Abroad
Just back from touring are Jamie McCaskill and Miria George with their new work He Reo Aroha, which has toured with Tawata Productions as part of Honouring Theatre (with Canada's Native Earth Productions and Australia's Yirra Yaakin) following New Zealand dates. Meanwhile performing at the 10th Festival of Pacific Arts in Pago Pago this month was Dianna Fuemana with her new solo show Falemalama, due to be published by Playmarket later this year.
Finding Murdoch
Congratulations to Margot McRae whose Finding Murdoch received a second production to good reviews in Auckland at the Maidment this month (directed by Paul Gittens. An engrossing, funny and moving account of how far a woman reporter goes to get a story. The play follows the hunt for Keith Murdoch, the only man to be expelled from the All Blacks. It's an intimate portrayal of the collision between two giants, the Media and Rugby. Finding Murdoch answers questions about the mystery and intrigue that still surrounds his disappearance.
Double bill for Sainsbury
Thomas Sainsbury scored a BATS first in July: two plays by the same writer featuring at BATS at the same time. This double-bill featuring Luv and The Mall , follows hot on the heels on the successful premieres of Beast and GAS in Auckland.
Read all about it
New to the website are transcripts from this year's Pasifika Playwrights Forum featuring fesity discussion from theatre practitioners about Pacific Island writing and the future of theatre. We also feature Ode to Auckland , an extract from the latest Playmarket News magazine, featuring thoughts from major producers and playwrights on Auckland theatre's growing pains. Pictured is South Auckland theatre group Kila Kokonut Krew.Congratulations to playwright Branwen Millar who has been awarded the Robert Lord Writers’ Cottage Residency in Dunedin for August and September this year to work on her next play. Branwen’s play Swansong premieres as part of Young and Hungry at BATS in June. For more information on the residency go here. Playmarket New Play Award
The Playmarket readers have selected Ninna Terman’s Fucking Parasites, a play that was developed through the Auckland Playmarket Playwrights Studio and received a reading through Read Raw in 2007. Ninna is an Auckland based playwright who hails originally from Sweden.
In a suburban refugee hostel two teenagers who have come to New Zealand meet. In the absence of parents and other adults, they turn to each other and their fertile imaginations. The play deals powerfully with the complex issues of immigration and the idea of far-flung New Zealand as a haven. We look forward to workshopping and presenting Tersman’s work at a later date.
We’d also like to single out the following playwrights that were short-listed for this award: Arthur Meek (One in Eight), Carl Nixon (Two Fish n a Scoop), Craig Thaine (Cutting Loose), E.J Campbell (The Child), Gavin McGibbon (Handyman), Lucy O’Brien (Postal), and Margot McRae (Bloodlines).
Playmarket Playwrights Studio
Playmarket has awarded places in the Playwrights Studio for 2008; Auckland; Louise Tu’u, Arthur Meek, and Claire van Beek; and in Wellington; Lucy O’Brien, Whiti Hereaka, Eli Kent, and Louise Proudfoot. We’re very luck to secure Michaelanne Forster as our Dramaturg in Auckland, and newly returned David Geary in Wellington. On the Edge of THE EDGE
In mid January Playmarket's first ever Auckland office quietly opened its doors with the relocation of Agency Coordinator Katrina Chandra from Wellington to our new shared office space on Level 11, Wellesley Centre, 44-52 Wellesley Street West in the Auckland CBD. The office is shared with cotenants Q Theatre and Massive Company. In February there was another first with the commencement of work of Jenni Heka, Playmarket's first ever Maori and Pacific Island Playwright Development Coordinator (a position like the office made possible with a grant from ASB Community Trust). In terms of interaction with the world the new office sees the structure of our current services remain the same, Aucklanders can just expect to see more of us!