the end of the golden weather education pack

SEASON OF
Education Pack
Sponsors
Auckland Theatre Company
receives principal and core
funding from
CREDITS
PLEASE NOTE:
Subsidised school matinees are
made possible by a grant from
ATC Education also thanks the
ATC Patrons and the ATC
Supporting Acts
for their ongoing generosity.
The 2011 Education Packs are
made possible by a grant from
2
•Schools’ performances are
followed by a Q&A Forum
lasting for 20 – 30 minutes in
the theatre immediately after
the performance.
•During school matinees the
refreshments bar at the theatre
may be closed. We recommend
students bring their own lunch
but eating and drinking in the
auditorium is prohibited.
•Please make sure all cellphones
are turned off prior to the
performance and, if possible,
please don’t bring school bags
to the theatre.
Contents
4
ABOUT THE PLAY
6
SYNOPSIS
7
NEW ZEALAND IN THE 1930s
8
BRUCE MASON ON TOUR
12
ALL KINDS OF WEATHER – the director’s vision
16
ACTING UP – a chat with the cast
20
DEFINING THE TERRITORY – design elements
24
ENSEMBLE ELEMENTS – exercises 28
ADDITIONAL READING and RESOURCES
30
ABOUT ATC EDUCATION
31
CURRICULUM LINKS
31
VENUE: MAIDMENT THEATRE, ALFRED STREET,
AUCKLAND CITY
SCHOOLS’
PERFORMANCES: 6 September at 6.30pm. 15 September,
21 September and 23 September at 11am.
RUNNING TIME: 2 ½ hours, including an interval
SUITABILITY: This production is especially suitable for
Year Levels 9 - 13.
3
by Bruce Mason
in a company version
by Murray Lynch
CAST
Tim Carlsen, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Elliot Christensen-Yule,
Byron Coll, Dena Kennedy, Sophie Roberts, Nic Sampson,
Fern Sutherland & Matariki Whatarau
CREATIVE
Director — Murray Lynch | Set & Costume Design — Brian King
Lighting Design — Nathan McKendry | Composer — Gareth Farr
Marimba performed by Gareth Farr
PRODUCTION
Production Manager — Mark Gosling | Technical Manager — Paul Nicoll
Assistant Technical Manager — Josh Bond | Senior Stage Manager — Fern Christie
Stage Manager — Jade Turrall | Operator — Rochelle Haughton
Wardrobe Supervisor — Sophie Ham | Properties Master — Diana Kovacs
Set Construction — 2 Construct
Publicist — Sally Woodfield | Vocal Coach — Kirstie O’Sullivan
The University of Auckland Postgraduate Interns — Stephanie Cooke & Luanne Sullivan
EDUCATION PACK
Writer and Researcher — Amber McWilliams | Editor — Lynne Cardy
Rehearsal Images – Amber McWilliams | Design drawings courtesy of — Brian King
Production Images — Michael Smith | Design — Rubble Design
4
5
Synopsis
A twelve year old boy welcomes us into his world: the 1930s beachside
community of Te Parenga, a golden territory in the land of milk and honey. He
tells of spending idyllic days on the beach, meeting the local characters, swimming
and eavesdropping, heading home at the end of the day for sandwiches and
charades. However, the real world starts to intrude, showing him that the golden
idyll cannot last. The Queen Street riots spark rumblings of dissent in Te Parenga,
which are quelled by strong words from the local policeman as the boy watches
from the shadows.
Christmas, however, brings all the usual trimmings – church, presents, swimming,
feasting – and a Christmas pageant that the boy pours heart and soul into. When
the celebrations are over, he explores a rich neighbour’s property, and finds one of
the beach’s characters, Firpo, living in a bach. Frightened by Firpo’s strangeness,
the boy flees. Later in the summer, Firpo runs on the beach, “getting himself
fit for the Olympic Games”, much to the community’s mirth. Some local boys
challenge Firpo to a race the following Sunday. The boy spends the week in a
daze, hoping and praying for Firpo to win. The day of the race dawns, and history
runs its course. Some weeks later, when the boy goes to visit Firpo and finds him
gone, the child realizes that the summer – like his childhood – is quite at an end.
About the Play
THE END OF THE GOLDEN WEATHER was written and performed as a
solo show by Bruce Mason. After an initial season in 1959, the show was toured
throughout New Zealand in the early 1960s, with further tours throughout the 1970s.
