Shows and Events Coming Up In Dunedin
Fortune Theatre
Jerusalem, Jerusalem - directed by Rosemary Riddell Jerusalem, Jerusalem is a bold new work based on the life and death of New Zealand's finest poet and one of her most controversial sons. Foul-mouthed, honey-tongued, social critic and wild prophet; James K. Baxter entranced and scandalised the population in equal measure. He was a recovering alcoholic, a brilliant literary critic, a dogmatic Catholic, a randy libertine, a creative genius and a perceptive showman. Thirty years on from his death at the age of 46, he comes to life again in this riveting dramatic work which continues to shock and engage audiences. Written by novelist Mike Riddell, the play takes Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, baptises it in Maori culture and antipodean imagery, and sends it back ringing in the ears and thumping in the heart Jerusalem, Jerusalem, is based on the last year of his life, 1972. The play is a tragedy in two acts and draws on T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, tackling universal themes as they arise in a doggedly local context. 6 - 14 June 2003
The Wind in the Willows - by Kenneth Graham (adapted by Alan Bennett) Ever since the publication of Kenneth Grahame's novel in 1908, his characters of Ratty, Mole, Toad and Badger have delighted generations of readers. Now Alan Bennett's acclaimed stage adaptation opens up this magical world for adults and children alike. Following in the footsteps of last year's production of 'The Jungle Book', The Wind in the Willows is certain to be an unforgettable treat for all the family. 27 June - 19 July 2003
Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: (media) Lisa Scott, phone (03) 477 1695 or Box Office (03) 477 8323
Regent Theatre
Dennis Locorriere - The Sensational Voice Of Doctor Hook Audiences may not instantly know the name Dennis Locorriere. Why would they? He hasn't troubled the singles charts for the best part of 20 years. But as soon as he opens his mouth to sing the opening bars of his first song they are instantly transported back to the late 1970s and the heyday of Dr Hook. Rising from the tenderest emotional whisper to a powerful roar, his voice is one of the most distinctive sounds in popular music. It may have been 18 years since pop band Dr Hook called it a day, but one of the most distinctive voices of the eighties brought back the memories. For one night only Dennis Locorriere, the voice behind Dr Hook, will take to the stage as part of his countrywide tour. His appearance may have changed a little in those two decades, but his voice definitely had not. His instantly recognisable, spine-tingling, sexy vocals will wow the audience, most of who will be there because they are ardent fans. With renditions of 'A Little Bit More', 'When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman', 'The Right To Walk Away', and a beautiful song penned for his son's departure to university called 'Shine Sun'. When he was lead vocalist with Dr Hook he won more that 60 gold and platinum albums, having number one chart hits in more than 42 countries. 14 June 2003, 7.30pm
David Strassman Tour 2003 What makes Strassman special is that he's a ventriloquist who revives a tired, old art form into sophisticated, state of the art entertainment. The biggest star of his one-man show is a misanthropic, white trash dummy called Chuck Wood. He interrupts the teddy bear's routine, spits at perfectly pleasant blokes in the front row and pukes on his speakers - and that's before he becomes possessed. 15 June 2003, 7.00pm
Mum's the Word Embark on a hilarious journey through pregnancy, nappies, temper tantrums and sleepless nights. It's all part of this riotously funny and outrageous show Mum's The Word that touches on the taboos, the dramas and the delights of motherhood. Two leading UK stars have been secured to play Blythe Duff (DC Jakie Reid in Taggart) and Victoria Alcock (Julie Saunders in Bad Girls) along with leading New Zealand actor Liddy Holloway and a cast of our country's finest. 17 June 2003, 7.30pm
Regent Theatre, 17 The Octagon, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597
Mid
Winter Carnival The Mid Winter Carnival is an annual
community event that celebrates themes of winter in
spectacular visual style transforming Dunedin's city centre
into a magical world. The Carnival incorporates
choreographed group performances, a children's lantern
procession, live and recorded music, lighting effects, and a
fireworks spectacle. A fairytale-like story is woven using
larger-than-life characters represented by giant puppets,
stilt performers, flag dancers and giant lanterns. Stalls
and a merry-go-round add to the Carnival atmosphere. Last
year's Carnival attracted over 2000 people to the Octagon to
watch performances as the audience processed around the
Octagon. This is a free family-friendly event held in the
heart of Dunedin. One night only. When the clock above the
Municipal Chambers in the Octagon sounds six, the Carnival
begins. 21 June 2003 The Octagon, Dunedin Contact for media
enquiries: Paul Smith, phone (03) 465 7713, or (025) 966
018, or email: birdseyeview@paradise.net.nz
Blue Oyster Fourth Anniversary Birthday Show - Fruit and
Flowers The Blue Oyster fourth Anniversary Birthday Show
Fruit and Flowers follows their themed anniversary series.
The fourth birthday show will provide the opportunity for a
variety of artists to respond to the theme of 'Fruit and
Flowers', the symbol of four years of Blue Oyster
brilliance. Runs Until 7 June 2003 Jane Venis - The
Blathering This mid-winter the people of Dunedin are invited
to join The Blathering and be part of the creation of an
experimental soundscape. Audiences are welcome to attend
any or all sessions and be shamelessly plied with wine to
have their loosened tongues recorded, edited and possibly
distorted. The resulting work will be a constantly changing
soundscape regurgitated through gossip mongering machines.
