“Belle” had all the elements to make it a stand-out performance however it never quite managed to make it a truly thrilling show.
The all-female cast of skilled aerialist / dancers/ singers performed a range of acts with a touch of magic and their routines were all immersed in a riotous soundscape and a remarkable light and fog environment.
Sometimes it felt a though someone had told the musicians that they only needed to play loudly and that would cover any mistakes or lack of continuity.
There was also a lack of cohesion between the various sections or vignettes which was a major problem. Even though the acts were spectacular, there was no sense of narrative or trajectory.
Many of the sections had a sense of cavorting angels or goddesses and this could have related to the figures and Ranginui and Papatūānuku in the digital work “Ihi” by Lisa Reihana which is in the Aotea Centre foyer.
Most of the acts were performed in a half light, with the performers often seen in silhouette. Along with the dramatic use of light this added to the drama of the performance but it also meant the audience was often not able to appreciate the athleticism of the performers.
Some of the acts were brilliant conceived with figure rising and falling from the stage and disappearing into the enveloping fog of the stage. Other sequences saw the cast using elaborate equipment such as aerial wheels and large pivoting wheels.
But the lack of interconnection and lack of coordination between the sequences and music did a disservice to the acts and a disappointment to the audience.
Neil Ieremia is one of Aotearoa’s most astonishing and prolific home-based creatives. His ever-growing body of work has easily and unselfconsciously graced stages in many parts of the world and he is rapidly becoming a one-man export machine. In part this is because of his perfectionism that never forgets the past, stands firmly rooted in the present and yet finds time to seriously address the future – sometimes simultaneously.
His works combine different personal histories, different body shapes and abilities, and different musical and dance backgrounds.
May of his works have a strong musical underpinning that ranges from pop to hip hop, traditional to church, coupled with soundscapes that underscore the everyday concerns of young people today. It leaps from recollections of things past to things that might have been and things that are very much of the present, uses the simplest of props and creates some beautiful moments.
His latest work celebrates the company’s 30th year milestone with ‘THIS IS NOT A RETROSPECTIVE’, the ultimate interactive dance party at the Auckland Town Hall, Saturday March 22
Joining Blackl Grace will be CHE FU and THA FEELSTYLE along with the many amazing friends of Black Grace already down to party including; DJ Manuel Bundy, drag queen diva Buckwheat and the NZ Trio, working alongside a stellar production team, with Artistic Direction by Neil Ieremia, ONZM, sound designer Faiumu Matthew Salapu aka Anonymouz, internationally respected NYC-based lighting designer JAX Messenger, along with the incredible Black Grace Dancers.
But the fun doesn’t stop there, Black Grace has a number of special events planned throughout their birthday year. To be in the know join them at blackgrace.co.nz
Main event 1hr 10min, followed by a party which will continue after main event until late
It would be easy to pigeon-hole SIX as a high energy show with lots of froth and bubble, and aimed fairly and squarely at the tiktok generation. But you would be wrong. It is rather more.
All things must change and musical theatre is no different. SIX is important enough to represent another of those significant change points in history – following in the footsteps trodden by Oklahoma or West Side Story or Cats or Hamilton.
On leaving, I overheard an audience member mutter something about SIX being really just a glossed up pub cabaret. And, to a certain extent, it is. Originally conceived by a couple of then relatively unknown Cambridge students in 2017, Moss and Marlow took it to the Edinburgh Fringe that year, was a huge success and soon wound up at the Arts Theatre in the West End before a Broadway opening almost immediately before Covid struck. There was a sort of relaunch in 2021 and SIX now enjoys semi-permanent residence in both London and New York and has gone on to world-wide success with multiple productions all over the anglosphere, as well as Europe and in Asia.
So what has driven this success? A well-known Australian commentator once suggested it resembles a Spice Girls concert directed by Baz Luhrman – but one where the girls can actually sing. Quite apt I thought at the time. But this show is a lot more than that. It is VERY much a significant part of the musical theatre tradition. In fact there are so many references, acknowledgments and subtle nuances running through SIX that enumerating all of them becomes difficult.