The play, which describes a childhood summer on Takapuna beach, has become a
New Zealand classic. Through the eyes of a perceptive child, the play touches on
issues such as social justice, mental illness and conservatism. This ensemble version
by Murray Lynch was first performed in 1987 and translates the humour, charm and
energy of Mason’s original script into a theatre piece for nine players.
6
7
New Zealand in the 1930s
• New Zealand’s total population was about 1.5 million
• New Zealand money was modeled after Britain’s, so people paid their bills in pounds,
shillings and pence.
• The wireless (radio) became affordable in the late 1930s, bringing mass communication
into most New Zealand homes.
• Trams ran up and down Queen St and into the suburbs, helping the 212,000 people who
lived in Auckland to travel around the city.
• There was no Harbour Bridge, so people travelled from downtown Auckland to the
North Shore by ferry. Takapuna was a seaside holiday destination where people could
‘get away’ from the city.
For more information about Bruce Mason and Takapuna in the 1930s, refer to
ATC’s Education Pack for its 2009 production of THE POHUTUKAWA TREE.
8
THE GREAT D
EPRESSION
During
the 1930s, New
Zealand felt the
the Great Depre
bite of
ssion. Througho
ut the 1920s N
Zealand had be
ew
en struggling fin
ancially; after th
crash of the New
e
York stock marke
t in 1929, countrie
such as Britain
s
stopped import
ing New Zealan
produce, so sudd
d
enly there was ev
en less money in
the New Zealand
economy.
The Depression
led to high un
employment –
nearly 80,000 m
en out of work
– and wages wer
slashed as busine
e
sses floundered.
Large numbers of
men began to trav
el the country look
ing for paid work
or opportunities
to earn a meal. Th
e Government se
up ‘relief camps
t
’ throughout New
Zealand, where
unemployed men
built roads or
chopped weeds
in exchange for
food and a tiny
weekly payment.
Conditions in th
e camps were pr
im
itive, with men
living and worki
ng in cold, wet
conditions withou
heating or sanita
t
tion. Families al
so suffered, with
thousands of ch
ildren suffering
from malnutriti
across the coun
on
try because thei
r
parents could no
afford adequate
t
food.
Anger at the
situation led to
mass protests
throughout the co
untry, which erup
ted into riots in
Auckland, Wellin
gton and Dunedin
in 1932.
9
“He’s not like other people… we just can’t have him in the house. He’s
dirty and he upsets things… We don’t want people to know about him.”
- Mrs Atkinson describes Firpo in THE END OF THE GOLDEN WEATHER
CHANGING
TO MENT ATTITUDES
AL ILLNE
In the earl
SS
y twentieth
Zealand
century
TS
IO
R
T
E
E
R
T
S
N
E
E
U
Q
THE
In
ge New Zealanders.
on and
Mass dispossessi
protests by
unemployment led to
ilies across
workers and their fam
held in all
the country. Rallies were
usands of
the major centres, and tho
to speakers
people gathered to listen
ve rn me nt ’s
wh o cr iti cis ed th e go
ic situation
handling of the econom
assistance
and called for more
10
for avera
lies ended
Auckland, the largest ral
protesters
in violence, with angry
str ati on by
tak in g ou t th eir fru
and fighting
smashing shop windows
to ma in tai n
th e po lic e wh o tri ed
arrested in
order. Over 80 men were
ny dozens
the Queen St riots, and ma
were injured.
“The rioting in Auckland first occurred on Thursday evening last when
hundreds of people participated in unrestrained rioting and looting in Queen
St for more than two hours. There was fierce fighting between a section of the
rioters and police and many were injured. Protective forces were organised
as soon as possible and by Friday evening nearly 1200 special constables had
been enrolled from the public.”
The Weekly News, 20 April 1932
ers were st
, many N
ew
ill deeply
ashamed b
e
m
b
arrassed a
y any conn
n
d
e
ction with
was a “lun
a person w
atic” or “f
h
o
eeble mind
subscribed
ed”. Most
to the nin
st
il
l
e
teenth cen
to mental
tury appro
illness – to
a
c
h
lock the a
from socie
fflicted aw
ty in asylu
a
y
m
s.