These machines will be created in the gallery during The
Blathering from components made or found by the artist. 10 -
21 June 2003 Angela Singer - Animality With a mix of
national and international artists, Animality will explore
the connections between our understandings of animals and
the historical and cultural conditions in which these
understandings have been formed. The artists featured will
look at the material presence of animals in urban spaces and
modern sensibilities, and how contemporary media culture is
shaping our fundamental cultural expectations of animals and
ourselves. The artists who will exhibit in Animality have
radicalised the use of animals and animal imagery to address
a range of questions about morality, responsibility, our
relationship with the natural world and the nature of art
itself. 24 June - 5 July 2003 Blue Oyster Gallery, 137
High Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Robyn Dold,
phone (03) 479 0197 Dunedin Public Art Gallery Michael
Harrison: Love in the Shadows Love in the Shadows is a
survey exhibition of Michael Harrison's paintings from
1985-2001. The works are intimate, inventive, romantic and
often slightly uneasy. His symbolism is both highly public
and loaded with private meanings - seized from tarot cards,
art history, mass media, WWII photojournalism and from life
itself. An Artspace touring exhibition with support from
Creative New Zealand. 7 June 2003 - 10 August 2003 Lynn
Taylor: re: Kakawai Six sculptural pieces capture the
artist's memories of the relationship between herself, her
father and the yacht Kakawai, which he built in Milton in
the 1950s. The exhibition space recreates the feel of
wharves, coast and sea, providing a space for the viewer to
embark on his or her own journey of memory. Runs Until 8
June 2003 Ronnie Van Hout: I've Abandoned Me I've Abandoned
Me is a survey of fifteen years work by one of New Zealand's
liveliest and most irreverent artists. In paintings,
videos, photographs and sculptures, Ronnie van Hout explores
what it means 'to be yourself' in an era of rapid
communications and cultural sampling. A Dunedin Public Art
Gallery exhibition. Runs Until 8 June 2003 Karin Sander:
Telling a Work of Art Renowned German artist Karin Sander
was recently artist in residence at Elam School of Fine Arts
in Auckland. Appropriately, the show Telling a Work of Art
focuses on communication at a distance. The result is an
exhibition about the way talk travels, the way artists talk,
and the way they talk about art that has inspired them.
Supported by the Goethe Institute, Wellington 14 June - 17
August 2003 Ardour of Art: Frances Hodgkins' Path to
Modernism Ardour of Art is the first exhibition in the new
gallery permanently devoted to the works of one of Dunedin's
most famous daughters: Frances Hodgkins. Curated by Linda
Tyler, Curator of Pictorial Collections, Hocken Library,
Dunedin, it offers the viewer an insight into the artist's
life and work. A Dunedin Public Art Gallery exhibition.
Ongoing Exhibition Truth's Mirror Truth's Mirror features
witty and thought-provoking juxtapositions of treasures from
the Dunedin Public Art Gallery's permanent collection. This
exhibition is drawn from the Gallery's visual arts
collection and is curated by Tony Green, formerly Head of
Department of Art History, University of Auckland. A Dunedin
Public Art Gallery exhibition. Ongoing Exhibition Dunedin
Public Art Gallery, 30 The Octagon, PO Box 5045, Dunedin
Contact for enquires: Tim Pollock, phone (03) 474
3243 Dunedin Town Hall Southern Sinfonia - Beethoven's
Fifth Symphony Presented by Dunedin's own professional
orchestra, the Southern Sinfonia will perform Beethoven's
instantly recognisable symphony, his "Fifth". Complementing
this popular work are Milhaud's Concerto for Marimba and
Vibraphone featuring Sinfonia's newest recruit, Dutch
percussionist Arnold Marinissen as soloist, and English
composer John Rutter's Requiem to be sung by the City of
Dunedin Choir, with exciting young Dunedin soloist Emma
Fraser. Saturday 21 June 2003, 8.00 pm Contact for
enquiries: Philippa Harris, phone (03) 477 5623 Patsy
Riggir Patsy Riggir will tour with a five piece band of
special guest musicians and will perform all the songs we
love her for, including the chart-topping 'Beautiful Lady',
plus a few surprises. 26 June 2003, 8.00pm Town Hall,
Moray Place, Dunedin Contact for bookings: Regent Ticketek,
phone (03) 477 8597 Milford Galleries Dunedin - Peter James
Smith - 'Fading Light' Peter James Smith's new work refers
to cinema and photography for a sense of romanticism, drama,
and narrative. The painted images are typeset with applied
texts, often in the form of notes, jottings, and historical
records. The painted images are set into a darkened ground,
like movies being viewed in a darkened room. The sense of
history is all pervasive and evident in different genres of
still life and landscape. Referenced are histories of
literature, architecture, and the scientific age of the
enlightenment. The title of the show refers to this, to the
passage of history and to the changed understandings that
contemporary culture shares with science. There is awe at
the power of science rather than a critique of this power.
21 June - 10 July 2003 Milford Galleries Dunedin, 18
Dowling Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Diana
Hennessy, phone (03) 477 8275 Arc Café - What You Leave
Behind This will be an opportunity to witness local rising
acting star Amy Adams in action before she heads to London
to partake in workshops and act on the stage at the Globe
Theatre in London. Amy was invited for this invaluable
experience after securing directing and acting awards at
last years Sheilah Winn National Secondary Schools'
Shakespeare Competition. The piece she will perform is a
one-woman show entitled What You Leave Behind by Emily
Duncan and directed by Caroline Claver. Along with music,
the show incorporates video footage shot by Richard Jeffrey.
It is a multi-media theatre, although Caroline is quick to
point out that these are not tricks to divert attention from
the script, but add a poignant dimension to the narrative.