First and foremost, this is a NOW show. As such it reaches its target easily and then some. So, yes, to the tiktok generation. But it is bigger than that and, while it might help grow memberships of amateur music theatre organisations, that is rather simplistic view as it impact is considerably greater. Not to put too fine a point on it, the key fundamental of SIX is pure entertainment built around that old adage – a good story told well that enthrals its audience. And good entertainment knows no age boundaries – the grandmother in front of me was up and out-boogying her two grandchildren at the end. Underlying import counts too.
The stories of the six queens are told in the language of the second decade of the 21st century – not by the archival or even slanted recollections of historians about the politics and intrigue surrounding the first Tudor king. Most of whom were men, and of a fairly clearly-defined social class at that. Further, it is told from a women’s perspective. And remember, some of the queens were all exceptionally young when they married and the Royal Court revolved around power, politics and intrigue. So we leap immediately to empowerment for women – a rallying cry for millions – and a clear audience profile for SIX.
Structurally, as the fairly comprehensive promotional campaign has pointed out, SIX is built around a history lesson and a competition. OK. Thank you. Got that. It puts the six queens up against each other each other – an Eisteddfod if you will – or is that merely a device for something bigger?
The six queens never leave the stage and their individual songs merge into six-voice choral arrangements, complimentarily and contrapuntally at times, with occasional snatches of spoken dialogue (but not very much at all). The staging itself is outstandingly conceived by Emma Bailey and reflects a modern high-tech concert stage that integratesTim Deiling’s dynamic lighting and Paul Gastrehouses’s sound in a way that clearly works. The stage is also peopled by an astonishingly well-rehearsed, syncopathic and complimentary all-girl band for the entire show.
This primarily Australian cast comes well credentialled. Dancing skills are clearly in evidence with very tight routines throughout and, even if there were one or two very minor vocal wobbles, vocal strength was generally strong and led by the assurance of Loren Hunter (Jane Seymour). But let’s face it, this show is presented more like an eisteddfod or a competition and it doesn’t really matter – one voice will always overlap another. The tenderness of Heart Of Stone and the hilarious rap of Haus of Holbein were both standouts for me.
The primary focus of attention however is largely rivetted on Gabriella Slade’s award-winning costumes. Little wonder that her outfits have a dash of Spice Girls about them as she devised Spice World back in the 1990s. But now she has embellished some glittering and futuristic sequinned outfits in ways that not only catch the eye, but help tell each queen’s story. The ‘beheadeds’ have chokers for example, Jane Seymour’s black and white bodice echoes the half-timbered houses of Tudor England, the green of Anne Boleyn’s outfit references the popular myth that this evergreen was composed by the much-wedded Henry VIII himself (that’s factually incorrect, but let’s stick with the myth). It’s interesting that one interpretation of this song concerns the promiscuity in young women, something Henry’s henchman Archbishop Cranmer used in arranging divorce and subsequent beheading.
The references go on. In fact they are never ending. There are the pop divas found in the songs : I think I heard echoes of Beyonce, Ariana Grande and Alicia Keys and probably missed a few more.
The sense of fun and campness is constant. SIX takes neither itself, nor musical theatre in general, seriously and whimsy is everywhere. Phones in the theatre, for example, were quite correctly asked to be turned off pre-show and then during the encore (or more correctly the ‘finale’), encouraged the audience to light them up again. And they certainly did. It was another moment of sheer joy and made the audience a part of the show. I think that grandma in front of me got a pretty good video take.
Any good production simply tells a story. SIX does so with succinctness and very, very well. It is not a long show, but is pretty demanding on both voices and the attention-span of audiences.
I always relish a well written show that is objective and contemporary rather than one that delves into the introspective meanderings of L-plate writers. SIX is mature writing and very clever staging.
The filmed on-stage reunion of Six’s original West End queens will be released in cinemas next month and, rather ironically, Auckland’s Civic remains one of the larger in-theatre venues it has played. After here, it’s off to complete its second lap of Australia at the Civic’s sister in Newcastle, while Asia awaits
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The “Brahms 3”concert began with Romanian composer Gyorgy Legeti’s “Concert Romanesc” written in 1951. The work opens with joyous images of landscape studded with hints of folk music. These passages combined humour and experimentation, qualities which inhabit much of his later music.
From the middle of the piece there were more sombre sounds, as though confronting the history of his country as well as the suffering and death of his parents in Auschwitz during World War II.
As the work became darker and bleaker there was a whirling dance of death moving to a finale where the whole orchestra exploded with lively, suffocating sounds.