Asylums did
on treatme
nt, but on
not focus
restraining
and keepin
the mentall
g them con
y ill
tent so they
problems in
could not c
society. Su
a
use
ch instituti
all patients
ons lumpe
together, so
d
that people
from depre
ssion wou
su
ff
e
ri
n
g
ld share a
with people
ccommoda
with Down
ti
o
n
S
yndrome; c
adults; the
hildren wit
suicidal wit
h
h
th
e psychotic
However,
.
by the 193
0s, attitud
illness in
es to men
New Zeala
tal
nd had be
Otherwise
g
u
n
healthy me
to
c
h
a
nge.
n had return
War I with
ed from W
shell shock
o
rld
and what w
called “post
ould now b
-traumatic
e
stress diso
to new and
rder”, lead
more comp
in
g
assionate tr
those who
eatments fo
were “distu
r
rb
ed”. In 192
Defectives
8 the Menta
Act 1911 w
l
a
s amended
between th
to distingu
e mentally
ish
ill and the
handicappe
intellectuall
d, with se
y
p
arate facilit
up for the
ies being
two groups.
set
However, w
was slow to
ider society
accept the
new ways o
general pre
f thinking,
judice again
and
st
people who
there’ rema
were ‘not a
ined strong
ll
for many d
ecades.
11
Bruce Mason On Tour
nal
t a professio
u
o
h
it
w
y
tr
n
g in a cou
ND OF
ling, THE E
to earn a livin
b
le
m
b
e
a
tr
n
u
d
,
n
9
a
5
r
9
“In 1
nted, in fea
n illness
Mason prese
d 1978, whe
n
e
a
c
9
ru
5
B
9
,
1
e
n
tr
e
a
mes, in
the
twe
early 1000 ti
n
ATHER. Be
E
it
d
W
e
N
rm
E
o
D
rf
L
THE GO
out New
stage, he pe
halls through
ent from the
y
m
it
n
re
u
ti
m
re
m
is
o
h
c
h,
d
forced
r on the beac
e
urch halls an
h
m
c
m
s,
ll
su
a
h
ry
l
a
o
o
’s extraordin
theatres, sch
art of New
a young boy
f
o
ry
o
s become a p
st
a
e
h
h
T
R
.
E
d
H
n
T
la
A
a
Ze
DEN WE
xperience.”
F THE GOL
w Zealand e
e
N
THE END O
f
o
e
n
o
st
ry, a touch
Zealand histo
ss edition
- From the 1970 Victoria University Pre
R.
of THE EN D OF THE GOLDEN WE ATHE
BRUCE MASON TALKS ABOUT
CHOOSING TO WRITE THE PLAY
Bruce Mason remembers an American
saying about New Zealanders, “‘you
are the world’s best improvisers, and
the world’s worst experts’.” At the time
Mason was struggling to find a focus
for his own interest in theatre, and so
“I decided I would be an improviser,
this being THE country of do-ityourself, and I’d do the whole job
myself. Okay, it’s difficult to get plays
performed and you need actors: write
all the parts for yourself and you won’t
have that problem. Then you need to
get a producer: well, you don’t need
12
a producer if you’re just standing on
stage with a table and chair. Have no
scenery, because scenery is expensive
to cart around – just go from place to
place with your table and chair and
there it is. Get people to come and see
you if they want to - and I hoped, that
by stimulating their imaginations, by
suggesting that they work with me
along a channel of sympathy […],
we could have a ball. After I’d done a
hundred or so performances, the thing
began to get some reputation, and
then it wasn’t so hard to get people
to come, but at first it was something
completely new, I suppose, something
unprecedented in our own circle.”
HOW THE ORIGINAL PLAY WAS
PUT TOGETHER
… AND THE BEST MOMENTS OF
TOURING THE SHOW
The content of the solo show came
from two sources: Mason’s 1952 short
story “Summer’s End” (about the boy
and Firpo), and a series of talks Mason
wrote for a radio programme about
New Zealand writers and their lives.
The play’s title comes from American
author Thomas Wolfe, whose narrator
in The Web and the Rock describes a
book he was going to write but never
did – a novel called The End of the
Golden Weather, about a twelve year
old boy and the end of his childhood.
In a 1982 television interview, Mason
described “the occasions when you
have a wonderful rapport with an
audience. When you and they cease
to have any kind of boundary. When
you are communicating in a way that
makes you one continuum; that’s where
it worked. It was wonderful when it
happened.”
Bruce felt that the piece came together
very easily once he decided to do it.
“I suppose it took two or three weeks
to get it together, and perhaps another
three weeks to learn it.”
