Standing Room Only for Sunday 28 June 2020

 

12:36 Pacific Dance New Zealand

A lot of organisations have had to pivot like crazy to keep their artists in work, during and since lockdown.

That includes Pacific Dance New Zealand, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Planned live events had to hit the dust, so instead PDNZ has invited 10 artists to film half-hour shows reflecting on traditional Pacific dance forms.

The Transform Series has just started to be rolled out, to coincide with when the organisation had scheduled a dance festival.

Iosefa Enari,  founder and director of Pacific Dance NZ, was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Pacific Dance in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours.

Lynn Freeman asked him about his childhood dance memories.

 

12:48 Head High

Rugby has featured heavily in New Zealand's legend - from Greg McGee's Foreskin's lament and Lloyd Jones' Book of Fame to feature films about Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, and TV docudramas Jonah and The Kick.

Now, it's the subject of that rare thing, a prime-time TV family drama series.   Head High is about to hit the screen on TV 3.

Lynn Freeman talks with writer and director Tim Worrall about the dramatic possibilities of our national game.

 

1:10 At The Movies

This week Simon Morris reviews Irish drama Rosie, a documentary about Artificial Intelligence, Machine, and American chart-topper The Wretched

 

1:31  I heard them on the radio - Apocalypse Songs

Lockdown proved to be the perfect time for Cassandra Tse and James Cain, to dust off an old script and turn it into a audio drama podcast series.

Apocalypse Songs by Wellington's Red Scare Theatre Company is about to be unleashed.

Although the script for Apocalypse Songs was written in 2018,production didn't begin until Aotearoa entered lockdown. The Red Scare team realized that this project could be recorded under Level 4 restrictions if need be.  It could also provide entertainment to New Zealanders all over the country from the safety of their own homes.

After receiving grants from both Creative New Zealand and Wellington City Council, Tse and Cain tell Lynn Freeman they managed to recruit an impressive roster of cast and crew to make the story come alive.

Apocalypse Songs premieres on the 4th of July on RadioActive.fm, then will be available to download as a podcast.

 

1.45  Tautai Gallery for contemporary Pacific art

The Tautai Pacific Arts Trust, which champions contemporary Pacific arts, is entering new territory, with the opening of a dedicated gallery space in Auckland.

Tautai already works with artists, galleries, curators and schools.  But having its own gallery opens up new opportunities for the artists who'll show their work there.   

The opening was supposed to happen in March.  It's now happening on the third of July with its first exhibition, Moana Legacy.

Lynn Freeman talks with Tautai Gallery Director Courtney Sina Meredith, who describes the new gallery as an historic moment.
 

2:06 The Laugh Track - American comedienne Camille Solari

Today's Laugh Track guest Camille Solari is half American, half Canadian, and she normally resides in Los Angeles.  So what's a pro comedian, regular on Comedy Central, with a show about to make it on Amazon Prime, doing in Amberley in rural Canterbury?

There's clearly a funny story attached to this - Lynn Freeman finds out more

Camille's picks include Dave Chappelle, TV series I Love Lucy and The Marvellous Mrs Maisel, as well as clips from her own Amazon Prime show Charlie.  

She also talks about her own gig at Christchurch's Isaac Theatre Royal in July.
 

2:25  Two Masters - artists Michael Smither and Warren Viscoe

Michael Smither hit the headlines last October when his painting "Sea Wall and Kingfisher 1967" sold for $342,000 at auction - one of the highest prices paid for a work by a living artist.

He and fellow octogenarian artist Warren Viscoe are about to open a show together called Two Masters at Auckland's Miranda Gallery.

Warren's wooden sculptures -  including "Portable rivers" and "A sarcophagus for an Eel" - will stand alongside a series of Michael's portraits. 

Lynn Freeman asked Michael and Warren if they're old friends as well as being masters of their respective crafts.

Two Masters opens at Miranda Gallery in Auckland on the 11th of July

 

2.38 Love during the Vietnam War

 

Ronnie, a New Zealand nurse, volunteers to work at a South Vietnamese hospital for a year.  She meets Joseph, an American pilot and their war zone romance survives the chaos - for a while.

This is the theme of Levin writer Carole Brungar's trilogy of novels, set during the Vietnam War.  

Going Home is the third and final book, after The Nam Legacy and The Nam Shadow.

In her research Carole discovered that the Vietnamese people had a lot of respect for the New Zealand medical teams - particularly the nurses.

Lynn Freeman talks with Carole Brungar about love and an often controversial war. 

 

 

 

2:49 Helen Moulder is taking it to the street

Nelsonians are able to see a work in progress in a shopfront, as actor Helen Moulder rehearses her new solo play, The Bicycle & the Butcher's Daughter in an empty retail space.

The Shopfront Theatre is billed as Nelson's newest - if temporary - performance space.

It's a clever use of an unused building that's co-ordinated by a group called Make/Shift Spaces, which helps artists and community groups use the city's vacant retail spaces for a range of projects.

Helen's previous plays include Playing Miss Havisham, Gloria's Handbag and Meeting Karpovsky. 

Helen Moulder talks to Lynn Freeman about The Bicycle and the Butcher's Daughter, co-written by Sue Rider.

 

3:06 Drama at 3 - The Buzz (final);  Harden up Miss Havisham

Two plays in today's Drama Hour.  

First, it's the conclusion of the political comedy The Buzz by Peter Bell, featuring Minister of Education Dick Costello, and his assistant - and "Teacher of the Year" - Beth Wilson. 

After that, Harden up Miss Havisham, by Christine Cessford.   Sandy is writing an essay about Great Expectations' Miss Havisham as she prepares for her impending wedding.  As Sandy tries to cope with her mother and her best friend, she realizes that getting married may not be the best option for her at all.  

Harden Up Miss Havisham was one of the winners in the Radio New Zealand's 2011 New Shorts short play competition.
 

Music played in this show

Artist: Bob Dylan
Song: Masters of war
Composer: Dylan
Album: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Label: Columbia
Played at: 12.30

Artist: Stevie Wonder
Song: Master Blaster
Composer:  Wonder
Album:  Hotter than July
Label: Motown
Played at: 12.58

Artist: Four Jacks and a Jill
Song: Master Jack
Composer: Marks
Album: Hard to Find 45's Vol 6
Label: Eric
Played at: 1.07

Artist: Peggy Lee (w. Mel Torme)
Song: The Old Master Painter
Composer: Gillespie-Smith
Album: Peggy Lee Vol. 1 
Label: Capitol
Played at:  1.46

Artist: Hawkwind
Song: Masters of the Universe
Composer: Brock-Turner
Album: Masters of the Universe
Label:  Disky
Played at: 1.58

Artist: John Hore Grenell
Song: Love is the master
Composer:  Denver
Album: Welcome to our world
Label: CBS
Played at:  2.04

Artist: The Temptations
Song:  Masterpiece
Composer:  Whitfield
Album: Anthology
Label: Motown
Played at:  2.44

Artist:  Depeche Mode 
Song: Master and Servant
Composer: Gore
Album: Some great reward
Label:  Mute
Played at: 2.58

Artist: The Master's Apprentices
Song: Turn up your radio
Composer:  Bower
Album: Australian Rock Classics
Label:  EMI
Played at: 3.04

Artist: Barbra Streisand
Song: My lord and master
Composer: Rodgers-Hammerstein
Album: People
Label: CBS
Played at:  3.32

Artist: The Band
Song: When I paint my masterpiece
Composer: Dylan
Album: To Kingdom Come
Label: Capitol
Played at: 3.58