Our second episode of Election Murmurs features an exclusive interview with the National Party's Arts, Culture and Heritage spokesperson Simon O'Connor reveals that a change of government would have no plans to invest further in the arts.
 In our first episode of Election Murmurs Austin Harrison interviews incumbent Minister for arts, culture and heritage Carmel Sepuloni about how her government has overseen the sector over the past three years, and where she sees policy progress in the future.
Austin Harrison Photo of Austin Harrison looking puzzled in high vis by Mandy Eeva from Apartment by Tama Smith It’s been a hectic couple of months at Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington as the University announced a $33 million deficit, and a proposal to cut 229 full-time staff. Among these proposed cuts comes the gutting of the VUW theatre department, reducing it from 10 academic staff to four, disestablishing a technician and folding the department into English and Creative Communications, from which the department was born 40 years ago and has since created it’s own programme, academia, and made it’s own mark on Aotearoa New Zealand theatre. I’m a VUW theatre grad, and here is why I firmly believe we must #saveVUWtheatre. Evangelina Telfar  I joined Art Murmurs near the end of 2016. I was a fresh-faced writer in the theatre scene, and I believed that reviewing theatre would be good for my own writing practice. Reviewing also presented an affordable way to see more shows, something very appealing to me and my theatre-practitioner income. It didn’t take me long to realise what made being a reviewer challenging.
Who is this young, strong wāhine who's taking the New Zealand theatre world by storm? Emilie Hope decided to find out a little bit more about her. The one and only, Eleanor Strathern, A Mulled Whine. Photo by Becki Moss at Milk Crate. When choosing a perky spot for a portrait, Eleanor Strathern’s first suggestion was the yellow wall in Milk Crate. I wasn’t waiting long before she promptly walks in with a chirpy “Hi!” and our simultaneous gift of the gab began, covering things like humble beginnings, obstacles, balancing multiple jobs, mental health, and the theatre industry. Twenty-five year old Eleanor is the woman behind the award-winning theatre production company A Mulled Whine. She’s the BATS of Wellington theatre producers, the champion of the pick-n-mix and the indie. She’s been on my radar ever since I reviewed Discharge is Rotten to the Core for the 2018 Fringe Festival, although she’s been a familiar face in the Wellington scene for a lot longer. The quality of shows Eleanor has produced reflects her much deserving awards, both essentially telling us to keep an eye on this budding producer, and I have been. Enough to be intrigued to ask her a couple of questions, taking time out of her busy schedule. Quite literally. Eleanor has put on a show in February, six in March, two more in April and May respectively, another in June, and we’re only halfway through the year. So how did it all start? Lizzie Murray Last week I had the privilege of interviewing three Wellington creatives behind the entirely-female produced short film The Girls.
Running late to interviews isn’t ideal, especially when the brownie bar you suggested to meet at is closed. We settle on meeting at the library. The one with books not booze. Between the Mysteries and Graphic Novel sections we lament lack of brownie and discuss the ambitious project. I’m meeting with The Girls’ director Tabitha Arthur, script writer Courtney Rose Brown and producer Bethany Grace Miller. Changing plans on the fly breaks my Capricorn heart but I quickly relax into the part kõrero, part compliment battle and am enthralled to be a tiny fragment of this inspiring project. Corey Spence This September marks the inaugural New Zealand Theatre Month, an entire month of our calendar year devoted to honouring, supporting, and highlighting national theatre, its performers, its writers, its community, and its viewers. We’re half-way through New Zealand Theatre Month and their website is abuzz with information, events, goals, and the results of their poster competition. I was invited along to the launch event at Parliament earlier this month and have been watching the publicity of this exciting venture closely. So, I’m here to spread the word -- what happened at the launch event and what are the plans and goals for New Zealand Theatre Month moving forward?
So, it's come around again; welcome to the start of the Wellington Fringe Festival for 2018. And with it again comes a plethora of shows that are seeking reviews. And we promise we're going to deliver, but to do so and keep our lovely contributors afloat, we're making a few changes to our approach over the Festival.
Corey Spence A group of 300-Level students from Victoria University of Wellington’s Theatre Programme are currently working with PhD candidate and lecturer Kerryn Palmer on two Theatre for Young Audiences productions, Moonlight and In the Attic, set to open to the public this coming week. As well as public performances targeted at younger audiences, these productions serve as research material for Palmer’s PhD research on the quality and culture surrounding Theatre for Young Audiences in New Zealand. Through these productions, the students strive to shatter the stereotypes surrounding Theatre for Young Audiences, and to create theatre for children that is enticing, entertaining, and exciting.
Recently, I caught up with several students from the course (Terri Cochrane, Dara Flaws, Georgia May, Gemma Revell, Saffron Troughton, and Nicole Top-Annan) as well as director and researcher Kerryn Palmer. I sought to unpack their intentions and processes further, looking at their aim to break past the form’s stereotypes, their process and the steps involved, and how important they believe theatre is to our young people. Corey Spence BATS Theatre is, in many ways, the mother of the Wellington theatre community. It welcomes emerging artists with open arms and provides a place of nurture to help those artists grow and eventually fly from the nest. BATS Theatre is embedded in Wellington’s theatre community, and so many of us have ties to our winged friend, one way or another. Like all the wonderful and valiant mothers in our world, those they nurture always strive to return the favour, by giving back to the person (or people in this case) who helped them along their way.
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