BRUCE MASON DESCRIBES THE
FIRST PERFORMANCE OF THE
SOLO SHOW…
“It was a disaster. I had a mild throat
infection, exacerbated by nerves; I
collapsed in hoarse shrieks, my lips
stuck together, about a third from
the end: Stafford Byrne, then Artistic
Director of the New Zealand Players,
bounded out of the audience and made
a gallant, chivalrous speech. I rallied
and just scraped home. One of the
reviews next day was excoriating,
dwelling gleefully on all the mishaps,
calling it pretentious piffle…”
“I invite you to join me in a voyage
into the past, to that territory of
the heart we call childhood.”
13
E
A HISTORY OF TH
LDEN WEATHER
END OF THE GO
wright
a solo show by play
as
59
19
in
ed
rm
• First perfo
Bruce Mason.
rformed by Bruce
cording in 1969, pe
• Released as a re
Mason.
during
d by Bruce Mason
an
al
Ze
w
Ne
ut
ho
• Toured throug
ally and
urs were commerci
to
e
th
–
s
70
19
d
the 1960s an
l.
critically successfu
oduced
ond Hawthorne pr
ym
Ra
by
n
tio
ta
ap
• A company ad
81.
tre Corporate in 19
at Auckland’s Thea
uce Mason Solo in
of the collection Br
rt
pa
as
ed
ish
bl
• Pu
1981.
oduced with
by Murray Lynch pr
n
tio
ta
ap
ad
ny
pa
• A com
nd in 1987.
Tantrum in Auckla
at Downstage
version produced
ny
pa
m
co
s
h’
nc
Ly
• Murray
in 1991.
e in 1991.
directed by Ian Mun
• Made into a film
tt and
ed by Stephen Lova
rm
rfo
pe
ow
sh
lo
• Presented as a so
toured the North
are in 2006, which
directed by Mark Cl
Island in 2007.
Peter Vere-Jones
show performed by
lo
so
a
as
d
te
en
es
• Pr
2000 to
which toured from
on
ils
W
n
sa
Su
by
and directed
Papa Press
an audio CD by Te
as
ed
as
le
re
s
wa
d
2002 an
in 2007.
14
WE ATHER
Hear Bruce Mason talking about THE END OF THE GOLDEN
in a radio interview on the Te Ara website.
FULL CIRCLE
Both Colin McColl and Murray Lynch stage managed for Bruce Mason when he
was touring the original solo show of THE END OF THE GOLDEN WEATHER.
15
All Kinds Of Weather
Director Murray Lynch talks about his various experiences of THE END
OF THE GOLDEN WEATHER, and his approach to this ATC production.
Murray’s first experience of THE END
OF THE GOLDEN WEATHER was
hearing a recording of Bruce Mason
performing it – but it wasn’t the last.
While working at Centrepoint Theatre in
Palmerston North in the mid-70s, Murray
stage-managed Bruce’s touring solo shows,
including THE END OF THE GOLDEN
WEATHER.
When Murray formed his own theatre
company, Tantrum, in 1987, THE END
OF THE GOLDEN WEATHER was the
first piece they presented. Murray explains:
“I’d seen an earlier company version of the
play that Raymond Hawthorne had created
at Theatre Corporate here in Auckland. I
enjoyed that, but I saw there was a different
way of doing it. Bruce did it as a solo show
and played 40 characters; in Raymond’s
version there is a separate narrator, and
each actor was allocated specific roles.” By
contrast, in Murray’s ensemble version for
Tantrum, “the ten actors were storytellers
in the same way that Bruce was, so some
of the narration was delivered by the
characters as well. For example, nearly all
of the actors played the boy at some point.
It was not about watching one person play
an individual character – you were involved
16
with the story being conveyed by all the
actors.”
The play kept cropping up in Murray’s
career. “A couple of years later, Colin,
who is now the director at ATC, was
the director of Downstage Theatre in
Wellington, and he asked me to redirect
the production with a different group of
actors. Late last year Colin called me and
asked me about redirecting the show again
– so this is 20 years later! I was thrilled
to be asked, because it’s such a beautiful
piece.”
Each of the three productions Murray
has directed has been staged differently.
“For the 1987 production, the audience
was seated in a circle of chairs that was
then reconfigured for some of the acts.
For example, the ends were opened up
and it became traverse performance,
with the audience on both sides, for the
running race. It was very intimate, and the
audience was involved in reconfiguring
the space. That worked really well; we
served cucumber sandwiches and cordial
at interval, and it was quite a domestic
theatrical experience. In the Wellington
production, we staged it in traverse all
the way, with a raised stage. The first
production had no lighting changes; it was
just the room lights. In Wellington, Tony
Rabbit’s design worked to subtly shift the
focus when the action moved to another
part of the stage.”