Following his performance last week James Ehnes’ performance of Bartok’s “Violin Concerto No 1” was highly anticipated. He did not disappoint. With the soulful opening movement he was initially joined by Andrew Beere and Lauren Bennett before others from the string section joined, adding to the density and complexity of Ehnes’ playing.
Following on from the strings, the woodwinds provided a slightly unsettling voice and even as the orchestra gained in intensity, Ehnes’ violin rose up , soaring above the sounds of the orchestra with some strident sounds which were reflected in Ehnes’ rigid demeanour and exacting playing.
From the second movement on, his playing style changed, taking on a more passionate and expressive approach with some more hectic, gypsy-like playing as he battled against the sweep of the growling orchestra. However, even when he was frantically playing there was a sense of his being totally in control.
With his mastery of the violin, his skilful changes in pace, and tone the audience was treated to a display by a consummate violinist.
While Ehnes received a rapturous ovation for the Bartok it was his encore, Eugene Ysaÿe’s “Violin Sonata No.3 ‘Ballade” .that got a tumultuous reception. The solo work dedicated to the Romanian violinist and composer George Enescu which was beautifully structured requires an intelligent and skilful player – all the qualities that Ehnes was able to bring to the piece.
The big work on the programme was the Brahms “Symphony No 3, a work which is full of marvellous melodies but which is something of an enigmatic work.
In many ways it is a forerunner of the impressionist works of Debussy and Ravel reflecting the interest of the Impressionist artists of the late nineteenth century. Much of the music is linked to visions of landscape, light and shade, colours and texture.
These images parallel a world of emotions and feelings, the composers inner and exterior worlds mingling. In building a structure based on these links Brahms explores the nature if the human condition. This is very evident in the final movement with its passages of drama and tumult suggesting natural forces as well as the inner turmoil of love and passion.
The final works on the programme, three of Brahm’s Hungarian Dances had Conductor Bellincampi conducting at breakneck speed and while he spent much of his time dancing on the podium the orchestra were swept up by the music and carried along by its own impetus.
Bellincampi used the dances to book-end a farewell to the orchestra’s Music Librarian, Robert Johnson who has worked at the orchestra for over thirty years.
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Claire Cowan My Alphabet of Light Beethoven Piano Concerto No.5 ‘Emperor’ R. Strauss Ein Heldenleben
Auckland Town Hall
February 13
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
The Auckland Philharmonia’s “Emperor” concert marked the tenth anniversary of Giordano Bellincampi’s position as Music Director of the orchestra and for the concert he reprised Richard Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben” (A Heros Life), a work he had conducted at his first outing withe orchestra ten years ago.
It was a fitting work, acknowledging the conductor’s monumental contribution to the development of the orchestra over the last decade.
Opening the programme was Claire Cowan’s :My Alphabet of Life, a piece she had written in 2005 when she was 21. With this revised version she presented short musical phrases or conversations about the language of music and how compositions are structured. These ranged in tempo and style from the formal to the more abstract – from the simple to elaborate. These were conveyed by the various instruments – brass, percussion strings woodwinds as they experiment with their individua voices.
Haochen Zhang Photo Sav Schulman
Playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 pianist Haochen Zhang gave an agile performance as he carefully negotiated the work.
His playing at times was at times lethargic, at other times precise and refined and then he would appear to be chasing the orchestra with bravura displays. He managed to express what Beethoven intended, balancing the memorable themes played by the orchestra with the passionate displays of the soloist, allowing the drama of the piano to evolve out of the landscape of the orchestra.
The second movement was full of magical moments At the opening his slow delicate approach to the music made every single note seem special and with his other raised hand he appeared to conduct the orchestra himself. In another passage the woodwinds provided an exhilarating accompaniment to Zhang. Midway through this movement comes one of the great moments where the pianist always seems to stall as the tempo changes before returning with thundering chords, a passage which Zhang handled superbly.
Zhang’s mastery of the work was his ability to provide a real sense of cohesion and an understanding of the structure of each of the movements as well as the work as a whole. He never allowed the simple demonstration of his own technical facility to obscure his larger purpose.
He fully captured the textures, scope and power of the work and the heroic spirit as conceived by Beethoven is revealed to be both physically robust and spiritually refined.
