Next month, look out for an abundance of New Zealand theatre and theatre-related displays, talks, films and presentations. Thanks to North Shore resident and immensely popular playwright Roger Hall, the inaugural New Zealand Theatre Month kicks off across the country in September.
Roger hopes that New Zealand Theatre Month will encourage us all to acknowledge and celebrate the wealth of theatre created here, past and present, and the people who create it. Four years ago, he and a few others first dreamed of a month where theatres across New Zealand presented New Zealand plays. But, as is the way of committees (a structure Roger has no great patience for), agreement on details and dates was hard to come by, and the idea lapsed. “Committees are hopeless ways of getting things done,” says Roger. At the beginning of last year, with no progress made, he thought “Bugger it, I’ll do it”, and took on the project solo. He’d established New Zealand Book Week 30 years ago in Dunedin. How much harder could this be?
Considerably, as it turns out. He and Malcolm Calder, who has extensive experience in the entertainment, events, arts, and venue management sectors in Australia and New Zealand and who has come on board as executive director, have worked tirelessly for the last year, getting the word out to venues, professional and community theatre companies, schools and libraries, where many of the events and displays will take place. Roger has presented talks outlining his vision for New Zealand Theatre Month in libraries and in association with performances of his plays, and written to hundreds of theatres and libraries. He and Malcolm have also faced the task of raising funds to pay the inevitable costs, and to ensure the sustainability of the initiative, which Roger expects will take several years (like New Zealand Music month) to become well-established.
When we meet Roger, he’s pleased with progress. An exciting programme of contemporary productions is complemented by events and activities celebrating New Zealand’s rich theatre history, kicking off on 1 September with a major event centred around Bruce Mason at the Bruce Mason Centre. A formal “opening” event takes place at parliament on 3 September. There will be few communities, he hopes, completely untouched.
But why do we need a New Zealand Theatre Month if, as Roger says, there is already so much going on? And what is it about Roger’s passion for theatre that has driven him to take on the mantel of single-handedly advocating for New Zealand theatre?
Roger is no theatre purist. His love of theatre can be traced back to attending theatre, often comedies or pantomime, as a child with his parents in London, and the use of comedy in his own plays is certainly part of their appeal. “I like hearing people laugh, and I’m good at it,” he says. “If you’ve got that gift, you should use it.”
He cites Alan Ayckbourn as one of his heroes. “His plays are very funny but very sad simultaneously.”
He also admires Takapuna’s Bruce Mason as another theatrical hero. “Despite writing at a time when hardly anyone went to the theatre, he persevered and, thanks to that, he gave us one of the greatest plays in New Zealand, ‘The End of the Golden Weather’, which has been performed more than 1000 times – though only through his hard work as he had to perform it!”
Roger’s admiration for Bruce Mason and end of The Golden Weather led to his beginning what has now become a tradition: a performance of a major scene from the play on the Takapuna Beach foreshore (where the play is set) every Christmas morning.
Just as theatre traditions are rich and diverse, so is Roger’s theatrical output. Despite the absence of a penchant for pantomime in New Zealand, Roger has written several for Wellington’s Circa Theatre, no doubt inspired by his childhood experiences. He’s also written television sitcom, and a couple of serious plays, as well as his better-known full-length comedies, which mercilessly dissect contemporary social foibles.
Roger is patron of North Shore’s Tadpole Theatre, which performs regularly at The PumpHouse, engaging professional actors in its performances.He's also a member of Friends of the PumpHouse, and appreciates the power of local amateur theatre companies to engage audiences and theatre professionals. “Thousands of people go; and thousands take part,” he says. “The number and range of plays presented is astonishing. Maori and Pasifika theatre are booming, particularly as part of Matariki when there is a whole raft of plays and performances. And the Asian voice is also coming through.”
Long gone are the days, at least in part thanks to Roger himself and his string of theatre-filling plays that have allowed us to laugh at ourselves, when putting on a New Zealand play was seen as a box office risk. At the same time, a frightening number of people know nothing about New Zealand theatre, and never attend performances. He’s realistic about the challenges: after all, he says, if you’re sitting at home with a flat-screen, Netflix, and it’s raining, why would you [go out]?
Over time, Hall wants New Zealand Theatre Month to change that. “I hope it will develop and that people catch onto it. I want to celebrate not just the present but the past, so that people understand that if it wasn’t for Bruce Mason, and Downstage, and the New Zealand Players, actors wouldn’t have jobs now.”
Roger enthuses about the vast range of professional and amateur theatrical endeavour accessible to anyone who cares to enjoy it, with productions taking place in in schools, community centres, church halls or theatres like the Rose Centre or The PumpHouse; and in bars, basements and buses. But he says, “The fact is that theatre in New Zealand has never been so strong! The amount of work produced, the range of venues and the number of people actively involved has never been so high. Audience numbers are strong yet I can sense little national public awareness or pride in what we do and what we have accomplished.
During September, while some theatres and theatre companies take on presenting New Zealand works, libraries and community venues take centre stage in disseminating information and telling the history. Roger sees libraries as one of the New Zealand Theatre Month’s strongest allies, as so many people visit libraries, and because many libraries have enthusiastically come on board, scheduling displays, short performances of excerpts from New Zealand plays, or showing short films.
Roger will travel the country giving talks and attend many of the planned performances. He says he’ll know the initiative has succeeded if theatre gains more media coverage; if people learn something new about New Zealand theatre and become aware of the breadth and depth of New Zealand theatre and its history. He also hopes that most of the theatres taking part see some benefit.
“But it’s a five-year horizon. We have set up a Trust, but we have to raise a decent sum, and get more people on board.”
New Zealand Theatre Month Events taking place on and near the Shore include:
More information at: www.theatremonth.nz Facebook: New Zealand Theatre Month, @theatremonth.nz
