Billboard

Press, 1 March 1989, Page 24

Billboard

Town and country

Marie Lenihan is to be the guest artist for the annual Town and Country Art Group exhibition which is to be held in the Christchurch Town Hall from March 3 to 10. Lenihan is well known for her portraits worked with the unusual combination of charcoal and watercolours. The charcoal gives her work depth and character while the watercolour brings the work to life. SLfi won the National Bank Portrait Award in 1981 and the Walmairi County Council Award in 1984. She has had two shows at the Canterbury Society of Arts, in 1982 and 1988. Members of the Town and Country Art Group are members of art groups throughout Canterbury who have been nominated by their clubs to meet regularly to extend their talents. The group has 150 members, many of whom will be exhibiting at the exhibition. Doris Lusk is to be the guest speaker at the official opening on Friday, March 3, at 4 p.m. ‘Still Life’ The University of Canterbury Drama Society begins its year with the documentary “Still Life” by American playwright Emily Mann, to be staged in the Ngaio Marsh theatre at the University from March 8. The play examines the effect of the Vietnam war on the relationships of an ex-marine, and the wider media image of the war. The script, was edited by the author from her interviews with a “vet.” The director of this production, Mark Mullen, is writing his Masters thesis on the effects of Vietnam on American culture. Both Mullen and the lead actor, Edward Davis, are American by birth. Jo Collins plays the ex-marine’s lover, Nadine, and Vanessa Andrews his wife, Cheryl. The production is appropriately sponsored by Wilson’s Army, Navy and Western Stores, and runs nightly at 8 p.m. until March 12. Auditions For its April production, the Drama Society of the University of Canterbury has engaged June Harvest to direct Brecht’s “The Good Person of Szechwan.” The play has a cast of around twenty, with a wide variety of roles. Auditions for this are being held at the Ngaio Marsh Theatre on Sunday, March 5, and in addition, a workshop (free to members) on audition technique is being held at the theatre on March 4. People interested in the audition or in joining the society should ring Matthew Gould on 652-993. Performing business The role of professional performing arts companies in New Zealand is to be examined at a special meeting being held in Wellington this week-end. Participants will endeavour to develop new strategies to safeguard their financial security and place them in a position for innovative development, says Elizabeth Airey, the chairperson of the New Zealand Association of Professional Performing Arts, which is organising the meeting in conjunction with the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council. The 14 companies taking part in the meeting are the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Wellington Regional Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Dunedin Sinfonia, the Music Federation of New Zealand, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Limbs Dance Company, the Mercury, Centrepoint, Downstage, Court and Fortune Theatres, Circa and the Depot. All receive funding from the council on an annual basis. “We’ve felt for some time there was a growing incompatibility between Arts Council perceptions of our artistic and business needs and our own,” says Airey. “The agreement to hold this meeting has made us feel much more positive about the situation and we’re hopeful we can go a long way towards resolving some of the key issues concerning us all.” Kidman award The Wellington writer Fiona Kidman has been given the annual Award for Achievement by the Literary Fund Committee of the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand. The award of $lOOO is given in recognition of a special contribution to New Zealand literature by a writer, editor or publication. Kidman’s novel, “The Book of Secrets” was the winner of the 1988 Book Awards. Kidman was also the 1988 Victoria University Literary Fellow. An earlier work, “Mandarin Summer” has been recently republished. Hurunui art Entries are invited for the Hurunui Community Arts Council exhibition of arts and crafts to be held at the Old Town Hall, Amberley on April 28. Awards will be made in seven categories: painting (any media), fibre (including wool crafts and any other natural fibres), woodware, pottery, needlework, china painting, andother media. To be eligible, entries must come from the area bounded by the Waimakariri and Conway Rivers and the Southern Alps. Entry forms are available from Leith Sloss, Cheviot 654 or any H.C.A.C. members.