Playwright praises N.Z. theatre

Press, 12 September 1980, Page 4

Playwright praises N.Z. theatre

New Zealand theatre came of age in 1976 and has developed “enormously” since then, says the playwright, Bruce Mason. Mr Mason is in Christchurch for two days to see the final rehearsals of “Blood of the Lamb,” which was commissioned earlier this j’ear for the opening of The Court Theatre’s new studio. Tire play will open at the theatre on Monday evening at the start of its national tour. Mr Mason said 1976 was a watershed for New Zealand theatre. When he had first started writing, there was only one amateur theatre, but in 1976, when Roger Hall wrote his first comedy, there were eight professional theatres. It was a year when the framework of professional theatre, for which he had been working for 20 years, was set up. . Now there was a generally high level of production, Mr Mason said. Although New Zealand could not match the very best of the English productions, it could now hold its own with the general run of work in Britain. Sometimes it was better. It was “sad” that New Zealand actors had difficulty

in earning a living, in theatre, but many gifted actors were prepared to put up with that because of the rewards of the theatre. Mr Mason said that a big advantage now was that young actors could at least find some work in New Zealand, and were not forced to go overseas. . Mr Mason’s own acting career presents a contrast to the present scene. Because there was no work in professional theatres, he was forced to perform in his own one-man plays. Probably the

most famous of his solo plays is “End of the Golden Weather,” which describes his childhood in Takapuna. “Going solo was an act of desperation. The only way to do it, was to do it Kiwi style, doing it all by myself,” he said. There was no tradition of theatre in his family, although he thinks his father was a great comic actor. “Some people are born to show off, and I guess 1 am one of those,” he said. Mr Mason said he got his only theatre training in his solo performances. Working as part of the Community Arts Service scheme, he performed in every place of any size in New Zealand, with the exception of Blenheim and Alexandra. "One night I would be playing in a tiny little hall, just about touching the kids in the front row. The next night, 150 miles down the road, I would be in a vast barn of a hall. And I still had to do the performance, giving my absolute best,” he said. A cheek operation has meant that Mr Mason cannot perform again, and so his future lay in writing, he said. He is in the process .of writing, a new play for Circa Theatre in Wellington.