For this ATC production, Murray will be
working with a standard proscenium arch
theatre in the Maidment, which offers “a
different kind of experience.” Elements
such as music and lighting will play a more
theatrical role. “There was no music in
the first production. The second one had
one of the performers playing the piano,
while one of the other actors mimed
the concert. This time we’ve got a score;
there’s underscoring of scenes, plus music
composed for between the sections of the
play. Also, there will be lighting changes
for atmospheric effect. This is still in
development at this stage; Nathan and I
have some conceptual ideas but how those
will be realized we don’t quite know.” The
company is exploring ways of keeping the
storytelling connected with the audience,
such as having actors enter through the
auditorium and remain visible onstage
throughout the show.
The cast has played a vital role in shaping
the presentation of each production.
Murray explains: “There’s a script that’s
followed through in all three, though there
have been variances between them, but
the way it’s staged has been created with
the actors, so we’ve worked out how we
might present certain metaphors physically,
or certain physical action that’s described
in the narration. We’ve used similar edits,
in terms of what narration is tweaked
and what is taken away from the script, so
sometimes it just becomes a short dialogue,
and where an actor can play something
like ‘he twitched’ or ‘he nods’ we don’t say
those words; they’re simply represented by
the actor.”
17
So will the representations be the same
in this production as in the previous two?
“There are one or two elements that
work so well I’ve introduced them into
subsequent versions. One is the way the
policeman on the horse is represented,
with one actor on the shoulders of another
actor. Another is in the scene where the
boy is performing the concert: the actors
represent the curtain, so they’re actually
moving in synch as the curtain. But there
are other things that are completely
differently staged. It’s alive to the cast that
is working on it at that moment.”
One of the key decisions for this
production has been “to work with
an entirely young cast. There was a bit
more of an age range in the first two
productions I did; in this one the cast is
pretty much all under 30 years of age.”
Murray is excited by the possibilities this
opens up for performance. “The way it
is staged is fairly physical – the actors are
representing inanimate objects, like rocks,
that somebody’s climbing up on, so it
helps if everyone in the cast is physically
able to serve all of that easily. Also, there’s
something about being in the middle range
of the characters in the play – you’ve got
characters like Mr and Mrs Atkinson,
who would be in their 60s, say, and then
you’ve got the children, like the narrator,
the boy, who’s twelve, and the brother and
sister who are nine and younger – if you’re
around your 20s and 30s you’re kind of
placed in the middle of that range, so it
makes sense.” The ensemble work together
to present the full range of characters,
playing both the old and the young
throughout.
For Murray, the ensemble version of the
play takes you to a place “where you’re not
aware of the individual. Where it seems to
be coming from one voice – everything’s
focused and channeled towards your
reception of the story. I mean, that’s what
good theatre is in any case, whether it’s a
text with a number of allocated parts or
not...” Murray cites Bruce’s own recording,
saying “you get caught up in the period, the
environment, and the characters in the way
you do with a good novel, and it all comes
alive in your head. Bruce got up there
and played all those characters. He would
narrate the action as well as giving some
of the dialogue, and you would get totally
caught up in the world that he was drawing.
I think the same thing happens when
you’ve got a group of people presenting
that same voice.”
Thus the audience will be expected
to use their imaginations, rather than
the production doing all the work. For
instance, there will be no costume changes
in this production, “so a female actor
playing the boy is still wearing a dress, or
a male actor playing a female character is
still wearing trousers. Somebody might be
playing a policeman and then a twelve year
old boy, and there’s no costume change
between those.”
Even after many experiences of this play,
Murray still finds it fresh and relevant.
He believes it still speaks to us because
it’s themes are “absolutely universal. It’s
about when the world shifts on you, when
you start to learn about yourself. The boy
18
is twelve and he discovers the world is
not what he thought it was: that there are
uglier things going on that he’ll have to
deal with. He has to step up to the plate.
He discovers his father can be against him
having anything to do with Firpo, and yet
at the end of it all, his father praises him
for what he’s done for Firpo.”
In terms of social issues, too, Murray is
quick to point out parallels with modern
experience. “The scene where the title
comes in – “that night marked the end, the
end of the golden weather” – is around
the riots that happened in Queen Street in
1932. Well, we don’t have to go far today
to know what riots are about, when people
are looting… The reality is that the riots
were coming from a sense of frustration,
of not having a voice, of wanting to be
heard, and of dispossession. That parallel
with the current London riots is quite
strong.”