Throughout the work Zhang and the orchestra took the audience on an emotional roller coaster, as the work fluctuates from being a sonata to more like a symphonic work. One is also conscious of the nature of Beethoven / pianist conveying the sense of the heroic struggle.
Richard Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben” was his response and update to Beethoven’s notion of the heroic struggle with this six-movement tone poem. It is both a wide-ranging tribute to the German notion of the Übermensch or Superman as well as an autobiographical work in which the composer portrays elements of himself, his work, his critics and his wife becoming something of picaresque account of his life.
It is a beguiling and charming work, musically impressive with many wonderful sounds recalling some of his earlier pieces such as “Thus Sprach Zarathustra” and “Till Eulenspiegel”.
Strauss can be very good at big atmospheric works and with “Ein Heldenleben” the orchestra was boosted with lots of brass – horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, tenor tuba as well as percussion and harps. Under the direction of conductor Bellincampi the orchestra made full use of their massive sound
Along with the monumental sounds there were more playful moments such as Andrew Beere’s various interventions with his gypsy-like solos where Strauss’ own voice punctuated the musical landscape. Another intervention saw three trumpet players delivering a brassy anthem from offstage.
The music ranged from the expansive and belligerent to the meditative and ethereal Some of the passages having the terse drama of his later operatic works like Electra while other had the charm of Der Rosenkavalier, all carefully controlled by Bellincampi.
James Ehnes
Forthcoming Concert
February 20th
Ehnes & Bellincampi
Conductor Giordano Bellincampi Violin James Ehnes
Schumann Manfred: Overture Brahms Violin Concerto Mendelssohn Symphony No.3 ‘Scottish’
One of the world’s supreme violinists, James Ehnes playing Brahms’ Violin Concerto
It is framed by Mendelssohn at his most romantic, inspired by the tragic history of Scotland, and Schumann at his most Gothic, painting a portrait of Byron’s hero.
Playing the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Houston Symphony Orchestra the reviewer Everett Evans noted “Ehnes again proved notable not only for technical proficiency, but also for the warmth and understanding of his playing. His decisive bowing and precise attack lent definition and drama to the work’s more emphatic statements, and he flew through the trickiest effects with alacrity and ease. Yet the delicacy and restraint of his pianissimo moments proved just as impressive.
He was at his most expressive in the adagio, his graceful phrasing and soulful tone lending an elegiac quality. He gave the right zest and exuberance to the finale, whose main theme advances by leaps and bounds.
Graf kept the interplay of orchestra and soloist lively and neatly balanced. The orchestra sustained a warm, rich sound, smoothly legato in lyrical passages, matching Ehnes’ solo work for irrepressible energy in the finale”.
Claude Monet, French, 1840-1926; Water Lilies ; about 1922;oil on canvas Toledo Museum of Art, purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
A Century of Modern Art
Auckland Art Gallery
June 7 – September 28
John Daly-Peoples
Auckland Art Gallery has announced that the exhibition “A Century of Modern Art” will be its special winter exhibition this year, running from June & through till September 28th.
The exhibition will be on loan from the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, and will provide a survey of the major artists who transformed modern art.
The exhibition will consist of 57 works by 53 artists, including Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, Helen Frankenthaler, Édouard Manet, William Merritt Chase, Amedeo Modigliani, Berthe Morisot, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Robert Rauschenberg, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh, James McNeill Whistler, among others.
Director of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Kirsten Lacy says the calibre of works and artists in this collection is exceptional and not to be missed. “A Century of Modern Art showcases the diversity and innovation that defined modern art movements,” says Lacy. “From the emotive brushstrokes of Van Gogh to the evocative landscapes of Monet and Rauschenberg’s bold abstractions, these works not only revolutionised Western art history but continue to inspire new generations.”
“The exhibition includes works by legendary art figures, including Vincent van Gogh, whose work hasn’t been publicly displayed here in Aotearoa in over a decade. It is made available to us due to renovations that are taking place at Toledo Museum of Art, and we are honoured to be working with the Museum to make the most of this rare opportunity.”
