September 10, 2015
JOY GREEN
John Smythe posted 18 Sep 2015, 11:40 AM / edited 18 Sep 2015, 02:17 PM
Theatreview is shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death of Joy Green in Palmerston North, last night. Her last act was to serve as a judge for the Student City Arts Awards last night.
Here is John Ross’s review of Joy’s last Shakespeare production: ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA – and here are links to Joy’s 2015 reviews: THE LOLA SHOW | REAL FAKE WHITE DIRT | HOME / The Hilarious Comedy … | SOLOTHELLO | MIDSUMMER (A Play with Songs) | COALTOWN BLUES | THE JOURNEY OF THE BOUNDARY RIDERS
I am grateful to Duncan McCann, Liz Kirkman and Div Collins for the following information:
Joy was due to direct Fiona Samuel’s Lashings of Whipped Cream in November, and had submitted a successful proposal to direct the next Manawatu Summer Shakespeare.
Joy Green was a writer, writing & creative processes teacher and an award winning theatre director and producer. She has been involved in Palmerston North’s theatre scene for the last 10 years, including producing 5 Manawatu Summer Shakespeare plays, working with Massey University Drama Society, directing performance poetry for Festivals of New Art and winter Shakespeare productions in Te Manawa, through her own production company, ProperJob Productions.
Joy has published poetry and short fiction since the early 1990s, in Europe and North America as well as Oceania, and has had plays performed just as widely. Joy was particularly interested in work that blurs the boundaries between creative disciplines, particularly in terms of bringing poetry to a wider audience than might otherwise experience, through performance, film and installation work. In 2012 she completed a Masters on off-page poetry forms, which included a major poetry installation, Anatomy, exhibited in Square Edge. Her poetry collection Surface Tension was published in August 2014.
This poem was written by Joy as part of Poets under Pressure in response to National Geographic’s 50 Greatest Photographs and the scene overlooking Moscow, with five pears adorning the window sill. Poets were given ten minutes to create poetry about a photograph chosen from a member of the audience.
Pears
by Joy Green
On the sun-warmed shelf they loll, lazy –
seven golden opportunities
for frangipane, spiced softness,
for juice running down a greedy chin,
to be caught on his fingertip and conveyed
back to a mouth opened by laughter.
Later as that sun sinks and
paints roofs with rouge
we will wander through streets
listen to guitar melodies
floating from bars and
almost
kiss.
But we will wait
for the moment when
the moon, reflected in a puddle, lights us;
wait for the memory that will
haunt and hang out with us forever –
the friendliest of ghosts.
Editor posted 18 Sep 2015, 10:33 PM / edited 20 Sep 2015, 03:12 PM
This article sums up Joy Green’s achievements and contributions: http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/72178750/tribute-for-muchloved-manawatu-poet
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