Standing Room Only for Sunday 10 October 2021

12:15  Australian comedy legend Rob Sitch - the man behind The Castle 

Rob Sitch - Australian actor, writer, director and bloody legend whose CV includes satirical TV shows Frontline and Hollow Men, as well as one of that country's best loved films, The Castle.

Working Dog Productions is the name of his hugely successful production company, but Rob is still best known for playing idiot TV presenter Mike Moore in the Nineties hit series Frontline, that also featured Kiwi star Bruno Lawrence.

In Rob's latest series Utopia, he plays Tony, head of the fictional Nation Building Authority that's responsible for overseeing major infrastructure projects, despite the best efforts of the Prime Minister and his cronies.

With Working Dog based in locked-down Melbourne, you'd think Rob would be easy to pin down for an interview.   But he and his colleagues are flat out, including working on the popular current affairs game show they created, Have You Been Paying Attention,

Lynn Freeman asks Rob Sitch if he feels an added responsibility to make people laugh in these uncertain times.

Both Utopia and Frontline are playing on Netflix.
 

12:45 The stories behind Te Papa's Portraits

 

There are risks in taking a portrait at face value.   

Matariki Williams and Rebecca Rice are the curators who selected the 36 historic portraits of Māori and settlers that have hung on Te Papa's distinctive blood red wall at Toi Art since 2018.

The two have written about the stories behind the 36 portraits in a bilingual book called Ngā Tai Whakarongorua - Encounters.

The book discusses the relationship between the artists and their sitters.  Who decided what would be worn and the final pose, and did they discuss the portrait's background?  Lynn Freeman asks Rebecca and Matariki what stories did they think were shared during the long hours of painting?

Ngā Tai Whakarongorua - Encounters by Rebecca Rice and Matariki Williams is published by Te Papa Press.

 

1:10 At The Movies

This week Simon Morris talks to New Zealand International Film Festival director Marten Rabarts about the 2021 offerings.

The Festival has recently announced that the Auckland leg has been cancelled, due to lockdown restrictions.  But it will roll out over the rest of the country throughout November.

 

1:31  Fiona Amundsen's installation at the Tokyo Biennale

Japan's imperial war efforts and sense of nationalism are explored in an installation called Our Remaining Breath, that's representing Aotearoa at the Tokyo Biennale.

Kiwi artist Fiona Amundsen has spent several years creating Our Remaining Breath in collaboration with Japanese artists.   Her research including recording the testimonies of Japanese people who lived through the Second World War.

The soundtrack on the video component of the work also includes the sound of Fiona breathing while doing aikido training, a martial art she has trained in for many years. 

AUT Associate Professor Fiona tells Lynn Freeman that the pandemic has meant she's had to pivot like crazy to complete the work, and it also prevented her from getting to Tokyo for the opening.

Associate Professor Fiona Amundsen's collaborative exhibition Our Remaining Breath is on show at the Tokyo Biennale.

 

1:46  The NZ Young Writers Festival takes on the conventional

 

There have never been so many outlets for young writers wanting to share their work with their friends and indeed the world.

But there's nothing like a festival to allow them to get together, talk about their work and throw around all kinds of ideas.

The theme for the seventh New Zealand Young Writers Festival, set to take place in Dunedin at the end of the month, is "Collapsing the Conventional".   And that's certainly what the participating poets, playwrights, novellists, essayists and performance artists plan to do.
 
It's a genre-busting festival programme, full of events that explore the limitations society places on our bodies, and how literature can help overcome them. 

Lynn Freeman talks to two of the guest speakers:   National Slam Poetry Champion Jordan Hamel's workshop is called "How to Speak Words and Influence People".  He'll also take part in a discussion about climate change.

Playwright Dan Goodwin, meanwhile, will look at writing mental health and disability theatre.  They're part of a performance about fluidity, gender, the body and how to write about it.

The Young Writers Festival starts on the 28th of October in Dunedin.

 

2:06 The Laugh Track - Mikaela Rose Rüegg  

It seems every week or so there's a new platform for new film-makers and content provider" - like Someday Stories which offers short films that "inspire, challenge, uplift and question".

Actually, Someday Stories have been around for a while - since 2017, in fact.  But why it attracted our attention this week was one of its latest Stories.   It's a mockumentary called A Peek Inside the Christchurch Internet Troll Agency, and its target is fake news, misinformation and manipulation.  You can see it here.