The centrepiece of the show will be Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey Plants, water, and sky seem to merge in Claude Monet’s evocative painting of his lily pond at Giverny. The disorienting reflections, bold brushstrokes, and lack of horizon line or spatial depth make Water Lilies appear almost abstract. Painted about 1922, it belongs to a grand project that Monet had conceived as far back as 1897:
“Imagine a circular room whose wall . . . would be entirely filled by a horizon of water spotted with [water lilies]… the calm and silence of the still water reflecting the flowering display; the tones are vague, deliciously nuanced, as delicate as a dream.”
Monet began this ambitious project in 1914, finally completing it shortly before his death in 1926. Over those years he executed more than 60 paintings of his water garden, capturing the light conditions at different times of day and in different weather. Twenty-two of these large panels were installed in the Orangerie in the Tuileries Gardens, Paris, as a gift to France. The Toledo’s work was is possibly a study for one of the three panels of the Orangerie composition” Morning”.
Berthe Morisot, In the Garden at Maurecourt. (Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey)
Included in the exhibition is a work by artists Berthe Morisot one of the few female Impressionist artists. Her work “In the Garden at Maurecourt” (Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey) is set in Morisot’s sister Edma country house outside Paris and probably shows Morisot’s daughter, Julie, and one of Edma’s daughters.
She was born to an upper-middle class family and was the great-niece of Rococo artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard. Morisot rejected the social expectations of her class and gender by pursuing a professional career as an artist. In 1868 she met and became close friends with artist Édouard Manet, marrying his younger brother Eugène in 1874, the same year she participated in the first Impressionist group exhibition.
Paul Gauguin, French, 1848-1903; Street in Tahiti; 1891;oil on canvas (Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey)
There is also a work by the recently deemed “controversial” Paul Gauguin. His work “Street in Tahiti” (Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey) which predates his Tahitian figurative works was among the first group of paintings Gauguin produced in Tahiti during his initial two-year stay. He conveyed something of the special character of the place—the limpid light, rich colour, lush vegetation, and lofty mountains—through his use of strong contours, flattened shapes, repeated curving rhythms, and tautly patterned brushstrokes. However, minor notes of strain, such as the brooding woman and heavy clouds pressing down from above, introduce undertones of sadness and disquiet.
A Century of Modern Art will make use of its current major exhibition “The Robertson Gift: Paths through Modernity” which includes works by. Georges Braque, Paul Cezanne, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Piet Mondrian and Pablo Picasso.
Together the two exhibitions will trace out the birth of modern painting, beginning with the Impressionists in the 1860s, and follows its evolution through key movements such as Post- Impressionism, Symbolism, Cubism, Surrealism, Constructivism, German Expressionism, Bauhaus, De Stijl, Precisionism, and Colour Field Painting and Abstract Expressionism.
Adam Levine, the Edward Drummond and Florence Scott Libbey President, Director and CEO of the Toledo Museum of Art, says, “The Toledo Museum of Art is distinguished by the quality of its collection. Each acquisition in our institution’s history has been oriented to acquiring artworks of superlative aesthetic merit. Never have so many of our masterworks travelled together, and we could not be more excited for them to debut in Auckland.”
A Century of Modern Art is organised by the Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio and has been supported by HSBC and Auckland Art Gallery Foundation. Co-ordinating curator of the exhibition is Dr Sophie Matthiesson
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Martin Creed, Work No 3769, Work No 3764, Work No 2053
Three exhibitions K Rd – Palmer, Creed, Parekōwhai.
Stanley Palmer, New Work
Melanie Roger Gallery
Until February 22
Martin Creed, Like Favourite Socks in a Drawer
Michael Lett
Until March 1
Michael Parekōwhai, The Indefinite Article
Artspace Aotearoa
Until April 17
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Current exhibitions along Karangahape Rd offers a range of art works from the realist depictions of the landscape to abstract paintings and conceptual construction.
With his latest exhibition at Melanie Roger Gallery Stanley Palmer continues his depictions of the New Zealand landscape. Like many of his previous exhibition he has painted views of the New Zealand coastline featuring dramatic vistas of headlands and offshore islands.
With this new series of works he has revisited many of his previous subjects including depictions of Karamea, Great Barrier Island, Chathams, Great Mercury Island and Matauiri. While these are mainly landscape there are a few which also feature other element in the landscape which add a visual drama as in “Akiaki – Chathams” ($30,000) where he has included windswept trees and grazing sheep.