Black comedy takes place over spectacle in this tale of a
precocious girl irreverently striking up a defence against
her violently apathetic father. 25 - 26 June 2003, 8.00pm
Arc Café, 135 High Street, Dunedin Contact for media
enquiries: Emily Duncan, phone (03) 477 2614 Otago
Museum NHNZ Film Season Audiences have the opportunity to
be the first to watch these never before seen NHNZ
documentaries. This stunning series of documentaries will
screen in the Otago Museum's Hutton Theatre at 7pm on the
last Wednesday of every month until November. If the
Wednesday screening is missed, audiences will have another
chance on the following Saturday and Sunday, as there will
be repeat screenings at 1:30pm in the Barclay Theatre. The
June documentary is Diabetes - In Search of a Miracle and
the July documentary is The Ant That Ate America. Barclay
Theatre, Runs Until November Good Morning Science We all
know that we are now in a technology-driven era and we all
know how important it is to educate our children about
science and technology to prepare them for their futures.
An exciting new programme that has been developed at the
Otago Museum that will help parents and caregivers take a
further step towards achieving this important aim. Good
Morning Science is an interactive programme set in a social
surrounding which aims to give parents and other caregivers
the opportunity to learn more about science and technology,
and teaches them how to incorporate it into the lives of
their children. Good Morning Science raises the
understanding and awareness of the value of science and
technology through the delivery of unique hands-on
presentations as well as providing a range of ideas to help
incorporate science and technology into everyday life Runs
Until 28 August 2003, Every Thursday at 10.00am Guided
Tours Take a 'Highlights of the Museum' guided tour and get
some inside knowledge about various aspects that the Museum
has on offer and/or take a guided tour of 'Southern Land,
Southern People' and gain a greater understanding, of the
Southern region. 'Highlights of the Museum' guided tours
are available at 11.30am and 'Southern Land, Southern
People' guided tours are available at 3.30pm (and other
times by prior arrangement). Ongoing Service - 11.30am and
3.30pm daily Communicator Presentations Each day, the
Otago Museum Communicators present fascinating 15-minute
presentations on objects or themes of particular interest
from the Museum's galleries. Ongoing Service, 2.00pm
Daily Search Centre Weekend Presentations The Museum's
Search Centre Communicators have developed a series of
Search Centre Weekend Presentations designed to help
familiarise people with the excellent resources provided by
this facility. Each presentation runs for about 20 minutes
and will be repeated for a month before the next
presentation begins. Weekends at 11.30am and
2.30pm Ongoing Exhibitions The Museum's timbered Victorian
gallery, the Animal Attic, houses an extensive collection of
natural history specimens from around the world,
re-displayed as they would have been in the late 1800s. A
'museum within a museum', this gallery is unique in New
Zealand. Explore the Tangata Whenua Gallery with its
impressive displays of Maori Cultural artefacts, including a
stunning collection of Southern Maori material. The Pacific
Culture Galleries display outstanding collections from
Polynesia and Melanesia. People of the World has world
archaeological treasures including ancient Greek pottery; a
mummy and other fascinating artefacts from Ancient Egypt; a
striking collection of swords; exquisite decorative arts
from Asia and Europe and a superb array of costume and
textiles. Walk the length of the giant Fin Whale in the
Maritime Gallery, then take in the intricate detail of a
wealth of nautical artefacts. Come face to face with the
extinct giant moa in the Extinction and Survival area and
see one of the few complete moa eggs in the world. Search
Centre Otago Museum's Search Centre research facility,
provides an inviting opportunity for visitors to engage in
further research on objects or themes in the galleries of
interest to them. It will also be the first stop for the
identification of items members of the public bring into the
Museum, a service that annually attracts a huge number of
objects or specimens. Well resourced, with swift new
computers, microscopes, modern journals and a great variety
of new books, the Search Centre offers a variety of options
for seeking further information. Set in a comfortable and
relaxing environment the Search Centre is the perfect place
in which to think, read, study, or research. Ongoing
Service Lunchtime Music A range of musicians will liven up
the atrium with live performances each week. This is now a
regular fixture but is subject to change according to
function demands. Museum Foyer, Fridays between 12noon and
1.30pm Otago Museum, 419 Great King Street, Dunedin
Contact for enquiries: Ryan Helliwell, phone (03) 474 7474
ext 845 JULY 2003 Blue Oyster Gallery Angela Singer
- Animality With a mix of national and international
artists, Animality will explore the connections between our
understandings of animals and the historical and cultural
conditions in which these understandings have been formed.
The artists in this show will look at the material presence
of animals in urban spaces and modern sensibilities, and how
contemporary media culture is shaping our fundamental
cultural expectations of animals and ourselves. The artists
who will exhibit in Animality have radicalised the use of
animals and animal imagery to address a range of questions
about morality, responsibility, our relationship with the
natural world and the nature of art itself. Runs Until 5
July 2003 Nicholas Spratt - World Of Pain Auckland based
artist Nicholas Spratt is an artiste whose work employs a
variety of mediums to explore the histrionics of modern-day
life: re-investigating moments in time and the memory of
space, unearthing our hidden histories. In World of Pain,
Spratt will present a collection of works that examine the
highs and lows of human achievement, piecing together such
disparate entities as fallen footballing angel Diego
Maradona, Fozzie Bear, the Columbian drug cartels and his
academic record to analyse the day-to-day dramas in ordinary
life. World of Pain will be accompanied by a catalogue and
website. 8 - 19 July 2003 Gala Kirke, Iain Cheesman And
Ana Terry - Post-Areas This collaborative multi-media
installation deals with the process of jumps from real to
imaginary that we consistently make. The artists will use a
single found object, a postcard from the Californian Crocker
Museum, as the common initiative for their works, with each
artist interpreting and responding from their own concerns.
