Standing Room Only for Sunday 13 March 2022

12:16  Greenstone TV looks ahead

More than two hundred TV series and and one-offs - Greenstone TV has been producing local shows for more than 20 years.  And despite the many challenges facing the screen sector at the moment, it has a bunch of new shows in production this year. 

Long-running prime-time hits include Border Patrol, Dog Squad and Renters, while  documentaries include The Women Of Pike River, Decades In Colour and Keeping It Pure.  

More recently, Greenstone's become involved in drama too - teen-sci-fi thriller series, The Cul de Sac, and gritty drama Vegas.    A new series Kid Sister has recently wrapped filming, and the next series of the Lucy Lawless show My life is murder is  scheduled to start shooting this week.

Lynn Freeman talks to Greenstone CEO Rachel Antony, and first asks why the enduring appeal of reality series like their long running Motorway, Highway and Border Patrol:
 

 

 

12:35  Turning plastic carrier bags into art

A new exhibition invites you to think more deeply about those large, woven, plastic, carry-all bags used around the world for years.

The mass-produced bags come in fetching combinations of red white and blue, and red black and white plaid patterns.

Weaver and visual artist Kathryn Tsui and her mother Doris have recreated these patterns as cross-stitched, wall-mounted art works for The Ahmah Bags Project -  "Ahmah" being what they're called in Hong Kong

The works are about to be exhibited as part of the THREADS Textile Festival in Wellington.

Kathryn tells Lynn Freeman that she started weaving just a few years ago when she moved to the Coromandel:

Kathryn Tsui's work can be seen in the "Soft Landing" group show at PAGE gallery in Wellington.  It's part of the THREADS Textiles Festival that in turn, is part of the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts. 

 

12:45  The CSO reaches out to the community

The new Chief Executive Officer of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra has big plans for the CSO, especially when it comes to hitting the right note with the community.

Dr Graham Sattler was appointed last year but has only recently been able to relocate from Australia.   He'd been the executive director at the music education organisation the Mitchell Conservatorium in New South Wales. 

Lynn Freeman talks with Dr Sattler - particularly about community engagement, one of Graham's priorities.  In fact his doctorate was on the benefits of music for marginalised communities.

 

1:10 At The Movies

This week Simon Morris reviews The Batman, Carbon The Unauthorized Biography and Skies of Lebanon.

 

1:33  George Keenan - the wizard of wood

Breakages, borer and botched DIY repairs, he's seen it all at his studio in the Manawatu where he trades as "Good As New".

In another in our occasional series of interviews with repairers and restorers - today Lynn Freeman is in conversation with antique furniture restorer, George Keenan.

He's a third generation craftsman, learning many of his skills from his father and grandfather in the UK, as well as learning on the job.

George talks about his move to Aotearoa, and learning to repair furniture made from native timbers.

If you want to get in touch, his contact details are here.

 

 

1:47  Flautist Bridget Douglas is inspired by the Voice of the Whale

The sound of whales calling to each other is remarkable to hear - and you'd think, nigh on impossible to recreate on musical instruments.

But Pulitzer Prize and Grammy award winning composer George Crumb uses amplified flute, cello and piano to take us underwater in his work Voice of the Whale.

It requires several special flute techniques - including singing into the instrument while playing it at the same time.

NZSO flautist Bridget Douglas has stepped up to the challenge for a videoed online concert that's part of the revamped Aotearoa New Zealand Arts Festival programme.

As she tells Lynn Freeman, it's actually a work she knows well.

You can experience Voice of the Whale online - or just head to the Aotearoa New Zealand Festival site.
 

2:06 The Laugh Track -  Dunedin comedian Reuben Crisp

Right now, as straight comedy venues struggle to stay open, certain brave souls in Wellington and Dunedin are maintaining their Fringe Festivals, no matter what.  In fact the Dunedin Fringe kicks off this week.

Fringe is fascinating.  It's as much about art and commentary as it is about straight comedy.  In fact, half the time our Fringe guests on the Laugh Track have picked clips ABOUT comedy rather than straight "have you ever noticed" and "what's the deal with?"

Today's guest has been a fixture in Dunedin comedy circles since 2017.  Reuben Crisp is a double threat - as much an MC/host as a performer.  