Part of A Peek Inside's creative team is producer and performer Mikaela Rose Rüegg  who joins us as today's Laugh Track guest.

Mikaela Rüegg's picks include James Acaster,  Trevor Noah, Jim Gaffigan and Andi Osho.

 

2:25  Gigi Fenster's A good winter reaches the book shelves

 

A story of obsession, jealousy and resentment won last year's Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel.   But Gigi Fenster's book is now published, and unnerving its readers.

A Good Winter is Gigi's third novel, and it tells the story of Lara, whose recently widowed daughter Sophie is struggling to care for her baby son.

But is Lara's friend Olga really the good supportive friend she appears to be?

Lynn Freeman asks Gigi Fenster about the challenges of writing a psychological horror story.

A Good Winter by Gigi Fenster is published by Text.
 

 

 

2.37  Chloe Weavers on her plans for Auckland's Silo Theatre

A five-million dollar Cultural Sector Emergency Relief fund has been announced, with Creative New Zealand deciding who gets what.

But with so many arts organisations in so much strife, the pieces of the pie will inevitably be small.

Auckland's Silo Theatre Company is one of many live-production organisations that are struggling, after almost two years of on-and-off lockdowns.   It doesn't own a venue, instead working with theatre makers to find the right space for each show.

Silo will be celebrating its 25th birthday next year and despite all the uncertainty, is already planning a full programme.

Chloe Weavers is the company's new Executive Director.   She's taken it on after returning to Tamaki Makaurau following a decade working in Australia.

Chloe tells Lynn Freeman that Silo has just surveyed its audiences to see how they feel about attending live events.

 

2:48   Ataria Sharman draws on Māori culture for a fantasy novel

Ataria Sharman knows how tough it is to make a living as a writer. 

The essayist, poet, social entrepreneur and editor at The Pantograph Punch is constantly looking for new ways to encourage Māori - particularly wahine Māori -  to publish their work. 

In 2018, Ataria set up the social enterprise Awa Wahine.  It offers a platform to tautoko (support) wahine Māori in their creativie and entrepreneurial endeavours.

Now Ataria is turning her attention to the next generation, publishing a fantasy book for young readers that's filled with Māori characters and culture.

Hine and the Tohunga Portal leads the two tamariki Māori main characters, Hine and Hōhepa, into a world where moa and giant eagles still roam the forests but it's under threat from an evil sorcerer.

Hine and the Tohunga Portal by Ataria Sharman is published by Huia. 

 

 

3:06 Drama at 3 -  The Human Engine by Philip Braithwaite

Robbie Sinclair was deserted by his mother when he was eight years old.  Left to his own devices, he found crime and prison. Then he met Francie and  his life changed for the best.   But the road of fate has many  turns.
 

Music played in this show

Artist: Matt Monroe
Song: Portrait of my love
Composer:  Ornadel-West
Album: Best of
Label: EMI
Played at: 12.12

Artist: Brian and Michael
Song: Matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs
Composer:  Burke-Coleman
Album: Another slice of vintage cheese
Label:  Universal
Played at: 12.41

Artist: Coldplay and Rhythms del Mundo
Song: Viva la vida
Composer: Berryman-Buckland
Album: Rhythms del Mundo Africa
Label: Ape
Played at: 12.58

Artist: Paul McCartney and Wings
Song: Drink to me (Picasso's last words)
Composer: McCartney-McCartney
Album: Band on the run
Label:  Parlophone
Played at: 1.10

Artist: Jonathan Richman
Song: Vincent Van Gogh
Composer: Richman
Album: Not so much to be loved as to love
Label:  Sanctuary
Played at: 1.44

Artist:  The Weepies
Song: Paintings by Chagall
Composer: Talan-Tannen
Album: Say I am you
Label:  Nettwerk
Played at: 1.58

Artist: Cassandra Jenkins
Song: Michelangelo
Composer:  Jenkins
Album: An overview on phenomenal nature
Label: N/A
Played at: 2.05

Artist: Jesca Hoop
Song: Michelangelo
Composer: Hoop
Album: N/A
Label: Lastlaugh
Played at: 2.58

Artist: David Bowie
Song: Andy Warhol
Composer: Bowie
Album:  Hunky Dory
Label:  EMI
Played at: 3.05

Artist: Nat King Cole
Song: Mona Lisa
Composer: Evans-Livingston
Album: Nat King Cole (Compilation)
Label: Capitol
Played at: 3.58