Gala Kirke, Iain Cheesman and Ana Terry were some of the top
graduates from Otago Polytechnic School of Art in 2002 and
this show is intended to support their transition into
public exhibitions and encourage their professional
development. 22 July - 2 August 2003 Blue Oyster Gallery,
137 High Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Robyn Dold,
phone (03) 479 0197 Hocken Library New Works by an Old
Expressionist, painted wall sculptures by Michael Armstrong
Born in Christchurch, Michael Armstrong studied at the
University of Canterbury under Rudi Gopas and Bill Sutton,
but quickly moved away from conventional painting and, by
the early 1980s, was starting to sew his canvases together
and paint them calligraphically front and back. His success
with this innovation led to him being awarded the 1984
Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at the University of Otago, with
a major exhibition being held at the Hocken Library at the
end of his Fellowship year. For this "return to Otago"
exhibition he has ventured into new territories again,
making twelve pop riveted aluminium wall sculptures which
spring to life with all-over vibrant colour. Runs Until 5
July 2003 Charles Brasch: A Literary Life A Literary Life is
mounted to mark the end of the thirty-year embargo which
Charles Brasch placed on his personal papers when he
bequeathed them to the Hocken Library at his death on 20 May
1973. The exhibition commemorates the artistic legacy of a
poet and a patron of the arts with a selection of the 461
works of art that includes Rita Angus, Doris Lusk, Colin
McCahon, Toss Woollaston and Jeffrey Harris. These will be
shown along with photographs and manuscript material drawn
from his papers. Runs Until 5 July 2003 John Turnbull
Thomson: nineteenth century painter and surveyor of the
south Last year saw the unveiling of a monument to John
Turnbull Thomson at Ranfurly to commemorate the role he
played in shaping the unique culture of Central Otago and
the Maniototo. Names like Eweburn, the Horse Range and the
Pig Root all owe their origin to Thomson who was chief
surveyor for Otago. This exhibition traces Thomson's
origins as a civil engineer in England, and his years in
Malaya as well as his involvement in mapping the interior of
the south of New Zealand. For the first time in more than a
decade a large collection of the 225 oils and watercolours
by Thomson in the Hocken Library pictorial collection will
be on display together, along with a range of previously
never before exhibited works from the Hall-Jones family
collection. 12 July - 4 October 2003 Hocken Library, cnr
Anzac Avenue & Parry Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries:
Pennie Hunt, phone (03) 479 5648 Milford Galleries
Dunedin Peter James Smith - 'Fading Light' Peter James
Smith's new work refers to cinema and photography for a
sense of romanticism, drama and narrative. The painted
images are typeset with applied texts, often in the form of
notes, jottings and historical records. These images are set
into a darkened ground, like movies being viewed in a
darkened room. The sense of history is all pervasive and
clearly evident in different genres of still life and
landscape. Referenced are histories of literature,
architecture, and the scientific age of the enlightenment.
The title Fading Light refers to the passage of history and
changed understandings that contemporary culture shares with
science. There is awe at the power of science rather than a
critique of this power. Runs Until 10 July 2003 Reuben
Paterson New works by Reuben Paterson will be featured in a
three-part exhibition, firstly, a series of paintings
dedicated to the life of his biological Grandmother. His
canvases are layered dramatically with glitter dust and
primer, in familiar patterns of another time, reflecting her
generation's love of patterned fabric. Secondly, there is an
installation in the second gallery space, of a wallpaper
'rainbow gateway'. The Sixties wallpaper is woven and
spanned across the ceiling and walls, to represent the
journey taken by the soul to the afterlife, or Hinenuitepo's
Gateway for the Dead. The third aspect of the exhibition
continues off-site at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery 'Rear
Window'. The window work is the other side of the rainbow -
Heaven. 12 - 31 July 2003 Milford Galleries Dunedin, 18
Dowling Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Diana
Hennessy, phone (03) 477 8275 Regent Theatre Royal NZ
Ballet "Romeo and Juliet" The romance and tragedy of the
world's most famous star-crossed lovers takes centre stage
in the Royal New Zealand Ballet's major new commission for
2003, The Meridian Energy Season of Romeo and Juliet.
Choreographer Christopher Hampson is the UK's hottest
classical ballet talent, whose work is hailed as a triumph
of imagination and energy. From ballroom to balcony, this
new production has the look of La Dolce Vita era Italy. The
sophisticated and sumptuous designs by Tracy Grant and
evocative lighting design by John Rayment are set off by
bold brushstrokes of the richest and bloodiest red. Set to
Prokofiev's celebrated score, this captivating classical
production resonates with passion and dramatic intensity.
11 - 13 July 2003 Pot Pourri Direct from the Christchurch
Arts Festival Pot Pourri is a fabulous programme of
Broadway, opera, dance, magic and comedy featuring songs
from Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Cats, Evita,
Westside Story, South Pacific, Carmen, Riverdance and lots
more. This show has gained excellent reviews with the for
the Canberra Times heralding it as: "Musical Theatre of the
highest calibre...brilliantly crafted, a standing ovation.
Don't miss them!" 21 July 2003, 7.30pm NZ International
Film Festival Founded in 1977, the NZ International Film
Festival presents a highlight package of fifty features -
plus shorts at the Regent Theatre, Dunedin. Dunedin's Regent
Theatre is a superbly preserved venue that combines the
spacious elegance of a '20s movie palace with
state-of-the-art projection and sound. The world's
southernmost Film Festival is not only a very popular local
event; it is also one of the best places in the world to see
and hear films. Festival booklets available in early July.