Stanley Palmer, “Akiaki – Chathams”
These paintings seem to be less detailed than some of his previous work and there is a simplicity which gives these works an added drama. Part of this drama comes from the artists shrewd use of paint, so that in “Awana- Aotea Great Barrier” ($22,000) the eroded cliffs are highlighted by the gash of earthy colours and in “Mataurui” ($28,000) the red line of a track is like an abstract slash through the landscape.
Stanley Palmer “Mataurui”
In most of the works the background of sea meeting sky shows a clever juxtaposition of shimmering abstract blues with subtle variations between each of the paintings
Also included in the exhibition are some of the artist’s earlier bamboo prints of the early 1970’s including “Hillside Town Kohukohu” ($2250).
Stanley Palmer “Hillside Town Kohukohu”
Martin Creed’s minimalist works have always played with the definition of art and art making starting with his Turner winning installation “Work No. 227: The lights going on and off: an empty room” in which the gallery lights switched on and off at 5-second intervals.
His work is a mixture of the witty, poetic and philosophical, making use of a range of everyday materials and approaches which challenge traditional views of art.
His current show “Like Favourite Socks in a Drawer” brings together elements of chance, time and structure with a series of ziggurat shaped works. The works started with his decision to buy an ordinary multi pack of commercial paint brushes.
Martin Creed, Work No 3764
With these he applied paint in different colours with the varying brush sizes, stacking the colours one above the other to create stepped, random bands of colour.
The paintings/designs can be seen as referencing the ziggurat forms of ancient Mesopotamia and Mexico as well as more recent brutalist constructions and has connections with Rewi Thompson’s block-like house in Kohimarama. There are also hints of Frank Stella, Donald Judd and Cuisenaire rods.
Creed says of the works “A step pyramid is solid and easy to understand. It is a safe structure that is not going to fall down. It is trustworthy. You can see how it is built. The steps are hopefully leading to the top, and you can enjoy the colours on the way up. In a blobby, soupy, ill-defined world it can be helpful to put your ducks in a row.”
The works have a sense of the structure to them with their build-up of coloured shapes and in works such as “Work No 3764” (USD $22,000 plus GST) there is sense of the artist gestural involvement where the striations of the brown / sepia are visible as a single calligraphic stroke. With others there is the notion of time with the various strokes of colour measuring out the time taken to complete each work
Martin Creed, Work No 3766
Some of the work display additions to the quick gesture with Creed scumbling the yellow band in “Work No 3766” (USD $22,000 plus GST). This work like some other has a humorous element with the painting looking like a celebratory, multi-layered birthday cake.
The works all convey Creed’s minimalism of means, notions of time along with the structuring and ordering of objects shapes and colours.
Michael Parekōwhai, The Indefinite Article
Artspace is exhibiting Michael Parekōwhai’s sculptural object, “The Indefinite Article (1990) which had previously been shown at Artspace in 1990 in the show “Choice” curated by George Hubbard
The large letters based on McCahon’s cubist stylised letters constructed of MDF spell out the words “I AM HE”. Which references some of the McCahon paintings featuring the words “I Am”.
While borrowing from McCahon the work can also be seen as creating a bilingual pun linking the words to te reo where “HE” can be read as the indefinite article where the word can be defined as -a, an, some – or it can also mean something is wrong, mistaken or incorrect.
Other linguistic variations can be identified with the words. During the ”Cultural Safety” exhibition in Frankfort in 1995 where the work was shown this reviewer noted at the time – “His large word sculpture using the words of the Colin McCahon painting I AM HE was quickly identified by one perceptive German journalist as coming from the pen of John Lennon in “I Am the Walrus” [I am he as you are he, as you are me and we are all together] rather than the Bible or McCahon.
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Jan 22, 23, 24, 28, 31, Feb 1, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15
The Taming of the Shrew
By William Shakespeare
Dir Mags Delaney-Moffat
Jan 23, 29, 30, Feb 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14
Review by Malcolm Calder
22 January 2024
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Chris Raven) surrounded by his friends, perceived rivals and even some who survived his ascension to the throne
Tragedy is a commonly used euphemism in theatre for when lots of people die. Richard III doesn’t quite reach Titus proportions, but it has to be up there and this particular production is in good company.