Simon Morris talks to Reuben about his picks, which include Elvis Presley, Andy Daley, Matt Parker and Donald Trump.

The Dunedin Fringe Festival opens on March the 17th, and Reuben's show A banquet for seagulls opens at Havana At The Poolhouse on March the 23rd.   

 

2:25  The poetry and art-work of Gregory O'Brien

A picture might be worth a thousand words, but Gregory O'Brien has made a name for himself by offering paintings as well as poems in his collections.

The Wellington writer, painter and art curator has called his latest illustrated poetry collection House & Contents. 

As the title suggests, there are scattered references throughout the book to earthquakes..

But he invites us outside too, to favourite places throughout Aotearoa and around the world.

Lynn Freeman talks to Gregory about other themes in this collection.

House & Contents by Gregory O'Brien is published by Auckland University Press.
 

 

2:40  Maggie Rainey-Smith is taken back in time by Formica

Many of us may remember sitting around the good old Formica kitchen table back in the 1960s and 70s.

Eastbourne-based poet Maggie Rainey-Smith takes us back to those times in her new collection, Formica. 

The poems are grounded in post-World War Two New Zealand, where Maggie's family, like so many, faced hard times. 

But the oatmeal-coloured Formica table was always a centrepoint for the family, where Maggie's mother regularly recited poetry as she prepared dinner.

Formica follows Maggie from childhood through to her 70s, from daughter to grandmother, and it celebrates the lives of women - and the occasional household appliance!   Maggie Rainey-Smith explains to Lynn Freeman that the Formica table has a special place in the collection:

Please note that in this interview there are references to suicide.

Formica by Maggie Rainey-Smith is a Cuba Press publication.

 

 

2:49  Gone at high tide - an art installation on a beach

Gisborne's Kaiti beach beach is to be a giant canvas for local artist Adel Salmanzadeh and his whānau for a work being created as part of  the Auckland Art Festival.

The Iranian-born refugee who came to Aotearoa in 1989 calls his new and temporary public artwork United for Truth. 

It was destined to be created in Tāmaki Makaurau, but Adel asked to create the work close to home once Covid struck.

And in fact the pandemic is part of the reason the art installation that was supposed to happen this weekend, has had to be postponed...

Adel talks to Lynn Freeman about the ideas behind the work.

 

3:06 Drama at 3 - The Upward Mobility of Gordon Reddy by Sue McCauley

A satirical look at corporate mentality as Gordon rises from unemployment to becoming an active cog in the great  machine!
 

Music played in this show

Artist: Cliff Richard
Song:  On the beach
Composer: Marvin-Richard-Welch
Album:  The Whole Story
Label:  EMI
Played at: 12.16

Artist: Kirsty McColl
Song: He's on the beach
Composer:  McColl-Povey
Album: What do pretty girls do?
Label: Hux
Played at: 12.32

Artist: Gemma Ray
Song:  Remember (walking in the sand)
Composer: Morton
Album: Island Fire
Label: Bronze Rat
Played at: 12.58

Artist: Astrud Gilberto
Song: Girl from Ipanema
Composer: DeMoraes, Gimbel, Jobim
Album: Compact Jazz
Label: Verve
Played at:  1.07

Artist:  Beach Boys
Song: Catch a wave 
Composer: Wilson
Album: The Capitol years
Label: Capitol
Played at: 1.43

Artist: Bette Midler
Song:  Wind beneath my wings
Composer: Larry Henley / Jeff Silbar
Album: Beaches soundtrack
Label: Atlantic
Played at: 1.58

Artist: The Ramones
Song: Rockaway Beach
Composer: Ramones
Album: Rocket to Russia
Label:  Sire
Played at: 2.05

Artist: Ziggy Marley
Song: Beach in Hawaii
Composer: Marley
Album: Love is my religion
Label: Cooking Vinyl
Played at: 2.58

Artist: Peter Sellers
Song: Ukulele Lady
Composer: Kahn-Whiting
Album: Peter and Sophia
Label: EMI
Played at: 3.05

Artist: Charles Trenet
Song:  La Mer
Composer: Lasry-Trenet
Album:  Definitive Collection
Label: Not now
Played at: 3.58