - and that was SONS exactly 20 years ago. Or that it was only last year that my work - in the form of Black Faggot - made it onto Wellington stages (the first, since SONS in 1998). Using my old journo skills, I began to research the make up of theatre boards/councils in Dunedin/Christchurch/Wellington/Palmerston North/Auckland…and found very little Maori/PI representation - as in , almost none, which, to my mind will always make it harder for ‘us’ to get our work on a traditional mainstage unless it doesn’t scare the horses too much, so to speak. But as far as I’m concerned all of the above theatre producers should have done My Name is Gary Cooper. All of them should have done Aroha White’s debut work, 2080 (which will be on at BATS later this year)...Again, I don’t mean this sound like sour grapes, but you know what? I had a bit of an epiphany last year as I looked up at the posters of The Court’s 2014/2015 season….and moreso after sitting in a couple of their (very well acted) shows, the lone Samoan at the ball…and the scales fell off my eyes and I realised…This isn’t The Prize. Not anymore. Yes, the coin would be great, of course…but I’m not about to hustle hard to get my work on here anymore in front of an all-but palagi audience who, to my mind, are very rarely presented with work that makes them uncomfortable. And if there is one mantra in my mind right now it is this: Art should disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed (although I do not that ultimately everyone needs to make a buck). But work by writers who are of Pacific Island or Maori descent are, as far as I’m concerned, totally where it’s at…we are #TheFuture…but it’s apparent that not everyone has got that memo (though God bless YOU Centrepoint for doing Black Faggot, kalofae lol)...Anyway, that’s my two cents. Have at, Aotearoa. Cheeky Ungrateful Darkie? Or Truth Sayer? Your call…Alofa atu, V.
Open auditions
Fortune Theatre and The Court Theatre (Christchurch) are holding joint open auditions in Dunedin by appointment only on Wednesday, 11 March, 2015, 10am – 5pm
Fortune Theatre and The Court Theatre are two of New Zealand's foremost, professional theatre companies offering entertainment of the highest quality. They employ professionals nationally and internationally, and are fully dedicated to fostering and supporting local artists.
Those wishing to audition will be required to prepare two contrasting monologues, one of which must be from a New Zealand play. Actors who are also skilled singers should come prepared with 16 bars of a song. Both the monologues and the song should not exceed a combined duration of 5 minutes. Actors may only be asked to perform one monologue.
Successful candidates will be contacted with a confirmed audition time. Priority will be given to those who have not previously auditioned. Fortune Theatre Artistic Director, Lara Macgregor, and The Court Theatre Associate Artistic Director, Dan Pengelly will be running auditions on the day.
Please e-mail contact details, headshot and performance resume by 5pm Friday, 6 March to Shannon Colbert on
Great Valentine's Night event
Thanks to everyone who came along to our special Valentine's Night event!
We hope you enjoyed the show (and your goodie bag). Many thanks to all the wonderful local businesses who donated spot prizes and goodie bag items:
What Value is There in Theatre?
I was starting to feel as though I was shouting into the wind with the ole blogs, but have just discovered a myriad of responses and questions awaiting my approval to be posted. Duh!
Thanks Dan Bain, Robert Gilbert, Terry McTavish and Lee Vandervis for your questions and comments. Apologies in my delay posting them.
I thought this week I'd run with one of Lee's questions: What value does theatre have beyond just entertainment?
There have been many papers, blogs, lectures and essays written on the subject. In Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz's 7 Reasons Why Theatre Makes Our Lives Better (http://theatrewashington.org/content/7-reasons-why-theatre-makes-our-lives-better) he summerizes, "...it does no harm, expresses a basic human instinct, brings people together, models democratic discourse, contributes to education and literary, sparks economic revitalization, and influences how we think and feel about our own lives."
I could be somewhat bias given I eat, sleep, breathe theatre, but I believe theatre's value, beyond entertaiment, is infinite. Infinite because it's power isn't always obviously visible. Theatre, in it's ability to bring people together and make us reflect in on ourselves, is often working it's magic on us long after we have left it.
Here's a start to what I believe theatre's value is beyond entertainment;
Educational nourishment for audiences and practitioners; at Fortune this can encompass development support for emerging and established playwrights, internships in various departments (eg: set design, wardrobe, production etc..), immersive ambassador programmes for high school students, assitant directing opportunities, auditioning workshops, Members Briefings, Q & A sessions etc. Artists and audiences alike are often taken into worlds other than their own, past, present and future - this educational insight is vital in not only understanding ourselves, but in practicing tolerance and compassion.
Community nourishment; the theatre is an open door for interaction with people from all walks of life, we are conduits for open discussion around ideas, dreams, metaphor, politics, religion, language, poetry, design...the list is endless. With this in mind, theatre is one of the only forms of entertainment that does not censor, has no adult ratings, and therefore should reflect pure freedom of voice. In turn, inspiring, suprising, shocking, amusing, educating, challenging and rejuventating the human spirit.
Shared experience; where else can you sit in the dark with complete strangers either side of you and laugh, cry, sigh together? It doesn't happen in a movie theatre like that. All senses are engaged whilst witnessing humans engaging in the oldest art of story telling.
HUMAN INTERACTION; without realising it we're giving over to computers on every level. At a fundamental base level theatre reminds us we're human. It forces us to embrace humanity on every level. Even the most commercial of plays does this.
With theatre there is magic, or should I say, with good theatre there should be magic. So, I embrace the old cliche that theatre has the ability to transform, because I am lucky enough to be witness to that on a daily basis.
Okay, so now it's your turn to add to this list.
Why do you value the theatre?
Lara