19
Acting Up
Our cast - Tim Carlsen, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Elliot ChristensenYule, Byron Coll, Dena Kennedy, Sophie Roberts, Nic Sampson,
Fern Sutherland & Matariki Whatarau - talk about the ensemble
approach to THE END OF THE GOLDEN WEATHER.
What does being part of an
ensemble mean to you?
FERN: “Making it about the work,
rather than your own insecurities, issues,
thoughts, feelings or deep seated fears.
Being able to throw out ideas without
being offended or taking it personally.”
KEISHA: “It’s about everybody
contributing.”
BYRON: “Every offer is legitimate.”
SOPHIE: “It’s energizing to be part of
a big group of people on stage, when so
often it’s just you and one or two others.
You’ve got lots of support to lean on.
There are lots of different textures and
20
colours with so many people in the
room.”
TIM: “For me it’s like a sports team…
We’re all going out there and in our
different ways aiming for the same
thing. One minute we’ve got the ball;
the next minute we’re on defense or
attack and supporting the other person.”
Do you each have a favourite
character in the piece?
KEISHA: “He absolutely steals the
entire show.”
MATARIKI: “She a pearl. I’m enjoying
playing her, and wondering how she will
grow over the season.”
Christmas stocking, and I think that’s
the character I want to perfect the most.
We all had to choose a toy, so I thought
‘I want to be really interesting, I’ll be a
ball’. Actually, I’m really terrible at being
a ball! My limbs are all in the way, and I
can’t get my head in the right position!”
BYRON: “I like the speeches from
the narrator, because the language is so
beautiful it just tastes good to say it.”
Is the story of the beach at
Christmas familiar and evocative
to all of you?
ELLIOTT: “I like the image of the
twenty Davids versus Goliath.”
EVERYONE: “Yeah, pretty much.”
ELLIOT: “Miss Effie’s great too.”
FERN: “Everything surrounding
Christmas is really beautiful, too –
because you just get it. You know that
feeling.”
KEISHA: “Yeah, there’s great spirit to
the Christmas section. I play a ball in the
BYRON: “I think that even if you
didn’t grow up at the beach at Christmas
you’d still have that sense of being at
the beach and summer.”
FERN: “It is every beach, not just
Takapuna: the pohutukawa trees and
the sand – everything about it feels
EVERYONE: “I like Uncle Jim!”
SOPHIE: “Uncle Jim is this character
that Byron plays. He has about two
lines, but he’s amazing.”
a research visit
Murray and the cast on
to Takapuna
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were running out of money, so they
had a meeting on Monday and said ‘we
need another play, and it needs to be
cheap’. So he wrote it from Monday
to Thursday, learnt it from Friday to
Sunday, and performed it the following
Monday.”
What has been the most
interesting thing you’ve found
out about the 1930s in your
research on the period?
familiar to me, and I grew up in New
Plymouth.”
What did you already know
about Bruce Mason or the play
before you started work on this
production?
BYRON: “I knew absolutely nothing!”
ELLIOTT: “I knew there was a theatre
named after Bruce Mason.”
MATARIKI: “I knew there was a
writer’s award that a couple of my
friends have won, which was named in
his honour.”
NIC: “I’d seen the play when I was
eight, performed by Peter Vere-Jones. I
barely remember it, but I remember the
feeling.”
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SOPHIE: “I knew a little. Byron
might’ve forgotten, but we did do it at
drama school! Also, I grew up around
the corner from Takapuna. I think
everyone in the area is aware of the
play; it’s performed every Christmas at
the beach.”
KEISHA: “I found it interesting
that the structure and system of
education was very much the same
then as it is now: education was free,
and secular, and compulsory – though
the atmosphere in classrooms was
completely different, of course.”
found out about the police.”
NIC: “One of the police officers’ jobs
was to clear orange peel off the road.
To avoid hilarious slippages... Also, a
police officer on the beat had to walk
at a steady pace of two and half miles
per hour around his beat, so if anyone
wanted the police all they had to do was
stand in one spot long enough.”
FERN: “And a policeman could only
use his whistle in extreme situations, and
using the whistle was so serious it had to
be documented.”
Any last words?
ELLIOTT: “If you get the chance to
perform this play at school, be Uncle
Jim!”
ELLIOTT: “I liked the stuff Nic
So what have you found out about
Mason on this project?
BYRON: “One thing that intrigued
me about Bruce Mason was that he
performed THE END OF THE
GOLDEN WEATHER over a
thousand times. Also, there were other
plays that he only took a week to write
and learn to perform.”
