Billboard

Press, 20 December 1989, Page 24

Billboard

The Maids Jean Genet’s classic modern play, “The Maids is seldom performed due to the bizarre nature of ns content and the difficulties surrounding its interpretation says the Christchurch director Lex Matheson. His production of the play runs at the Elmwood Playhouse nmil December 23 “The brilliance of Genet as a writer and Ms exceptional intellect have been well documented as has the extraordinarily theatrical nature of his owA life and writing - his displacement as an orphan, his recidivist criminal activity his perverse sexuality, his support of radical political organisations - but it is his plays, novels, and recent posthumous autobiography which stand as a lasting testament to the m in this production of “The Maids” by Troupers Theatre Sonva Williams is Madame, Maxine Stewart is Solange’ and Fiona Brownlie is Claire. The lighting is bv Brvan Lacey. Performances are at 8 p.m. every night, including Sunday. Bookings can be made at the Court Theatre. McDonald photographs “James McDonald Kai-Whakaahua — photographs of the Tangata Whenua” is a selection of photographs from negatives in the National Museum collections which are on show at the National Library until January 20. , , James McDonald (1865-1935) worked as, among other things, a still photographer and film maker for the Dominion Museum and the Tourist Department from the early 1900 s. He travelled widely, most notably on the ethnographic expeditions of 1919-23, with Elsdon Best Ethnographer at the Dominion Museum, Johannes Andersen, Chief Librarian at the Alexander Turnbull Library, and sometimes also with Peter Buck, Director of Maori Hygiene. Their destinations included the Whanganui River valley, the East Coast and Rotorua. Most of the photographs record activities such as weaving, making eel traps, fishing, food preparation and hand and string games. Arts Centre Christmas The Arts Centre’s Christmas holiday festivities start with carol singing on Christmas Eve between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., led by members of the Canterbury Accordion Association. Most of the craft shops, studios and galleries will be open every day except Christmas Day. The Arts Centre Market is extending its opening to include the Thursday and Friday as well as the week-end before Christmas. On the morning of Boxing Day, outdoor entertainment in the quad features gospel, blues and jazz by Robin Shingleton, Gordon Goodinson and Shane Bolingford until 12.30 p.m. In the afternoon, outdoor entertainment will be provided by a jazz quintet, Bags Groove Plus, a recently formed Christchurch swing group led by David Edmundson. The market will not be open. Advice for writers Maurice Shadbolt, the president of P.E.N. (the international writers’ organisation) and an ‘intellectual property’ lawyer, Andrew Brown, of Russell McVeagh partners, have started a legal advice service for writers. “Most writers have traditionally been unable to afford legal advice because of their relatively low incomes,” says Shadbolt. Writers with legal problems can first write to P.E.N., (Box 2283 Wellington) and if their problem cannot be resolved, they receive legal advice for a $30.00 fee. “Many writers have been disadvantaged by their publishing contracts in the past,” says Shadbolt. “We hope this new service will signal an end to exploitation of writers by the occasional unscrupulous publisher. We also hope that it will result in fairer practices throughout the book publishing industry.” Arts marketing award The inaugural Arts Marketing Awards for 1989 have been won by Mercury Theatre of Auckland for most effective marketing of an arts project, and the Waikato Musuem of Art and History and Telecom Midland for the most effective arts/business partnership. Mercury’s award was for its very successful sponsorship and subscription season. The award recognises the need for arts organisations to promote their products, and to identify and develop audiences and markets for their products. The Waikato Museum of Art and History’s award was for their partnership with Telecom Midland marketing the Picasso Etchings exhibition and jointly promoting their relatively recent entry into their respective fields. This award is for an effective arts business partnership in which an arts organisation and a corporation form a joint Venture for marketing related objectives. New Year’s Eve jazz On New Year’s Eve an afternoon of jazz will be held in the Great Hall of the Arts Centre. The performers will be Danielle Wood, piano; Kerry Wood, a violinist with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; J. C. Ball, saxophone; and Tricia Lee, vocals, drums and bass. A variety of jazz will be performed, and wine will be served. The event will start at 4 p.m. Piano/viola recital Jocelyn Woodley will join Wallace Woodley of the Durham Street Methodist Church in a lunchtime recital of works for piano and viola on December 21 at 1.10 p.m. The recital, to be held at the church, will include works by Beethoven, Schumann and Debussy. Jocelyn Woodley recently returned to New Zealand after four years studying in Britain, three of them spent at the Royal Academy of Music in London as an Associated Board Overseas Scholar, studying cello with Derek Simpson. Her fourth year was spent at Cambridge University, where she completed an M.Phil. in International Relations. 1990 composition As an official 1990 project Radio New Zealand’s Concert • Programme has commissioned the Christchurch composer, Philip Norman, to write a 10-minute finale for the National Youth Music Festival in Christchurch in August/September 1990. Norman is to provide a work for the combined forces of the New Zealand Post National Youth Orchestra, National Youth Choir, New Zealand Youth Brass Band, Concert Band, Pipe Band, a Maori Youth Group, and the winners of the National Rock Band competition. All will be taking part in the Festival’s final concert. The composer says he is “excited by the challenge of writing for such a large and diverse musical ensemble.” The premiere performance will be broadcast on Concert Programme September 2, 1990. Jazz, blues festival A Jazz and Blues Festival is to be held in Picton on February 3 to .5. The festival opens with a “Beachcomber Blues Cruise’ in the Marlborough Sounds with live entertainment on board and ends with a free multicultural open air festival concert on the Picton foreshore. Several indoor concerts and Jazz Workshop sessions will also be held for participating musicians and spectators. The two resident groups will be Stu Buchanan, the saxophonist and jazz educator, who will bring a quartet from Christchurch, and Mango, an Auckland-based group who play blues, jazz, and many other styles and have toured extensively in New Zealand and Europe. It is hoped that jazz and blues players from all parts of the country will take part in the workshops and perform in the concerts Brochures are available from P.O. Box 172, Picton.