Stuart Devenie for Centrepoint

Press, 17 August 1983, Page 15

Stuart Devenie for Centrepoint

By

KARREN BEANLAND

Fraser Dick, that selfopinionated, curly-topped Irish television interviewer on “McPhail and Gadsby,” has probably done his last probing uncover job on the latest “Dick of the Week.” His creator, Stuart Devenie, the former associate director and leading actor at the Court Theatre, has accepted a new job as artistic director at the Centrepoint Theatre in Palmerston North. The new appointment is likely to bring his long association with the Christchurch television duo to an end — for the time being, at least. Mr Devenie accepts that there might be some risk in becoming the director of a theatre which came close to collapse last year when its Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council grant was withdrawn.

“I have only been looking at the positive aspects. I am sure there will be a few thorns, but at the moment it is a proposition of enormous promise and fun,” he says. Since the gloom and despair last year, things have picked up for Centrepoint. The local community swung behind the theatre, local authority funding increased and the Arts Council grant was restored.

“Everyone is in very good heart there and I think that the troubles they had actually helped them. Eighteen months ago it wasn’t clear that the community wanted the theatre and now they have decided that they do. That makes a hell of a lot of difference,” Mr Devenie says.

His first task will be to turn the theatre’s deficit into a profit. Its latest production of “Noises Off” has been very popular, and Mr Devenie intends to continue with a string of commercial productions for about three months to attract people to the theatre. He adds that “unashamedly repeating past successes,” like Roger Hall’s “Hot Water” and “Side by Side by Sondheim,” will give him the time to find out

how Centrepoint fits into its community. “I don’t know anything about Palmerston North. It’s a bit like Jim Anderton coming to Christchurch,” he’ says. But Stuart Devenie has bigger ambitions for Centrepoint. He believes the theatre, which seats about 125 people, should have a permanent company of eight actors. As well as providing “main stream” theatre, he would like to branch out into productions for schools, late night theatre for audiences interested in alternative theatre and work with Massey University. “I want a company that has double skills. It is important if you have a small company that people are selected not just for one ability. If you can get two people in one it allows you to do slightly more,” he says.

He has plans to produce a Shakespearean play and a show with a New Zealand flavour written by the Centrepoint company. One of the things his three years with the Court Theatre has taught him is the importance of having a strong administrative structure. He sees it as a safety net which allows the actors to work at their best. “That is one of the reasons for the Court’s success, along with having Elric Hooper,” he says. Mr Devenie has enjoyed his time in Christchurch and at the Court. He sees the city as “home” and hopes to return one day. “There is a sense of community here that I have never found anywhere else,” he says. “I love playing for the Christchurch audience. It is an innovative and exciting audience. “The most important element of theatre is the communication between actor and audience. It is not just a one way street. The audience gives the feedback which is what the actor builds on. In Christchurch I have found that more than anywhere else.”

Mr Devenie hopes there will be an exchange of directors between Wellington, Christchurch and Palmerston North while he is at Centrepoint. “Exchanges like that give the opportunity for the theatre and the community to see other people’s work. “The wonderful thing about New Zealand is the fact that we are long and thin means we have different characters and that is reflected in the theatres. It is wonderful to have so many diverse styles,” he says. Before he joined the Court Theatre, Mr Devenie had worked as a radio drama and television director, an actor and director at Downstage in Wellington and as a freelance actor and director. He worked in repertory and pantomime in England before joining the Heartache and Sorrow Company at the Edinburgh Festival in 1979. Since he left the Court Theatre in June, he has directed the University of Canterbury Drama Society’s production of “No Orchids for Miss Blandish,” which will open just two days before he leaves Christchurch in September.