It is part of Shoreside Theatre’s annual Shakespeare in the Park series, now in its 29th iteration, and staged at the delightful, terraced, outdoor amphitheatre adjacent to Lake Pupuke at Takapuna’s Pumphouse theatre.
Rather than try and recreate Shakespeare’s historical setting and fail, Director Catherine Boniface has chosen to locate her Richard III in a seedy but sartorially splendid 1930s London. Her program notes suggest the setting is reminiscent of Peaky Blinders – and, yes, there were some artfully angled flat caps on display. Gangland in a word. It works too, largely because it is analogously appropriate to the dastardly deeds that Richard, Duke of Gloucester got up to towards the end of the the English Civil Wars.
I won’t even begin to list all the deaths he generates. Suffice to say it’s a lot – one might even suggest he ‘eliminated’ his way to the top. And misogynistically too because, as far as I recall, all those who died were males. Something to do with lineage in those dastardly days when York’s rose challenged that of Lancaster and the distaff lines were those who suffered the pain and of loss.
Richard, of course, received his final comeuppance and the reference to Leicester reminded me that his remains were eventually discovered under a carpark there only 15 years ago.
Chris Rather played Richard with a suavely cool and assured arrogance, his ambition plainly on display, and even his disintegrating final days were well handled. He was a standout for me in 2024’s Measure for Measure and it was good to see him progress to the Richard role. The supporting roles more than served to enhance and focus attention on Richard’s dominance but the standout for me this time was Suzie Sampson as Lady Margaret – subtle, nuanced and very, very professional.
The period setting on a simple stage is fairly stark but allowed the inclusion of some delightful props – the wooden Lancaster bomber, the pistols and, of course, the costumes. I could swear the ghoulishly severed head with spectacles intact was still dripping blood. Although I did wonder if the prominently held and waved cigarettes may have in fact been vapes.
On balance, another competent and highly entertaining part of the Shakespeare in the Park series.
Conversely the comedic Taming of the Shrew is the very antithesis of Richard. Its content, gender-neutral casting and the fact that it is performed by what is effectively Shoreside’s youth company mean it would be facetious to compare the two.
Katerina (Matilda Chua) and Petrucio (Heather Warne) in The Taming of the Shrew
The plot itself of Shrew is well-known. In overly-simple words, Lucentio loves Bianca but cannot court her until her shrewish older sister Katerina marries. The eccentric Petrucio marries the reluctant Katerina and uses guile and trickery to render her an obedient wife. Lucentio marries Bianca and, in a contest at the end, Katerina proves to be a most obedient wife. The end !
There is probably a moral in there somewhere but the play is almost like a minefield for actors with cross-cuts of double entendre, split-second timing and that all important factor – suspension of disbelief. Shrew calls for a closer understanding of, and appreciation of the nuance in Shakespeare’s words coupled with the timing that is essential to pull this off revealing the farce beneath. Without them the humour just doesn’t work.
And that is where director Mags Delaney-Moffat is to be congratulated on clearly focussing her youthful and highly-promising cast. They work as an ensemble, there are laughs aplenty and the work that has gone into achieving them is clearly on display.
It would seem churlish to single out anyone but the work of Heather Warne (Petrucio) is almost upstaged at times by the wit, humour and general antics, and indeed the timing and presence, of Lizzie Morris as her ‘man’-servant Grumio. And, despite a demure start, Matilda Chua (Katerina) grows in confidence as true love with Petrucio eventually blossoms.
But there are many highlights and both director and cast are to be congratulated.
The annual two-play Shoreside season is now firmly established on the Auckland theatrical calendar in this, its 29th season.
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A Complete Unknown, the new biopic about Bob Dylan takes its title from the refrain to his “Like a Rolling Stone”
How does it feel To be on your own With no direction home Like a complete unknown Like a rolling stone
The song articulates his ambivalence about success and failure, about the loss of innocence and the realities of the music world.
The film is based on the 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! written by Elijah Wald, and follows Dylan from his early folk music success through to the his controversial use of electrically amplified instrumentation at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival
We first encounter Dylan Timothée Chalamet in 1961 when he moves from Minnesota to New York City, to see the recently hospitalized Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) where he also meets Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) who becomes a close friend
Dylan impresses both the singers with a song he has written for Guthrie and he ends up staying with Seeger’s family who introduce him to the New York folk music scene.
