Standing Room Only for Sunday 24 April 2022

 

12.16  Weta is brought in to commemorate an Anzac legend

It's one of the most appealing stories from World War One - certainly featuring New Zealand troops - though it's surprisingly not commonly known here.  Not compared to Gallipoli, say, or the Battle of the Somme.

But it's different in the small French town of Le Quesnoy where the streets reflect their enthusiasm for Aotearoa.   Streets like Rue de la Nouvelle Zélande, Rue Hélène Clark and Place des All Blacks...

Now finally we're setting up a commemoration of how New Zealand liberated the town without the loss of a single civilian life.   And we're bringing in the big guns.  The New Zealand Memorial Museum Trust has employed Weta Workshop's Andrew Thomas to lead the project, fresh off a similarly huge undertaking - the New Zealand Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

Lynn Freeman asked Andrew why the story resonated so much with him.

 

12:35  Horologist Peter Cranson

Peter Cranson is from a family of clock repairers. Now based in Mt Maunganui where he trades as Peter Cranson Clock Repairs,  he was brought up in Palmerston North.  He and his dad did the maintenance on the city's much loved historic Hopwood Clock Tower - also known as Kerei Te Panau.

Our occasional series of interviews with repairers continues with Peter's insights into bringing clocks and watches back to life, which he's being doing since the mid 1960s.

One of his favourite assignments was repairing a battered watch owned by rugby legend Sir Colin Meads.

Lynn Freeman asked  Peter Cranson about his family business - four generations repairing clocks and watches:

 

1:10 At The Movies

Simon Morris reviews Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Last Bus, and All the Old Knives.

 

1:31  Musical furniture in Dunedin

They may look like a bunch of comfortable places to sit down and relax.  But the lounge suites and other furniture that are about to pop up in shop windows along Dunedin's main street are in fact interactive musical instruments in disguise.

Dunedinites are being invited to come and play on musical furniture throughout New Zealand Music Month.

Oscillations, squeaks, drones, and chirps - there's a wide range of sounds available to anyone visiting Monocle - Musical Furniture.

It's a new project commissioned by the Dunedin Dream Brokerage from a group called Spectacle.  Lynn Freeman talks with Jess Covell, the Project Director,  and Music Director Chris Miller.

Monocle starts on the 1st of May along Ōtepoti's George Street, between Frederick Street and Moray Place.

 

1:45  Matarau - capturing a range of Māori artists 

"Matarau" refers to a multi-pronged spear used for fishing and eeling by early Māori.

It's the name art curator Shannon te Ao has chosen for an exhibition of work by Māori artists who are exploring aspects of daily life in surprising ways.

The work's going on show at City Gallery Wellington.  Lynn Freeman spoke with Shannon and with one of his selected artists, Paekākāriki based, Levin raised artist Hemi Macgregor. 

Matarau opens on the 30th of April at City Gallery Wellington.

 

2:06 The Laugh Track -  comedian Gavin Hews

There are usually two sorts of guests on the Laugh Track - the ones looking back over a long, impressive career, and those looking forward to a career that's barely started yet.  

Budding standup Gavin Hews - despite the Yankee twang - has been a Kiwi for most of his life.  His ambition is simple - to get a solid, 30-minute show up and polished and out on the road.  Covid or no Covid.

Simon Morris chats to Gavin Hews at the start of his comedy journey.  His picks include Mitch Hedberg, Guy Montgomery, Phil Hanley and Mark Normand.
 

2:25  Poet Erik Kennedy - real life and other puzzles

In Erik Kennedy's second poetry collection, Another Beautiful Day Indoors, he pinpoints both the weirdnesses of contemporary life but also many harsh realities we can't afford to ignore.

The Ōtautahi Christchurch poet is a master at titles.  "The Please Stop Killing Us and Destroying Everything That Sustains Us Society", "Nineteenth-Century Rural Road-Builders" and "Notes Towards a Definition of Essential Work"...  Erik covers a lot of ground.

Even the poems that are technically magic realism feel uncomfortably within the realm of possibility.

As he tells Lynn Freeman, many address one of the issues that most concerns him - climate change.

Another Beautiful Day Indoors by Erik Kennedy is published by Te Herenga Waka Press.
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2:37  Choreographer Rose Philpott 

Exploring how the mind can play tricks on us is what choreographer Rose Philpott is exploring in her first full length touring show, Dry Spell.

She's created it for Footnote NZ Dance and it's about to head out around the country.  While Rose has created several smaller works for Footnote over the years, this is her first full-length touring show.

Lynn Freeman asks Rose about translating philosophic ideas into moviement.

The Footnote NZ Dance company tour starts in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau on the 30th of April at the ASB Waterfront Theatre before heading out around the North Island.

 

2:48  Jade Townsend - blending sound and statues 

Jade Townsend disentangles weaves of beach mats which she then paints, using them to create colourful veils.

They've usually been displayed on the walls of galleries, but now she's made a large, free-standing veil sculpture that she's inviting people to walk through.

The installation - "Neke Neke, You are free" - explores the relationship between power and religion.  It's part of a group show at the Gus Fisher Gallery in Auckland called Turning a page, starting a chapter.

And behind it, Jade's collaborated with musician Riki Gooch to create a soundscape they call "Ship's Bell".

Jade Townsend is also co-owner of a new gallery in downtown Tāmaki Makaurau - Season Gallery.  It opened just as this year's lockdown ended, which shows a bold leap of faith in the market!

Lynn Freeman talks to Jade about "Neke neke" - particularly her launch into sound with Riki:

Turning a page, starting a chapter opens on the 30th of April at Gus Fisher Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland.

 

3:06 Drama at 3 - Cave of Winds by Elspeth Sandys.

Two Kiwi soldiers are in hiding after Crete has fallen to the Nazis. Two members of the resistance are risking all to shelter them as German troops draw ever closer.
 

Music played in this show

Song:Clocks
Artist:Cold Play
Time played: 12:33

Song:Time Clock of the Heart
Artist:Culture Club
Time played: 12:58

Song:Beat the Clock
Artist:Shevelles
Time played: 1:42

Song: To the Clock To the City
Artist:Josh Rouse
Time played: 1"48

Song: Cuckoo in the Clock
Artist:Lena Horne
Time played:2:57

Song: Horologists - The Greenwich Chorus
Artist: BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Time played: 3:57