25 July - 10 August Regent Theatre, 17 The Octagon, Dunedin
Contact for enquiries: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477
8597 Fortune Theatre - The Wind in the Willows - by
Kenneth Graham (adapted by Alan Bennett) Ever since the
publication of Kenneth Grahame's novel in 1908, his
characters of Ratty, Mole, Toad and Badger have delighted
generations of readers. Now Alan Bennett's acclaimed stage
adaption opens up this magical world for adults and children
alike. Following in the footsteps of last year's production
of 'The Jungle Book', The Wind in the Willows is certain to
be an unforgettable treat for all the family. Runs Until 19
July 2003 Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street, Dunedin
Contact for media enquiries: (media) Lisa Scott, phone (03)
477 1695 or Box Office (03) 477 8323 Otago Museum full
COLOUR - the spectrum of our world Opening at the Otago
Museum, full COLOUR - the spectrum of our world - is a
special exhibition that looks at many aspects of colour,
including its meaning, use and application. From camouflage
to combinations, from symbolism to psychology, this vibrant
exhibition deals with colour in many different ways.
Audiences will be surprised with the extent that colour
impacts on our world and influences how we live. While we
are eating breakfast or playing our favourite sport, colour
has a significant impact whether we know it or not. Would
people eat their toast if the bread was pink, or drink their
coffee if it was blue? Would they run out onto the field
wearing red and black if they were playing for Otago?
Audiences are invited to give some thought to the effects
colour have in their lives, and come along to the Museum and
see how much it impacts on the world around us. They can
also come along and find answers to their questions such as
'why is the sky blue?' and 'can bulls really see red?', and
if they guess how many jelly beans are in the jar, they
might just win them all for themselves. Runs until 20 July
2003 - Special Exhibitions Gallery Viewpoints Exhibition
Featuring the works of Mr Kan Shimada and Mr Yasuo Uno from
Otaru, Japan, this magnificent exhibition offers audiences
the unique opportunity to view some beautiful examples of
Japanese art. This combined exhibition featuring the work
of Mr Kan Shimada, a printmaker, and Mr Yasuo Uno, a
screenmaker, is a demonstration of the modern and the
traditional, the abstract and the concrete that will have a
lasting impact on our public. Runs until 27 July 2003 - 1877
Gallery Otago Museum, 419 Great King Street, Dunedin
Contact for enquiries: Ryan Helliwell, phone (03) 474 7474
ext 845 Dunedin Public Art Gallery - Rose Nolan: ENOUGH
Based in Melbourne and recently artist in residence at
Auckland University, Rose Nolan engulfs the Big Wall with
one of her signature word-works. A Dunedin Public Art
Gallery project. Runs until 20 July 2003 Dunedin Public Art
Gallery, 30 The Octagon, PO Box 5045, Dunedin Contact for
enquires: Tim Pollock, phone (03) 474 3243 Westpac Trust
Mayfair Theatre - Fiddler on the Roof Dunedin Operatic
proudly presents Fiddler on the Roof, a masterpiece that has
touched audiences around the world with its humour, warmth
and honesty and featuring cherished songs including 'Sunrise
Sunset', 'If I were a Rich Man', and 'Matchmaker'. Fiddler
on the Roof is simply musical theatre at its very best.
Directed by Gladys Hope with Musical Director Phillipa
Hosken and Choreographed by Robyn Sinclair. 24 July - 2
August 2003 Westpac Trust Mayfair Theatre, 100 King Edward
Street, Dunedin Contact for media enquiries: Lynda
Wright-Sear, phone (03) 454 4721 Contact for bookings:
Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597 Otago Settlers
Museum More Than a Hobby - 25 Years of the Otago Excursion
Train Trust In 1978 Dunedin railway enthusiasts formed the
Otago Excursion Train Trust to save the experience of train
excursions for Otago people. Beginning with just a few
dilapidated carriages, they restored them to develop their
own train. The Trust blossomed into a vibrant volunteer
organisation, running excursions all over Otago and beyond,
and in 1990 saved the historic Taieri Gorge line from
closure. Its daily train, the Taieri Gorge Limited,
developed into one of Dunedin's premier tourist attractions.
This exhibition will showcase the personalities, the
ambitions, and the 'can-do' attitude that saved rail travel
in Otago. An Otago Settlers Museum exhibition. Runs Until 20
July 2003 Lost Food - A Colonial Culinary Past Was old
Anglo-Kiwi food dreary, heavy and difficult to make? Or did
great grandparents know a thing or two about growing,
preparing and enjoying food? The Museum is dusting off the
old recipe books, the kitchen gear and the fancy tablecloths
to celebrate some old favourites. Discover what has been
lost, as our food culture has moved away from traditional
colonial cookery in favour of the fast, the foreign and the
fashionable. An Otago Settlers Museum Exhibition. Runs Until
20 July 2003 Otago Settlers Museum, 31 Queens Gardens,
Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Val-mai Shaw, phone (03) 474
2728 Dunedin Centre - Southern Cross Soloists Chamber
Music New Zealand present's some of Australia's finest
chamber music soloists performing as an ensemble of stars.
The New Zealand tour will premiere a new work for wind and
piano by Gillian Whitehead, commissioned by Chamber Music
NZ. Sunday, 20 July 2003, 4.00pm Glenroy Auditorium, Harrop
Street, Dunedin Contact for bookings: Regent Ticketek,
phone (03) 477 8597 - end - For further information,
please contact Dunedin City Council City Promotions, Kerry
MacKenzie at phone (03) 474 3409, email kmackenz@dcc.govt.nz
- or Jennifer Hooker at phone (03) 474 3815, email
jhooker@dcc.govt.nz ____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________ <<...OLE_Obj...>>
MEDIA ALERT! Issue date: 20 May 2003 Dunedin, New
Zealand Dunedin Arts and Cultural Events August 2003 to
September 2003
___________________________________________________________________________
Following is a schedule of confirmed events in the City of
Dunedin. This list was prepared by Dunedin City Council
(DCC) City Promotions on behalf of the attractions that
appear below. Please contact event organisers directly for
further information and confirmation of dates and
times. AUGUST 2003 Westpac Trust Mayfair Theatre -
Fiddler on the Roof Dunedin Operatic proudly presents
Fiddler on the Roof, a masterpiece that has touched
audiences around the world with its humour, warmth and
honesty and featuring cherished songs including 'Sunrise
Sunset', 'If I were a Rich Man', and 'Matchmaker'. Fiddler
on the Roof is simply musical theatre at its very best.
