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eBook details

• Title: Theatre in 1990 (Critical Essay)
• Author : JNZL: Journal of New Zealand Literature
• Release Date : January 01, 1994
• Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines,Books,Professional & Technical,Education,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 248 KB

Description

Like my predecessor, Helen Watson White, I find myself hampered in conducting this survey by the fact that the art form we are discussing is, by its very nature, ephemeral. Not to be present at the performance, not to see the audience/actor dynamic or appreciate the contribution of director, designer, lighting, sound and costume is to miss a very significant part of the whole. If 'theatre' meant only texts, published or in manuscript, the problem would virtually disappear--but drama is not primarily a literary medium. A play only lives in performance, and many of the elements that make that performance are missing from the words that appear on the page. How often are the images we retain of our theatre experiences visual ones? How can we fully assess the comic possibilities of a text, for example, without considering the input of the actor, who may present high comedy where the words alone do not suffice to bring the image into focus? A script is nothing more than a blueprint for performance, and benefits immeasurably from the collaborative process which is an intrinsic part of theatre. A good director, in partnership with a capable writer and talented actors, may produce a performance that transcends anything on the page. This interdependence is crucial. By the same token, a play may be destroyed by an unsympathetic or misconceived production. Examples of both happy and unhappy combinations abound in the work staged in 1990. My own theatre-going activities for the year were limited to work presented in Dunedin and Wellington. Several productions I regret I was unable to see. Inside Our's adaptation of The Holy Sinner received excellent reviews, and was a piece of physical theatre impossible to recapture from a script. (1) The year in drama was loosely framed by the International Festival of the Arts in March, which showcased a range of Maori talent, and the biennial Playwrights' Conference, which took the form of a hui in Nelson. I was fortunate in being involved with both of these events. (2) In 1990, Wellington was still the rarely disputed dramatic capital of New Zealand. Four professional theatres offering a wide range of material provided something for everyone, and a 'home base' for a wide range of performing skills and interests) Theatre in this country remains something one does for love rather than for money, and many co-operatives, usually the younger and more idealistic members of our theatre community, face the reality that they cannot hope to make a decent living wage for the many hours of work that must be expended on any production. To mount more than one production of a play is still a common problem. Looking at the year in drama, the most notable 'mainstream' successes must be Roger Hall's Conjugal Rites and Anthony McCarten's Weed. Both are well-crafted comedies, the staple of the Community (i.e. professional, subsidised) Theatres, many of which also chose to revive Ladies" Night, and/or The Sex Fiend. The Community Theatres are understandably often reluctant to take a gamble with relatively untried work. But even established writers have no guarantees: Renee's Jeannie Once has to date been given only one professional production (at the Fortune Theatre), even though it has been published, and is used as a text on more than one University drama course. Stuart Hoar is consistently overlooked by the 'mainstream' theatres, although he has no shortage of commissions from smaller, independent theatre groups and from radio.

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