Dylan meets Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning), his first girl friend at a concert, charming her with his approach to music and life while she introduces him to politics and the Civil Rights movement The two begin a relationship and move in together.
At an open mic session Dylan follows on from a performance by Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro) starting a relationship which would last many years. Also at the session is Albert Grossman who signs Dylan up and becomes his manager. However, the record company won’t use any of Dylan’s original work, only interested in covers. The poor sales and reception are the first of the singer’s frustrations with the music industry
Dylan’s career takes off and he goes to several of the folk music festivals including Newport where he sings with Joan Baez and where in 1965 he alienates many of the crowd as well as his fellow folk musicians for embracing the more dynamic and challenging rock sounds that the electric guitar offers.
Timothée Chalamet isn’t going to convince a Dylan purist but he comes close to capturing the playing, the raspy voice, the subtle gestures and movements along with his ambivalent and unpredictable reactions to people and events.
We get a sense of how his musical ideas developed, mixing personal, political and musical elements to create songs which look at the heart of American society. All his encounters and relationships become the grist to his creative mind as he become one of the great voices of his generation
The film is full of his music as well as the music and musicians who had an impact on the singer – street musicians, The Kinks, Johny Cash, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. There are also glimpses of important events of the time which shaped his view of the world – The Vietnam War, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the death of J. F. Kennedy.
Monica Barbaro (Joan Baez) and Timothée Chalamet Bob Dylan
Throughout the film we see the differences between Dylan’s style and many of the other musicians of the time. In his duo “All Day and All of the Night” with Joan Baez at the Newport Folk Festival Baez’s sweet singing contrasts with Dylan’s sharper, more cynical sound, a sound which sets him apart for the next fifty years.
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Murray Savidan’s new photographic book “Stop. Look Both Ways” is something of a travel diary, a record of his journeys through Aotearoa/New Zealand and around the globe to diverse locations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. There are images of his time in Vietnam and Nepal, Egypt and Zanzibar, Italy and Spain, Japan and Vietnam.
But as well as a travel diary documenting the places he has been the images are also a record of the people of these places, seeing the aspects of other people’s lives which make them distinct but also seeing the similarities between us – partly ethnographic and partly the photographers own quirky approach to life.
Each of the individual photographs are the result of a keen eye, often capturing a moment, a contrast, a reflection or a facial expression which offers more than a simple photograph.
With many of the photographs Savidan has paired them in a way which emphasises their stories and creates new narratives. These often-subtle connections are an indication that he has reflected on the images and his way of contemplating the world around him.
There are spreads where he has contrasted the physical world a such as pairing the architectural shapes of the Guggenheim Gallery in Bilbao with those of a shrine in Bhaktapur – two different temples to culture.
The clash of cultures is seen is several of the works such as the linking of a beach on the Cinque Terra filled with sunbathing figures with a horde of burqa clad woman on a beach in Zanzibar.
Murray Savidan, Zanzibar
With some of the works there isa nod to other photographers such as his image of a crocodile in Madagascar which owes much to a similar work by Peter Peryer and his image of a woman contemplating a painting by Christian Schad at the Pompidou Centre is reminiscent of the similar gallery photographs of Thomas Struth.
He manages to find quirky connections as well. So, his view of the Anish Kapoor Dismemberment, Site 1 at Gibbs Farm is contrasted with horn shapes in an atrium in South Africa.
Then there are the landscapes such his pairing of a forlorn, misty landscape at Meola Reef with a desert landscape in Namibia. There are also some individual landscapes such as the drama view of a climber scaling a mountain in Fiordland.
Murray Savidan, Namibia
He contrasts a street scene in Kathmandu with one in Madagascar and a simple church in Northland with one in Madagascar as well as the contrasting portraits of a father and his child in Nepal and Egypt
While these paired images are serious reflections on culture and society there are many in which Savidan is making witty, or ironic comments.in one spread he pairs a gaudy jukebox with a church organ and in another he has juxtaposed the various parts of fish at a fish market in Vietnam with a figure lazing on a beach during a fishing competition on the East Cape., an image which itself is a droll comment on recreational fishing.
Murray Savidan, East Cape, New Zealand
He uses these images to create drama, explore history, culture and sexuality which become meditations on society and the individual, but in all of them he captures humanity.
New Zealand Arts Review 