ELLIOTT: “FROM RUSSIA WITH
LOVE, I think it was… Downstage
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Defining The Territory
Set and costume designer Brian King discusses his design concepts.
As a student at Otago University, Brian saw Bruce Mason’s solo presentation of the
play. Brian recalls, “I hadn’t seen very much theatre, and the initial shock of Bruce’s
very sort of plummy BBC voice was what struck me first, but within a minute or two
you disregarded that and were sucked totally into Bruce’s storytelling…”
Brian remembers that the solo show had a minimal set – “one table and one chair” –
and that the table was really only there so Bruce had a place to put his glass of water!
Brian says “it’s a slightly daunting prospect for a designer to try and design something
to present the play in a more dramatic way and make a space for nine people.”
The Set
“The action takes places on a built-up area which consists of two flat platforms running
the full length of the front of the stage, and one platform mid-stage. This reflects the
manmade environment of the play: the interiors, the porches, things like that, and
will be reminiscent of tongue and groove flooring. Rising from the back of that is a
raked stage, which goes back to an outline of Rangitoto. The raked stage is more like
the natural environment, so it will be rough sawn timber; it will be shaded, and the
timber will have a kind of forced perspective to it. There will also be gaps in it so that
Nathan can light from underneath it. Behind that we’re hanging a cyc cloth painted in
a stained watercolour in this sort of abstract skyscape. Hanging over midstage there’s a
pohutukawa tree which will be printed onto Perspex, so we can light through it.”
He feels this production’s design “reflects the original way Bruce performed this piece.
We want to strip back the theatre, to avoid any pretence or attempts at hiding the
mechanics of the theatre, so everything is exposed: the lighting will be exposed, and the
theatre walls.”
There will be nine chairs, one for each actor. These will be used to represent items
described or needed in the play.
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The Costumes
“Because the idea is that actors will play multiple parts, and several people will play
one part, in the costumes I’ve not tried to portray any particular character. What I have
tried to do is evoke a feeling of the 1930s. The costumes are age appropriate to the
actors – I’ve not tried to make adult actors look like twelve year old boys. I’ve tried to
stylize it a little bit: we’ve reduced the colour palette, so the costumes will be in tones
from cream through sepia and tan to dark brown. The shoes are all flat and easy to
move around in.”
Some specific 1930s features of the costumes:
• dresses with waists, as the fashion changed after the “waistless” 1920s
• longer skirts – again, reflecting a fashion change after the flapper’s shorter skirts in
the 1920s
• plus fours – a type of sporty knickerbockers
• working man’s clothes, with overalls and a cloth cap
• polo shirts – which were just coming into fashion in the 1930s.
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27
Ensemble Exercises
A compelling ensemble is greater than the sum of its parts. Actors within
the ensemble need to trust one another so that they can make bold offers
with their voices and their bodies. Developing a cohesive ensemble is
about creating a playful yet rigorous atmosphere in the rehearsal room
that encourages actors to support one another.
This game encourages actors to respond to each other, to become spatially
aware, to listen, to observe, to use their peripheral vision and to play.
Here are a few fun exercises that you can use as starters with your
students. These exercises use movement to promote play and trust.
CROSSING THE ROOM – encourages ensemble
MUSICAL STATUES WITH PROVOCATIONS – physical warm-up
promotes playful atmosphere
Everyone in the group must get from one side of the space to the other without
touching the floor. You can start this in smaller groups (starting in various parts
of the space) and build to use whole group.
Play just like the classic musical statues game (freezing when the music stops)
but during the dancing introduce provocations: you are dancing at home, alone,
in front of the mirror; you are at a crowded party trying to get someone’s
attention.
STOP/ START – encourages focus; develops trust & ‘listening
with the whole body’
Extend the game so that players start moving on their own, but gravitate to a
partner & play/freeze together.
One person stops and the whole group must stop and stay still until someone
else (not the person who stopped), starts a new movement. Encourage players
to relax when they stop but retain the energy of their movement, to be alive to
the possibility of what might change in the room.
Extend again to groups of 3 or 5 or 9...until eventually the whole group is
moving & freezing together.
Note: It is useful to find unexpected music that takes students out of their
comfort zones & to vary tempo throughout the exercise.
DOT, LINES, CLUMPS – a movement exercise, with music, to
promote the ensemble
A DOT is one person moving alone.
