Songs and stories from the front lawn

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 18

Songs and stories from the front lawn

The chorus of Saturday morning lawnmowers is the closest thing we have to communal music, believe Don McGlashan and Harry Sinclair. The two have written a satirical cabaret show “Songs and Stories From the Front Lawn.” The show is being toured by the New Zealand Students’ Arts Council. “Most New Zealand babies hear lawnmowers before they hear radios and it is not until much later that they learn one is music and one is not,” Don McGlashan said. “We’ve long felt that what we’re brought up to believe is an ugly sound is a meaningful cultural expression.” Musician Don McGlashan and actor Harry Sinclair have written all the songs for the show. Messrs McGlashan and Sinclair have been working together for three months

writing and rewriting material to use in the show. It has become a collage of ideas and experiences, a lighthearted collection of music and theatre written by two “all-New Zealand kids next door.” Both performers are experienced artists in their fields: Don McGlashan as the musician responsible for several of the Limbs Dance Company pieces, founder and member of the 1980-82 Auckland band, Blam Blam Blam, and one of three composer performers in From Scratch; Harry Sinclair is .an actor who has been employed for the last four years at Theatre Corporate in Auckland, during which time he has taken roles in about 18 plays. The show will play in Christchurch on July 10 for a four night session in the State Trinity Theatre. It will also play to student and school audiences.