Directed by Gladys Hope with Musical Director Phillipa
Hosken and Choreographed by Robyn Sinclair. Runs Until 2
August 2003 Westpac Trust Mayfair Theatre, 100 King Edward
Street, Dunedin Contact for media enquiries: Lynda
Wright-Sear, phone (03) 454 4721 Contact for bookings:
Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597 Blue Oyster Gallery
Gala Kirke, Iain Cheesman And Ana Terry - Post-Areas This
collaborative multi-media installation deals with the
process of the jumps from real to imaginary that we
consistently make. The artists will use a single found
object, a postcard from the Californian Crocker Museum, as
the common initiative for their works, with each artist
interpreting and responding from their own concerns. Gala
Kirke, Iain Cheesman and Ana Terry were some of the top
graduates from Otago Polytechnic School of Art in 2002 and
this show is intended to support their transition into
public exhibitions and encourage their professional
development. Runs Until 2 August 2003 Tracey Cockburn -
Unearthed Australian artist Tracey Cockburn will examine the
importance of the ordinary or undistinguished history of a
place. With imagery derived from small fragments of
imported nineteenth century crockery that were unearthed
from a site in Hobart, Cockburn recovers or reconstructs the
possible history of a place for the viewer and suggests
personal histories that may or may not be real. The works
themselves are delicate and beautifully constructed, their
decorative nature alluding to interior schemes and the
action of pinning in order to link notions of the domestic,
women's work or craft making as well as the preoccupation
many contemporary women artists have with these. 5 - 16
August 2003 Di Halstead Dunedin photographer Di Halstead
will explore hybrid New Zealand identities. Drawing from the
large framework of postcolonial theory, Halstead
reconfigures our heritages as a mode of cultural production
in the present while specifically describing her experiences
of being part West Indian. She presents a rich tapestry of
many associated heritages, with culture as a patchwork of
many possibilities, and offers cultural loneliness and
absence in the face of the predictable stereotypes of a kiwi
identity. 19 - 30 August 2003 Blue Oyster Gallery, 137
High Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Robyn Dold,
phone (03) 479 0197 Fortune Theatre - The Taming of the
Shrew - by William Shakespeare Undoubtedly Shakespeare's
most politically incorrect play, The Taming of the Shrew is
a riotous romp through the battlefield of the sexes.
There's hardly a moment that a modern audience won't
recognise - made even more hilarious in this post feminist
age. Setting the action in Central Otago at the turn of the
century gives the action an even more pertinent twist as a
real Southern Man takes on the feisty Kate: Good on yer'
mate! 8 - 30 August 2003 Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart Street,
Dunedin Contact for enquiries: (media) Lisa Scott, phone
(03) 477 1695 or Box Office (03) 477 8323 Otago Settlers
Museum - Fabulous Frocks! - Glorious 19th Century Gowns from
the Otago Settlers Museum Collection Settler women arriving
in nineteenth century New Zealand brought with them dress
conventions and a fashion sense formed in the very different
societies of Europe. Once in 'the colony' they hardly
adapted their clothing to suit local conditions at all.
Even amidst the mud and dirt of early Otago, women's
clothing was still essentially what was being worn at home.
This exhibition unveils some of the fabulous frocks worn by
pioneer Otago women, including ball gowns, wedding dresses
and the smartest street attire. An Otago Settlers Museum
exhibition. 9 August - 23 November 2003 Otago Settlers
Museum, 31 Queens Gardens, Dunedin Contact for enquiries:
Val-mai Shaw, phone (03) 474 2728 Regent Theatre NZ
International Film Festival Founded in 1977, the NZ
International Film Festival presents a highlights package of
fifty features - plus shorts at the Regent Theatre, Dunedin.
Dunedin's Regent Theatre is a superbly preserved venue that
combines the spacious elegance of a '20s movie palace with
state-of-the-art projection and sound. The world's
southernmost Film Festival is not only a very popular local
event; it is also one of the best places in the world to see
and hear films. Runs Until 10 August The Irish Rovers The
Irish Rovers are back for another round, after an absence of
10 years from New Zealand's shores. Their last tour in 1992
to New Zealand was a sell out and they return in August 2003
for 18 performances that promise the usual Irish Rovers fare
of rollicking good time music and fun. Audience involvement
is essential to The Rovers, a group that loves to perform
and who makes sure no one leaves a show without having been
happily affected by the sheer exuberance that marks each and
every performance. 30 August 2003, 7.30pm Regent Theatre,
17 The Octagon, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Regent
Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597 Dunedin Public Art
Gallery Michael Harrison: Love in the Shadows Love in the
Shadows is a survey exhibition of Michael Harrison's
paintings from 1985-2001. The works are intimate,
inventive, romantic and often slightly uneasy. His
symbolism is both highly public and loaded with private
meanings - seized from tarot cards, art history, mass media,
WWII photojournalism and from life itself. An Artspace
touring exhibition with support from Creative New Zealand.
Runs Until 10 August 2003 Karin Sander: Telling a Work of
Art Renowned German artist Karin Sander was recently artist
in residence at Elam School of Fine Arts in Auckland.
