December 20, 2017
ANNOUNCING NEW ZEALAND THEATRE MONTH
Special Correspondent posted 1 Feb 2017, 07:59 AM
September 2018 will be NZ Theatre Month.
(Next year to allow sufficient planning time for theatres.)
Any theatre, professional or amateur, that presents a NZ play some time during that month will be able to list itself as taking part in NZ Theatre month.
ACTIVITIES
A prize for the best poster advertising a NZ play from the last two years. (“Best” meaning the one that is most likely to attract people to that production). Posters to be displayed in as many places as possible. $1000 for best poster in each category.
Libraries throughout the country will be asked to display theatre books, posters, and host talks or panels.
Media to be fed daily facts about NZ Theatre history.
Theatres to put on discussions or events that focus on the lesser-known (to the GP) skills in theatre: set designer; wardrobe; lighting; sound; stage manager etc.
Drama schools to be involved.
Theatre Federation’s annual Theatrefest (always held in September) will be promoted.
FUNDING
NZTM to be registered as a charitable organisation.
Funding applications to CNZ, Arts Foundation’s Boosted, arts trusts and individuals throughout the country.
LOGO
Applications for a logo design to be open soon.
MORE DETAILS TO BE ANNOUNCED NEXT WEEK.
Discussion welcome below …
Graham Atkinson posted 1 Feb 2017, 09:29 AM
An excellent suggestion and linking with the Theatre Federation’s already established events very logical.
Bill Sheat posted 5 Feb 2017, 11:16 AM
A great idea. I look forward to seeing it gather momentum
Roger Hall posted 7 Feb 2017, 01:55 PM / edited 7 Feb 2017, 01:56 PM
NEW ZEALAND THEATRE MONTH September 2018
— an ALTERNATIVE FACT
New Zealand Theatre Month September 2018 is not going to happen. Not unless someone organises.
I posted this item in the hope that it would raise interest, enthusiasm or controversy. I thought some people would like the idea; that some theatres would be annoyed they hadn’t been consulted. In fact, only two responses. (I think I posted it too early in the year.)
But John Smythe has been understandably uneasy about “running fake news”.
So here is the background.
Dean Parker first proposed the idea.
Then about three years ago, a group of us met irregularly to launch it. But between us we couldn’t agree on details, and some thought it would take too much money to do it. So we stopped meeting and the idea was shelved.
But I don’t want to see it die.
Why do we need a theatre month?
NZ music, NZ poetry, NZ books etc have, over the years designated a day, a week or a month for that category in order to gain media attention. By and large these have worked well.
NZTM would be a month when as many theatres as possible (professional and amateur) would put on a NZ play, thus providing the chance to gain media attention.
Why do we need it? Because there is little national pride in our theatre. I sense a local pride in theatres but not a national pride.
Who is speaking up for us?
Our politicians are hardly aware of it; our media is covering it less and less (full marks to RNZ who does give coverage).
There is little sense of our theatre history, which goes back to Victorian times.
I know of no museum in the country that gives any space to NZ theatre.
Many of our young actors have no idea who Bruce Mason is; who the NZ Players were; who was the first NZ playwright had a play on in the West End (Merton Hodge).
Why do our arts festivals fail to do revivals of classic NZ plays?
The state of the Play
A few weeks ago, I decided that I would tackle the whole thing single-handed.
I thought I could so it, because in 1989 I single-handedly launched NZ Writers’ Week. (This was in response to the Wellington Festival’s writers’ programmes which were excellent, but hardly any NZ writers got any attention.) Twenty-nine NZ writers appeared, NZ plays were performed, and various exhibitions linked to local writing were held. Thousands of people attended, and another Writers’ Week was held two years later. The event still continues in Dunedin in a modified form every two years. So why couldn’t NZ Theatre Month succeed just as well? But I decided now it was too big to do it by oneself. (The killer detail was when I was told that if it could ask for donations, it would have to be registered as a charity — a piece of form-filling I couldn’t face).
