SCENE BY JAMES: 2023 – A Theatrical Year in Review [Part 1: The Issues]

December 30, 2023

The good news: For the first time in four years, 2023 was marked by the absence of widespread disruption and cancellations of performing arts events caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Buoyed by Government investment, festivals were back in force up and down the country. There were plenty of sold out shows. Theatre is back, baby! The not-so-good news: Extreme weather […]

SCENE BY JAMES: 2022 – A Theatrical Year in Review [PANDEMIC EDITION YEAR THREE]

December 31, 2022

[THE DEEPENING CRISIS] On April 13th 2022, New Zealand said goodbye to gathering restrictions. When we moved from the Red to Orange Covid-19 traffic light setting, live performance could go ahead without any capacity limits for the first time in months. Later in the year we’d say goodbye to the entire traffic light protection framework. With boosters and antivirals, we […]

Everything you ever wanted to know about Creative New Zealand and Arts Funding in Aotearoa

October 18, 2022

Outrage over Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand’s (SGCNZ) unsuccessful funding application to Creative New Zealand has generated a flood of local and international headlines. Commentary has derided Creative New Zealand for defunding SGCNZ and “cancelling” Shakespeare. This fuss is distracting from the real arts funding scandal: Creative New Zealand has not been given enough money to meet the needs of […]

SCENE BY JAMES: 2021 – A Theatrical Year in Review [PANDEMIC EDITION YEAR TWO]

December 31, 2021

[Weathering the Storm] On the 20th April, 2021, the Prime Minister, the Deputy PM and Aotearoa’s leading epidemiologist converged at BATS Theatre to watch an uncanny mirror image of our country’s 2020 Covid-19 lockdown. The play was Transmission, created by Stuart McKenzie and Miranda Harcourt, which used verbatim extracts of interviews primarily with Jacinda Ardern, Grant Robertson and Professor Michael […]

SCENE BY JAMES: When will Arts in Aotearoa get the Green Light?

November 20, 2021

In the same week Auckland Theatre Company and Basement Theatre confirmed they were closing for the rest of the year, I attended a one night-only performance of Back to Square One? at the Tahi Festival of Solo Performance at Wellington’s BATS Theatre. Back to Square One? is a Covid show, inspired by writer/performer Anders Falstie-Jensen’s conversations with his 95-year-old grandmother […]

SCENE BY JAMES: The Lion King vs the NZ Theatre Industry

March 20, 2021

[Still Working on our Roar] An international production of The Lion King coming to Auckland is a vote of confidence from the world that New Zealand is the ideal place to put on live performance during a global pandemic, but what are the implications for the local theatre sector? As a Musical Theatre obsessed kid in the 90s and early 2000s, […]

SCENE BY JAMES: 2020 – A Theatrical Year in Review [Pandemic Edition]

December 31, 2020

[Out of the Box and Into the Box: Aotearoa Theatre Enduring a Pandemic, and Dreaming of the Future] Suddenly the opening exchange of Anton Chekhov’s 1895 play The Seagull made sense like never before: “Why do you always wear black?” “I’m in mourning for my life” There on my laptop was Masha (Bronwyn Ensor), rocking the no-longer-care lockdown look. What […]

SCENE BY JAMES: 2019 – A Theatrical Year in Review

December 30, 2019

[What could we do with sustainable practice?] The challenges of making a living out of the performing and screen arts are well known to the industry, but there is something about seeing the facts in black and white that throws the problem into stark relief. I’m talking about research commissioned by Creative New Zealand and NZ on Air released in […]

SCENE BY JAMES: To Support the Arts, buy a Lotto Ticket…

April 3, 2016

[More Fool Us] The most dramatically interesting part of the opening night of Auckland Theatre Company’s You Can Always Hand them Back was actually what happened after the bows. The production marks 40 years of playwriting from national treasure Roger Hall, and the occasion was quite rightly used as an opportunity to pay tribute to Hall’s enormous contribution to New […]

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