TBI Q&A: Colin McColl

Auckland Theatre Company artistic director Colin McColl leads a discussion at the NZ International Arts Festival next week about the hopes and passions for New Zealand theatre.

"Theatre really is a bizarre undertaking when you think about it: people sitting in a dark room watching people pretending to be other people. Why are we compelled to do it? What are we hoping it will achieve?"

"In the professional theatre industry people work very hard and we all get so caught up in our various projects we don't often make time to talk about these wider issues, network with each other and inspire each other. It's important to take time out to reflect and listen and dream."

McColl is also co-directing Where We Once Belonged, which premieres at the festival on March 8. "I admire Dave Armstrong's work and when he presented the idea of adapting Sia Figiel's novel I was sold."During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?
In the very early morning. About 4am I can see things with blinding clarity. If only actors wanted to rehearse then! By 10am things have got a lot more complicated.

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?
Shambolically committed.

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?
The interaction between performers and audiences. It's what we all work for; it's the thrill of the live performance and that intangible zing that happens in the air of an auditorium when a production (be it comedy or drama) is firing on all cylinders. It's exhilarating.

How do you think your environment affects your work?
Very much. It's a director's job to create an atmosphere of serious playfulness in the rehearsal room. As soon as the work becomes constipated, I stop. Also the physical aspects of a rehearsal room are important to me; actors need to work in natural daylight (although ideally a room with high windows - to keep them focused and stop the energy disappearing out of them.) I once rehearsed a whole production in a windowless black box theatre. It was hell on us all. Also although my office desk is always in a state of chaos I love a clean and tidy rehearsal room. I put it down to years of working at Downstage with Eric Gardiner, famous Wellington stage manager. Eric had been in the navy and his rehearsal room was so clean you could eat off the floor.

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?
Depends on the project or the moment in rehearsal. A director always has to have an objective overall view of the whole play and an Artistic Director has to have an overall view of a whole season. Of course you "drill down" and work in minute detail with actors, creative teams and staff.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?
Hmm. I wouldn't presume to advise anyone but I like this one from a colleague: "it's not how you fall; it's how you get up."

The Art Talk session is called Why Make Theatre Anyway? What's your answer?
If I had the answer I wouldn't have called the forum. Theatre really is a bizarre undertaking when you think about it: people sitting in a dark room watching people pretending to be other people. Why are we compelled to do it? What are we hoping it will achieve?

What other theatre-makers will be part of the discussion?
Whoever wants to be there.

Why is it important to have these discussions?
Because in the professional theatre industry people work very hard and we all get so caught up in our various projects we don't often make time to talk about these wider issues, network with each other and inspire each other. It's important to take time out to reflect and listen and dream.

How would you describe the theatre industry at the moment and how has it progressed?
Flourishing, exciting, a groundswell of extraordinary young talent who will redefine our concepts of theatre (I hope).

What are your hopes and passions for the future of New Zealand theatre?
New forms, sufficient funding, and new audiences. Since drama became part of the NCEA curriculum secondary school students have become so much more theatre literate. They know how to read a production; they understand how all the elements of a production, design, lighting, costuming as well as acting, contribute to a concept. I have great faith in them as our audiences of tomorrow.

What challenges does the industry face?
Its sustainability.

Do you think there is a need for more performing arts venues in Auckland?
Absolutely! Auckland is under resourced in terms of mid-sized performance spaces. We need a dedicated 550-600 seat drama theatre, a multi-purpose 1200 seater theatre for opera, ballet, dance and intimate music theatre as well as a 350 seater flexi-form space. Auckland is growing like topsy, it's predicted that in 20 years it will have grown by the size of Wellington. With competing priorities a strategy is needed to address all these venue needs over a period of time.

Why is the International Arts Festival important for New Zealand?
It's an opportunity to see cutting edge international work at a third of the price you'd pay abroad. It's an opportunity to meet and engage with vibrant international performers and it's an opportunity to showcase New Zealand to visiting artists, directors and promoters.

You are co-director for Where We Once Belonged, which has its premiere at the festival, can you tell us about this piece and why it interested you?
We live in the largest Polynesian city in the world. I'm keen that Auckland Theatre Company reflects our place in the world. I admire Dave Armstrong's work and when he presented the idea of adapting Sia Figiel's novel I was sold. It's a combination of great story-telling, great characters, poetry, song, humour and brutality. Also it was an opportunity for me to work again with some of the profession's most generous and playful actors.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?
I guess it has to be my production of HEDDA GABLER (set in 1950s Wellington) that played to great acclaim at Edinburgh Festival and Ibsen festival Oslo in 1990. To have a review in The Guardian that said "This is a HEDDA of a lifetime. Go through hell and high water to see it" was pretty thrilling. But of course in this business it's dangerous to dwell on past successes and one is always looking forward to the next project.

Who or what has inspired you recently?
The work of German director Frank Carstoff. His version of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE called ENDSTATION AMERIKA was extraordinarily wonderful. He was debunking the romantic vision that when people are at the bottom of the shit heap they help each other. In America it's "dog eats dog" he seemed to be saying. I saw this production just as the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the stadium riots were beaming out on TV, the synchronicity made it even more relevant. Fabulous staging (Stella and Stanley were trailer trash) and acting that went from super naturalistic to high expressionism at the flick of a finger. Because my work tends to be text based I love other forms that challenge and delight - such as Sarah Brodie's THE KREUTZER at Bats recently.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?
I don't think there was ever any option but perhaps something to do with the land, a tulip farmer and apiarist like my maternal grandfather. Actually growing things and directing are not so removed from each other: you plant a seed, you nurture the seedling so it it grows up healthy and strong and eventually flowers. Both are creators of possibilities.

What place is always with you, wherever you go?
Wellington's hills and Auckland's harbour.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?
Lying down. Always a problem at orchestral concerts where I have an overwhelming desire to lie down on the floor and let the music wash over me. Very therapeutic! I'm advocating for lying down on cushions concerts for the APO and NZSO!

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?
A funny puppet for my one-year-old daughter Miro.

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?
A book that Ilona Rodgers loaned me: IN PRAISE OF SLOW.

What's great about today?
All its possibilities.

What's your big idea for 2008?
Keeping alive the idea of a National Centre for the Performing Arts. An iconic building on Auckland's waterfront that could do for the performing arts what Te Papa has done for the museum industry. A new kind of theatre going experience with a specific kiwi-pacific flavour. A building that could house Auckland Theatre Company, the Silo, Black Grace and other contemporary dance companies. A building that is inviting, open, accessible, fun and functional.

What: NZ International Arts Festival Art Talks: Why Make Theatre Anyway
When: Tuesday 11 March 1:15pm
Where: Pacific Blue Festival Club, Frank Kitts Park, Wellington central
Cost: Free

06/03/08