Talent works

Press, 15 June 1983, Page 15

Talent works

By

KAREN HOGG

New Zealand actors don’t know how lucky they are, according to a freelance actor and director, Raymond Hawthorne. Mr Hawthorne has been associated with professional theatre, both in New Zealand and in Britain, since 1955 and believes that actors in New Zealand have far greater opportunities than they do overseas. He visited Christchurch to direct the Court Theatre’s production of “Sherlock Holmes.”

“In England actors are lucky if they work for three months of the year, but here they are always busy...l hope they realise how lucky they are,” he said. “If you’ve got talent in New Zealand you’ll find work — so if an actor hasn’t got work it’s probably because he has no talent.”

When he first started his professional career it was necessary for an actor to travel overseas to learn and gain experience, Mr Hawthorne said. After two years with the New Zealand Players Company he was granted a New Zealand Government bursary in 1957

which allowed him to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London for two years. For the next 12. years he worked in Britain as an actor, director, and singer, returning to the academy during that period as a director and tutor. He returned to New Zealand in 1971, joining the Mercury Theatre at Auckland. In 1973 he instigated the formation of the Theatre Corporate and was director there until the end of 1981.

Things have changed since he started. Mr Hawthorne insists that professional theatre has become a part of the New Zealand community and cultural scene.

He claims that New Zealand’s standards are just as high as those in Britain. “Here we are creating our own standards. There are no old traditions so new forms are being created and risks taken.

“Sets are being presented in a more abstract way, not because of economic restrictions, but as a matter of taste, and English theatres

are beginning to emulate this,” he said. However, Mr Hawthorne hastens to add that there comes a time in every creative person’s life to travel and see how other nations live. Although times might be hard in New Zealand Mr Hawthorne is convinced that professional theatre will survive.

He points out that it is an historical fact that the arts thrive in times of hardship. The Government seemed to be aware of the place theatre had in the community and had not curtailed Arts Council funds, he said. He added, wryly, that these funds are not as much as theatres would like, but never would be. “Actors are no longer regarded as rogues and vagabonds but as thinking members of the community. “The old idea that the theatre is an insecure life is rubbish — all fields of employment are insecure today.” Although he is convinced professional theatre’ will survive Mr Hawthorne is also concerned that it grows. He said there are still large parts of New Zealand deprived of professional theatre and it is important new projects are started.

Although he has only been working as a freelance director since the beginning of the year, Mr Hawthorne is not sure how long he will continue to do so. His wife, Elizabeth, is an actress and he says he has to consider her career also. However, after concentrating on directing for the past 10 years he has decided to return to acting for a while and has been cast as King Lear at the Theatre Corporate. He finds freelance work stimulating. It also gives one a chance to see the regional differences in theatre, he believes.