Appropriately, the show Telling a Work of Art focuses on
communication at a distance. The result is an exhibition
about the way talk travels, the way artists talk, and the
way they talk about art that has inspired them. Supported by
the Goethe Institute, Wellington Runs Until 17 August
2003 Second Thoughts NCC Art Award finalist exhibition for
art works in secondary materials. Through the use of 'waste'
materials, New Zealand artists raise questions about how we
see the world and what we value in it. Ready-made and found
objects provide the raw materials, which undergo a process
of alteration and construction to form new creations. This
exhibition has been organised and toured by Professional Art
Services. 23 August - 5 October 2003 Dan Arps: Artist's
Project Dan Arps likes to discover eccentric connections
between unlikely images and objects. His starting point for
this installation is 'Devil's Peak', the mysterious mountain
constructed by Richard Dreyfuss in the 1977 movie Close
Encounters of the Third Kind. Arps combines plasticine,
furniture, felt, drawings and video monitors to create his
own mountain, and scatter the space with clues about its
maker's motivations. 30 August - 12 October 2003 Judy
Millar: Visiting Artist Project 2003 Judy Millar is an
abstract painter who puts the body back in the picture. Her
recent works feature sweeping strokes and ribbons of paint,
made not with a brush but by hand. In her Dunedin project,
Millar will fill the walls of the Trustbank Galleries with
her colour-rich, adventurously physical paintings. A recent
Wallace Award first-prize winner with a growing reputation
in Europe, Millar comes to Dunedin as a participant in the
Gallery's Visiting Artists Programme. A Dunedin Public Art
Gallery Visiting Artists Project, supported by Creative New
Zealand Toi Aotearoa. 30 August - 12 October 2003 Ardour of
Art: Frances Hodgkins' Path to Modernism The Dunedin Public
Art Gallery is delighted to announce the opening of a
permanent gallery devoted to the works of one of Dunedin's
most famous daughters: Frances Hodgkins. Linda Tyler,
Curator of Pictorial Collections, Hocken Library, Dunedin,
has curated ardour for Art, the first exhibition in the
France Hodgkins Gallery. A Dunedin Public Art Gallery
exhibition. Ongoing Exhibition Truth's Mirror Truth's
Mirror features witty and thought-provoking juxtapositions
of treasures from the Dunedin Public Art Gallery's permanent
collection. This exhibition is drawn from the Gallery's
visual arts collection and is curated by Tony Green,
formerly Head of Department of Art History, University of
Auckland. A Dunedin Public Art Gallery exhibition. Ongoing
Exhibition Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 30 The Octagon, PO
Box 5045, Dunedin Contact for enquires: Tim Pollock, phone
(03) 474 3243 Playhouse Theatre - Best Food Forward
Footnote Dance are New Zealand's national contemporary dance
company known for innovative and interesting contemporary
dance. Best Foot Forward is a compelling dance that shows
the energy, tensions, challenges, and beauty of our world
through the eyes of our best choreographers and the bodies
of the five Footnote dancers. New Zealand dance and music
are the touchstone of their success and 2003 promises us a
repertoire of challenges and charisma. 14 - 15 August 2003,
8.00pm Playhouse Theatre, Albany Street, Dunedin Contact for
media enquiries: Celia Jenkins, phone (04) 384 7285 Contact
for bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477
8597 Dunedin Town Hall - NZ Symphony Orchestra Master
cellist Lynn Harrell performs the Romantic Schumann Concerto
and the very famous Elgar Concerto, prefaced by Hayden's
famed 'Drumroll' Symphony. The NZ Symphony Orchestra is
conducted by James Judd, and features a programme that
includes Haydn's 'Symphony No 103 Drumroll', Schumann's
'Cello Concerto' and Elgar's 'Cello Concerto'. 16 August
2003, 8.00pm Town Hall, Moray Place, Dunedin Contact for
bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597 Dunedin
Centre - Eroica Piano Trio Chamber Music NZ is proud to
present the Eroica Piano Trio from the United States. This
dazzling trio have been wowing audiences with its passionate
performances and technical mastery. The programme includes
Beethoven: 'Piano Trio in C minor Opus 1 No 3', Martinu:
'Five short pieces', Brahms: 'Piano Trio in B Opus 8'.
Beethoven as a young man establishing his reputation in
Vienna, rhythm and polyphony in one of Martinu's greatest
chamber works, and Brahms trio described as "wild" by his
colleague Clara Schumann. 28 August 2003, 8.00pm Glenroy
Auditorium, Harrop Street, Dunedin Contact for bookings:
Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597 Otago Museum Good
Morning Science We all know that we are now in a
technology-driven era and we all know how important it is to
educate our children about science and technology to prepare
them for their futures. An exciting new programme that has
been developed at the Otago Museum will help parents and
caregivers take a further step towards achieving this
important aim. Good Morning Science is an interactive
programme set in a social surrounding that aims to give
parents and other caregivers the opportunity to learn more
about science and technology, and teaches them how to
incorporate it into the lives of their children. Good
Morning Science raises the understanding and awareness of
the value of science and technology through the delivery of
unique hands-on presentations as well as providing a range
of ideas to help incorporate science and technology into
everyday life. A series of presentations is delivered at
weekly morning sessions at the Otago Museum over a 26-week
period, which started on 6 March, inviting parents,
caregivers and their children to come along. It has already
proved to be a very popular programme with great attendance
numbers, so audiences are invited to come along and support
their children's future. Runs Until 28 August 2003, Every
Thursday at 10.00am Guided Tours Take a 'Highlights of the
Museum' guided tour and get some inside knowledge about
various aspects that the Museum has on offer and/or take a
guided tour of 'Southern Land, Southern People' and gain a
greater understanding, of the Southern region. 'Highlights
of the Museum' guided tours are available at 11.30am and
'Southern Land, Southern People' guided tours are available
at 3.30pm (and other times by prior arrangement). Ongoing
Service - 11.30am and 3.30pm daily Communicator
Presentations Each day, the Otago Museum Communicators
present fascinating 15-minute presentations on objects or
themes of particular interest from the Museum's galleries.
