July 31, 2012

Welcome New Members of the Circa Council!  

Circa Theatre is pleased to offer a warm welcome to the new members of the Circa Council: Lyndee-Jane Rutherford, Jason Whyte and Richard Chapman.  

“Lyndee-Jane, Jason and Richard have substantial experience in the industry and will bring a fresh approach and new ideas to the Circa Council and our ongoing programming,” said Ray Henwood, Circa Council Coordinator. “They are mid-career theatre practitioners who’ve never known a Wellington without Circa Theatre.” 

Lyndee-Jane Rutherford has worked extensively in theatre and television since graduating from Toi Whakaari/New Zealand Drama School in 1993.  She has performed in over fifty professional theatre productions including Who Wants to be 100?, Troy the Musical, and In Flame for which she was nominated for Chapman Tripp Actress of the Year in 2003.  She was also nominated for Supporting Actress of the Year for both The Hollow Men and Mauritius in 2008 and 2010. In 2010 she toured nationally with Geraldine Brophy and Pinky Agnew with Grumpy Old Women and again in 2011 with their own play Party Girls. Lyndee-Jane is also a respected director having led successful seasons of Who Wants to Be 100? and Penalties, Pints and Pirouettes at Palmerston North’s Centrepoint Theatre and Love Puke, Becoming the Courtesan and Hamlet Dies at the End at Bats Theatre in Wellington. She won the Chapman Tripp Award for Most Promising Director in 2006 with her production of Love Puke. Lyndee-Jane is often recognised for her roles in television series such as Skitz, What Now TV, The Hothouse and the pre-school sketch comedy show Giggles. She recently directed the third series of Giggles (TVNZ Kidzone) and a variety of field-stories for The Erin Simpson Show (TV2). Her most recent acting engagement was at the new Court Theatre in Christchurch, performing in the successful season of Calendar Girls.

Jason Whyte has been involved in many facets of theatre. He has taught, stage-managed, directed, produced, devised, written, co-written, acted and also built sets. He is a multi award-winning actor for both screen and theatre. His theatrical work is wide ranging from international plays to local devised works. Highlights include Apollo 13 Mission Control, Death of A Salesman, The Lead Wait, Bent, Wild Night American Dream, When The Rain Stops Falling, Peninsula, The Tutor, Saving Grace, The Shape of things, Dirt, Flintlock Musket, Beautiful Thing and The Collective. 

Richard Chapman has a BMus (Composition) BA (Theatre and Film) from Victoria University. He is an original member of Open Book theatre company, who have produced many successful works both in NZ and overseas. He was a member of the seminal, near mythical Wellington indie band of the mid to late 1990s, the Plastic Geraniums.

Richard has worked extensively in music, film, television, and theatre around NZ since the mid-nineties, and was most recently seen at Circa in Aladdin, the Pantomime, The Lead Wait and August: Osage County. He lived in Tokyo for 4½ years working in The British School in Tokyo as the Head of Primary Music. During his time in Tokyo, he managed to orchestrate music for the Tokyo Philharmonic and tour with choirs and orchestras around Asia.

Circa would also like to wish our heartfelt congratulations to Council member Branwen Millar, who has received a Fullbright General Graduate Award and will begin her studies towards a Masters degree in International Affairs at Columbia University, New York City, in August. Branwen has been a valued member of the Circa Council since she joined in 2009 and will be greatly missed. We look forward to her return upon the completion of her studies.

Circa Theatre is run by the Circa Council, which was formed with the Theatre in 1975 and is made up mainly of actors and theatre practitioners who have over their substantial careers been hugely influential in shaping New Zealand theatre as we know it. The Council programmes an annual season of the best plays from New Zealand and around the world. It also administrates the Circa Theatre building, runs the Box Office and administrates each show’s finances on behalf of each Single Venture Partnership. The current members are:
Ray Henwood,
Neville Carson,
Richard Chapman,
Andrew Foster,
Carolyn Henwood,
Ross Jolly,
Branwen Millar,
Lyndee-Jane Rutherford,
Jane Waddell,
Linda Wilson,
Susan Wilson and
Jason Whyte.