N.Z.B.C. will not reopen studio

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33003, 24 August 1972, Page 14

N.Z.B.C. will not reopen studio

The N.Z.B.C. cannot contemplate restaffing the Christchurch drama studio at present, the Minister of Broadcasting (Mr Walker) said in a letter to the Canterbury Progress League.

Mr Walker, who met a delegation from the league on the subject said that, after discussions with the chairman of the N.Z.B.C. board, he had been informed that the present availability of acting talent in Christchurch was insufficient to warrant the retention of full-time production staff in the city. “Production must therefore be centred on Welling-

Electrical Wholesalers’ officers.—Officers elected at the annual meeting of the Canterbury and Westland Electrical Wholesalers’ Association, were: President: Mr I. R. Cosgrove; vice-president, Mr S. Erikson; immediate past-president, Mr W. J. McDowell; executive, Messrs C. J. Hessy, J. D. McKeown, A. Rayner, R. Redpath, H. G. Rowlands and S. J. Thompson.

ton and Auckland, where the existence of professional and semi-professional theatre groups ensures an adequate pool of performers,” the Minister said.

The secretary of Actors Equity in Christchurch (Mr P. M. Smyth) said the Minister’s letter was most unsatisfactory and indicated that he had not absorbed the facts given to him in the submissions from the league. Since the studio closed in May only two actors from a cast of 50 had been taken to Wellington for acting work. To date no production bad been mounted >n Christchurch, but it was proposed that a play would be recorded. However the cast was small and most of the roles short. The employment of the acting profession in Christchurch could only further the cultural expansion of the city and contribute to its over-all development, he said. It was estimated that by the end of the year 45,000 persons would have attended dramatic productions in the city during 1972, as compared to 21,500 in 1970, and 27,000 last year. The reason for the increase was obviously due to the advent of a semi-profes-sional theatre in the city, Mr Smyth said.