Ongoing Service, 2.00pm Daily Search Centre Weekend
Presentations The Museum's Search Centre Communicators have
developed a series of Search Centre Weekend Presentations
designed to help familiarise people with the excellent
resources provided by this facility. Each presentation runs
for about 20 minutes and will be repeated for a month before
the next presentation begins. Weekends at 11.30am and
2.30pm Ongoing Exhibitions The Museum's timbered Victorian
gallery, the Animal Attic, houses an extensive collection of
natural history specimens from around the world,
re-displayed as they would have been in the late 1800s. A
'museum within a museum', this gallery is unique in New
Zealand. Explore the Tangata Whenua Gallery with its
impressive displays of Maori Cultural artefacts, including a
stunning collection of Southern Maori material. The Pacific
Culture Galleries display outstanding collections from
Polynesia and Melanesia. People of the World has world
archaeological treasures including ancient Greek pottery; a
mummy and other fascinating artefacts from Ancient Egypt; a
striking collection of swords; exquisite decorative arts
from Asia and Europe and a superb array of costume and
textiles. Walk the length of the giant Fin Whale in the
Maritime Gallery, and then take in the intricate detail of a
wealth of nautical artefacts. Come face to face with the
extinct giant moa in the Extinction and Survival area and
see one of the few complete moa eggs in the world. Search
Centre Otago Museum's Search Centre research facility
provides an inviting opportunity for visitors to engage in
further research on objects or themes in the galleries of
interest to them. It will also be the first stop for the
identification of items members of the public bring into the
Museum, a service that annually attracts a huge number of
objects or specimens. Well resourced, with swift new
computers, microscopes, modern journals and a great variety
of new books, the Search Centre offers a variety of options
for seeking further information. Set in a comfortable and
relaxing environment the Search Centre is the perfect place
in which to think, read, study, or research. Ongoing
Service Lunchtime Music A range of musicians will liven up
the atrium with live performances each week. This is now a
regular fixture but is subject to change according to
function demands. Museum Foyer, Fridays between 12noon and
1.30pm Otago Museum, 419 Great King Street, Dunedin
Contact for enquiries: Ryan Helliwell, phone (03) 474 7474
ext 845 SEPTEMBER 2003 Blue Oyster Gallery Scott
Flanagan- Constructing An Educated Idiot A Taxanomical
Autobiography Scott Flanagan is a Christchurch based artist.
His inquiry will deviate from the rigid application of
audience response and interaction to focus on the creator.
As the school for curatorship burgeons, there is an apparent
danger for the creator to be misinterpreted at best and
misrepresented at worst. Flanagan suggests that these
misrepresentations can often be attributed to the curator's
own need of ambition and he poses a divergent response to
this problem based on the construction of OEan educated
idiot. To ensure the artist is represented with integrity,
Flanagan secures the comfort of the audience, assures them
that what they view is not recondite and that it can be
connected, either tenuously or obviously, to other things,
times, places and perhaps an all encompassing similitude. 2
- 13 September 2003 Ali Bramwell, Curator - Drawing For
Sculpture A Group Exhibition Dunedin based artist Ali
Bramwell will curate a show of fellow sculptors drawings
that focuses on the process of producing work; the ongoing
dialogue between theory, concept and practice. Making OEArt
is often mythologised. However, by exhibiting drawings and
small sculptural explorations, Bramwell will frame the
process of sculpture as the artists experience it. Bramwell
will provide what is usually a very private process for
spectator pleasure and consumption, interrogating where art
begins, as well as what constitutes an art product. 30
September 11 October 2003 Blue Oyster Gallery, 137 High
Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: Robyn Dold, phone
(03) 479 0197 Dunedin Town Hall - Southern Sinfonia -
Beethoven's Emperor Piano Concerto Leslie Howard was
recently awarded the 'Member in the Order' of Australia by
Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for 'Services to the
Arts'. This distinguished pianist returns to Dunedin to
perform Beethoven's 'Piano Concerto No. 5', entitled The
Emperor, with the Southern Sinfonia. Continuing the
Sinfonia's proud tradition of supporting new New Zealand
music, this concert opens with a work commissioned from one
of our country's foremost composers, Wellington-based Ross
Harris. Completing the programme is Brahms's 'Serenade No.
1', one of his most joyous and contented works. The Southern
Sinfonia will be under the expert baton of Werner Andreas
Albert, a conductor of international stature. 5 September
2003, 8.00pm Town Hall, Moray Place, Dunedin Contact for
enquiries: Philippa Harris, phone (03) 477 5623 Contact for
bookings: Regent Ticketek, phone (03) 477 8597 Fortune
Theatre - The Drawer Boy - by Michael Healey The Drawer Boy
is another New Zealand premier. This prize-winning Canadian
play tells the moving story of two farmers whose life long
friendship and dependency is about to be changed forever by
the arrival of a young actor in search of a story to tell.
Re-set in rural New Zealand the play is touching, heart
stopping and comic as it magically blends the themes of
love, loss, isolation and the redeeming power of drama. The
Drawer Boy will be directed by Eastenders star Gavin
Richards. 8 - 30 August 2003 Fortune Theatre, 231 Stuart
Street, Dunedin Contact for enquiries: (media) Lisa Scott,
phone (03) 477 1695 or Box Office (03) 477 8323