I still think it’s a good idea. I still hope it will happen. I would like to take part; and am willing to contribute financially.
Is there anyone else willing to take it up?
Replies and comments to Theatreview (below) and/or to rogerhallnz@gmail.com
Malcolm Calder posted 8 Feb 2017, 02:39 PM
An excellent idea Roger
And you’re right, it would certainly require considerable organisation and management and probably a key driver. But, prior to that, the concept, its direction and its inclusions would likely require considerable discussion and thought.
Theatre in this country is fragmented along professional and community lines and even by different theatre-forms within them. But the buy-in of all seems essential to maximise impact and outcomes.
Nonetheless, I agree with Graham’s point that piggy-backing through an existing organisation is a good one.
I’m not sure which one though.
Perhaps a start-point somehow linked to the education sector – which might also help address that history you have noted ?
Malcolm Calder
charlie unwin posted 8 Feb 2017, 04:04 PM
Is it too late to suggest a date change? October would work a lot better, as the Nelson Arts Festival, Arts Festival Dunedin and the Hawke’s Bay Arts Festival all occur then, and as we all programme NZ plays it would spread the celebrations to outside the main centres.
John Smythe posted 8 Feb 2017, 04:22 PM / edited 13 Dec 2017, 02:42 PM
The NZ Theatre Month should not be the ONLY month NZ work is programmed, Charlie. Most works appearing in curated Festivals either come with a proven track record or will have been commissioned from those with good track records – the cream rising to the top, if you like. And it is often in Fringe Festivals, which take all comers and are predominantly homegrown productions, that new work of quality gains traction.
I see NZTM as setting up a different kind of ‘festival’ where companies, societies and venues ensure that what is programmed for that month is NZ work – and there is no reason why this would not be nationwide. I wonder if a nationwide awards set-up could be instigated to reward excellence in a range of fields, as one way of pulling it all together …
Dean Parker posted 13 Dec 2017, 12:24 PM
I have had seven plays circulating for a while: one-man show about a Marist Brother teaching at Napier, a two-man show centred on the Queen St Riots of 1932, a play about the murder of New Zealander Blair Peach by London police in 1979, a play about a NZ couple in Mexico, a play set in Hawkes Bay and the Valley of the Kings, a play set in Housing NZ units in Auckland, and an adaptation of Macbeth for a cast of five (the Macbeths and the Weird Sisters). One of them has been picked up—the Macbeth. What is it about NZ plays?
John Smythe posted 13 Dec 2017, 07:56 PM
I’m shocked, Dean – this reeks of the marketing tail wagging the creative canine. How many of the aspiring theatre-maker graduates of various esteemed institutions make it their business to seek out and read spec scripts written by REAL playwrights like you? How many directors of established theatres are hungry to tune into what our playwrights are writing?
Personally I feel the true creative directors are those who take new work from the page to the stage for the first time ever. Far too much of what gets produced is plays directors have seen produced overseas and snapped up the rights for. By comparison, that’s lazy decision-making.
Susan Traherne posted 14 Dec 2017, 08:49 AM / edited 14 Dec 2017, 08:50 AM
Hey there!
Just backing up your assertions with some proper statistics:
Circa has programmed 23 New Zealand shows next year, ranging from plays to improvs to panto. That’s out of 33.
Fortune has programmed 7 New Zealand shows, many of which are premieres. That’s out of 9 (confirmed so far)
Auckland Theatre Company have programmed 3 New Zealand shows. That’s out of 7.
Silo Theatre have programmed 2 New Zealand shows, not including a tour of Peter and the Wolf. That’s out of 5.
The Court have programmed 5 New Zealand shows, including children’s shows. That’s out of 9.
Centrepoint have programmed 8 New Zealand shows. That’s out of ten.
That’s not including venues like The Basement or the BATs which have a commitment to producing new New Zealand shows.
There is no truth to the myth that our theatres aren’t producing New Zealand work. They are. They might not be performing the New Zealand work that you want them to be performing, but that’s not the conversation you’re having.