A LINE is two or more people moving in a line of any configuration (ie: side by
side, one behind the other)
A CLUMP is at least three people moving in a formation like a bunch of grapes.
Everyone starts as a DOT – travelling through space. At any time they can join
others in either a LINE or a CLUMP. Encourage ‘happy marriages and happy
divorces’: it’s fine to keep moving on. When in doubt its useful to return to
being a DOT.
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Often a spontaneous whole group LINE or CLUMP will emerge, but if students
need support you can encourage them to make these formations by coaching.
The whole group walks in space, taking care not to bump into each other.
When a new movement starts the group echo the energy or intention or pace or
sounds of that movement but don’t directly copy it.
When someone stops – we all stop. When another starts – we all start.
This is a powerfully simple exercise that works well with or without music.
It is useful to split the group in half and have an audience watch as the group
changes as it often becomes difficult to see who is stopping or starting each
movement. It can be played completely neutrally but with varying pace and
energy.
It can be played as a game where someone is sent out of the room and a
‘starter’ and ‘stopper’ are pre-selected - the person returns to the room and
watches the movement, trying to guess the starters & stoppers.
It can be played with text layered over the top: lines from a play or excerpts of
poetry.
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Additional Reading / Resources
ABOUT BRUCE MASON
David Dowling. ‘Mason, Bruce Edward George - Biography’, from the Dictionary
of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 1st
September 2010 URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/biographies/5m37/1
Dowling, David. Introducing Bruce Mason. Auckland: Longman Paul Ltd, 1982.
“Mason, Bruce.” The New Zealand Book Council. URL: http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz/writers/masonb.html
Mason, Bruce. The End of the Golden Weather. Victoria University Press: Wellington, 1970.
Mason, Bruce. The End of the Golden Weather (Audio recording). Auckland: Kiwi Pacific
Records, 1981.
About ATC Education
ATC Education promotes and encourages teaching and participation in theatre
and acts as a resource for secondary and tertiary educators. It is a comprehensive
and innovative education programme designed to nurture young theatre
practitioners and future audiences.
ATC Education has direct contact with secondary school students throughout
the greater Auckland region with a focus on delivering an exciting and popular
programme that supports the Arts education of Auckland students and which
focuses on curriculum development, literacy and the Arts.
Auckland Theatre Company acknowledges that the experiences enjoyed by the
youth of today are reflected in the vibrancy of theatre in the future.
Parker, George. “Actor Alone: Solo Performance in New Zealand”. PhD thesis.
URL: http://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/bitstream/10092/1035/1/thesis_fulltext.pdf
ABOUT NEW ZEALAND IN THE 1930s
Barnett, Stephen (compiler). Those Were the Days: A nostalgic look at the 1930s from the pages
of the Weekly News. Moa Publications: Auckland, 1987
Edwards, James. Riot 1932: an eyewitness account of social upheaval in New Zealand in 1932.
Whitcoulls: Christchurch, 1974.
Simpson, Tony. The Sugarbag Years: an oral history of the 1930s Depression in New Zealand.
Hodder and Stoughton: Auckland, 1984.
“Social Welfare and the State: Great Depression”. Museum of New Zealand: Te Papa
Tongarewa.
URL: http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/WhatsOn/exhibitions/SliceofHeaven/Exhibition/
SocialWelfare/Pages/GreatDepression.aspx
Curriculum Links
ATC Education activities relate directly to the PK, UC and CI strands of the NZ
Curriculum from levels 5 to 8. They also have direct relevance to many of the
NCEA achievement standards at all three levels.
All secondary school Drama students (Years 9 to 13) should be experiencing
live theatre as a part of their course work, Understanding the Arts in Context.
Curriculum levels 6, 7 and 8 (equivalent to years 11, 12 and 13) require the
inclusion of New Zealand drama in their course of work.
The NCEA external examinations at each level (Level 1 – AS90011, Level 2 –
AS90304, Level 3 – AS90612) require students to write about live theatre they
have seen. Students who are able to experience fully produced, professional
theatre are generally advantaged in answering these questions.
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ENGAGE WITH
ATC ONLINE
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all our productions, watch
interviews with actors and
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packs, read about what
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your comments and
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Places to find out more
about ATC and engage
with us:
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www.atc.co.nz
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Username: @akldtheatreco
AUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY
487 Dominion Road, Mt Eden PO Box 96002, Balmoral, Auckland 1342
Ph: 09 309 0390 Fax: 09 309 0391 Email: atc@atc.co.nz