August 21, 2016
STANDING OVATION Half a century of Downstage Theatre
An exhibition and special events at the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library,
Cnr Molesworth and Aitken Streets, Wellington
Monday 22 August 2016 – Friday 18 November, 10:00am – 5:00pm … more
Downstage opened with a production of Eugène Ionesco’s Exit the King at Victoria University in 1964. It became New Zealand’s longest-running professional theatre, lasting just short of 50 years – a significant lifespan even by international standards. The theatre shared a dialogue with Wellington audiences across a range of plays, both international and home-grown. At times the company floundered due to a lack of funds; on other occasions it found international recognition.
Resolutely different from the mainstream of theatre – Downstage practitioners, regardless of their roles from governance to backstage, grappled with what it meant to be a New Zealand theatre company. The theatre endured and triumphed through funding hardships and the contradictory visions that are part of any cultural history.
Downstage re-invented itself several times – necessary to growing in and contributing to a nation whose politics, cultures and tastes shifted considerably over the half century. It also moved location three times. Initially housed at the Walkabout Café, Downstage then expanded into a next-door space before moving to the Star Boating House while the brand-new Hannah Playhouse – the country’s first purpose-built regional theatre – was constructed on the original site. The company moved into the Hannah a month before its ninth birthday.
This exhibition touches on six productions that were deliberately “of New Zealand”.
As Martyn Sanderson puts it, in talking about the Downstage quest: “I felt arrogant enough to propose to discard the whole tradition and work it out for ourselves, starting from as close to nowhere as we possibly could”.
Events to accompany STANDING OVATION
25 Aug: A conversation about Hedda Gabler
1 Sep: Bruce Mason at Downstage
8 Sep: Prisoners of Mother England
14 Sep: The Downstage contribution to theatre in New Zealand
29 Sep: Treasures of our theatre history: some gone forever!
Time: 5.30pm – 7.30pm
Cost: Free
Location: Te Ahumairangi (ground floor), National Library, corner Molesworth and Aitken Streets
Space is limited, so book your spot by emailing events.natlib@dia.govt.nz
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