In fact, Dean, your work gets programmed by mainstage theatres more often than many other playwrights in this country. That appears to be what you’re taking issue with, not the general proliferation of New Zealand work on our stages, which seems to be on par with that of other countries.
John Smythe posted 14 Dec 2017, 05:58 PM / edited 14 Dec 2017, 06:34 PM
Thanks for that, Susan – all good to know. Not that anyone is suggesting that NZ theatres are not producing NZ work. Dean’s point, as I see it, is that of all the plays he has on offer, it was the one that does not specifically reflect NZ that got the nod. Hence my comment about ‘the marketing tail …’ – which, if true, raises a whole set of questions about why ‘cultural cringe’ apparently persists at the decision-making level when that is clearly a myth as far as the theatre-going public is concerned.
My further point concerns the difficulty lesser known playwrights have getting their spec plays even read by prospective directors, let alone produced. Playwrights willing to be their own producers and/or directors, and set up co-ops to mount short no-budget/limited return seasons, have a much greater chance of seeing their work realised, than if they hung out for it to be picked up by a major theatre with better funding who might offer a season that could feasibly return royalties better able to reflect the value of the work involved.
Even when new plays do get read for consideration – e.g. in the highly competitive process that results in the ATC’s annual workshops and industry presentations – precious few result in production. Meanwhile, I assert, international plays on similar themes do get produced. Then there are all those plays that rise above the multitude of entries to become finalists in Playmarket’s annual Adam NZ Play competition. What percentage of those ever see production?
That’s why I say it amounts to a failure in marketing. I’d also suggest that as well as trying to second-guess the tastes of subscribers and other regular theatregoers, how about investigating why all those other people don’t go to live theatre?
John Smythe posted 16 Dec 2017, 11:24 AM / edited 20 Dec 2017, 12:26 PM
This speech by Molly O’Shea, introduced by Jane Campion, says important things about what doesn’t get made in teh screen industry: https://vimeo.com/244913355
Editor posted 20 Dec 2017, 12:26 PM
Adam NZ Play Award Seasons
Thank you to Playmarket for this definitive list of professional seasons (which includes co-op productions).
2017
Winner – Still Life with Chickens by D.F Mamea
ATC, Centrepoint, Circa 2018
Runner up – Uneasy Dreams and Other Things by Lori Leigh
Circa 2018
Shortlist – Spirit House by Carl Bland
Auckland Live 2017
Shortlist – Modern Girls in Bed by Alex Lodge and Cherie Jacobson
Circa 2018
Shortlist – Cellfish by Miriama McDowell, Rob Mokaraka and Jason Te Kare
Auckland Arts Festival 2017
Circa 2018
2016
Winner – Tan-Knee by Maraea Rakuraku
Circa 2018
Runner UP – Sean Penn is in His Boat by Josephine Stewart-Tewhiu
Court Theatre Mid-winter reading 2017
Highly Commended – Fool to Cry by Steven Page
Southland Festival 2016
Highly Commended – My Dad’s Boy by Finnius Teppett
BATS 2016
Shortlist – Te Pō by Carl Bland
NZ Festival 2016
Auckland Arts Festival 2016
Shortlist – The Politician’s Wife by Angie Farrow
Centrepoint, BATS 2016
Shortlist – The Vultures by Mīria George
BATS 2016
Q Theatre and Hamilton 2017
Shortlist – The Devil’s Half-Acre by Ralph McCubbin Howell
NZ Festival 2016
Dunedin Arts Festival 2016
Shortlist – Scarlet & Gold by Lorae Parry
Circa 2016
Shortlist – The Atom Room by Philip Braithwaite
Circa 2018
Shortlist – Te Puhi by Cian Elyse White
Auckland Live 2017
2015
Winner – Bless the Child by Hone Kouka
NZ Arts Festival 2018
Auckland Arts Festival 2018
Runner Up – Polo by Dean Parker
Auckland Theatre Company 2016
Best Play by a Woman Playwright – The Gift of Tongues by Michelanne Forster
The Court Theatre Mid-Winter Reading 2016
Shortlist – Officer 27 by Aroha Awarau
Basement Theatre 2015
Shortlist – Where There’s a Will by John Smythe
BATS 2015
Shortlist – 2080 by Aroha White
BATS 2015
Shortlist – Hudson & Halls Live! by Kip Chapman with Todd Emerson and Sophie Roberts
Silo 2015, 2017
Hannah Playhouse 2016
Upsurge Bay of Islands Festival, Wanaka Festival of Colour, Taranaki Arts Festival, The Court Theatre, Fortune Theatre, 2017
Centrepoint 2018
2014
Adam NZ Play Award & Best Play by a Woman Writer– Seed by Elisabeth Easther
The Basement 2014
Circa Theatre 2015
Runner-Up and Best Play by a Maori Writer – Hīkoi by Nancy Brunning
Auckland Arts Festival 2015
Highly Commended – The Mooncake and the Kumara by Mei-Lin Te Puea Hansen
Auckland Arts Festival 2014
2015 Tour – Oamaru, Nelson, Hamilton, Tauranga
Q Theatre, Hannah Playhouse 2017
Highly Commended – Riding in Cars with (Mostly Straight) Boys by Sam Brooks
NZ Fringe Festival, The Basement 2014
2016 Tour – Auckland, Whangarei, Palmerston North, Wellington
Shortlist – The Quiet Room by Renee Liang
BATS 2015
Shortlist – Occupy: The Road to Joy by Andrew Parker
Te Pou 2016
2013
Adam NZ Play Award – The Mercy Clause by Philip Braithwaite
Centrepoint 2014
Runner Up – The Night Visitors by Paul Baker
Oamaru Opera House 2013
Best Play by a Maori Writer – Patua by Renae Maihi
TAPAC 2013
Best Play by a Pasifika Writer – Goodbye, My Feleni by David Mamea
Basement Theatre 2013
Going West Festival 2014
Shortlist – And I Was Like by Sam Brooks
The Basement 2013
Shortlist – atlas/mountains/dead butterflies by Joseph Harper
Young and Hungry 2013
2012
Adam NZ Play Award & Best Play by a Maori Writer – Hui by Mitch Tawhi Thomas
Auckland Arts Festival 2013
The Court Theatre 2013
Shortlist – Ache by Pip Hall
The Court Theatre 2014
Circa Theatre 2015
Shortlist – Gifted by Patrick Evans
Fortune Theatre 2013 at Christchurch Arts Festival, Taranaki Festival, Nelson Festival, Tauranga Festival
Circa Theatre 2015
2011
All awarded plays still unproduced
2010
Adam NZ Play Award – Pasefika by Stuart Hoar
NZ Arts Festival, Circa Theatre 2014
Best Play by a Māori Playwright – Te Kaupoi by Whiti Hereaka
BATS 2010
Matariki Festival Hawkins Theatre 2010
Shortlist – Me & Robert McKee by Greg McGee
Circa Theatre 2010
Derby Guildhall 2016
Shortlist – Sex Drive by Lorae Parry and Pinky Agnew
Circa Theatre 2011
Shortlist – A Thousand Hills by Mike Hudson
Herald Theatre 2011
TAPAC 2013
2009
Shortlist – Collapsing Creation by Arthur Meek
Downstage 2009
Shortlist – Holding On by Gavin McGibbon
BATS 2012
Shortlist – Sketch by Kate Morris
BATS 2011
Shortlist – The Blackening by Paul Rothwell
BATS 2009
Shortlist – Glorious by Richard Huber
Fortune Theatre 2009
The Court Theatre 2010
BATS 2011
Basement Theatre 2011
2008
Winner – Fucking Parasites by Ninna Tersman
Alcyone Festival, Chicago 2009
La Mama, Melbourne 2017
Shortlist – Two Fish n a Scoop by Carl Nixon
The Court Theatre 2010
Fortune Theatre 2012
Centrepoint 2013
Shortlist – Postal by Lucy O’Brien
BATS 2009 Court Theatre 2013
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