Standing Room Only for Sunday 29 May 2022

12:16  Street artist Lydia Emily faces unexpected challenges

Los Angeles-based Lydia Emily was a highly respected political street artist when she was diagnosed with MS.  Now she has to use shoelaces to secure paintbrushes to her weakened hands to complete her art. 

Obviously the debilitating disease threatens her livelihood, but the American healthcare system has been more of a hindrance than a help to the mother of two.

Lydia's battles on many fronts are described in a new documentary, The Art of Rebellion, that's about to be shown at the Doc Edge Film Festival.

Lynn Freeman talks with director Libby Spears, whose previous film Playground revealed the horrific child sex trade in the US.  Libby's also on Newsweek's list of "150 Women Who Shake the World".

The Art of Rebellion is part of the Doc Edge Festival.  It will play online from the 1st of June, and in theatres in Auckland and Wellington.   

 

12:31  7 methods of killing Kylie Jenner

In 2019, Kylie Jenner, part of the Kardashian clan, became the youngest 'self-made' billionaire in history thanks to social media and her reputation as an influencer and entrepreneur.

On her Instagram account alone she has a reported 341 million followers.  That's slightly more than the entire population of the United States.  

British playwright Jasmine Lee-Jones examines Jenner's popularity and personality, as well as friendship, cancel culture, cultural appropriation and queer identity in seven methods of killing kylie jenner.

It's the work Tāmaki Makaurau's Silo Theatre has chosen as a centrepiece of its 25th anniversary programme.

Lynn Freeman spoke to one of the stars of the show, Batanai Mashingaidze and to the director, Keagan Carr Fransh.

seven methods of killing kylie jenner has its New Zealand premiere on the 2nd of June at the Basement.  It's a Silo Theatre production.
 

12:45  Ché Zara Blomfield returns home

In 2010 Kiwi Ché Zara Blomfield was instrumental in setting up a collaborative art space in London called The Composing Rooms.

Artists were welcomed into the space and encouraged to talk to each other - and work together - on arts and writing projects.

Its 10 year lifespan is recorded in a new book Ché's been working on since she returned to Aotearoa in 2020.  It's called The Composing Rooms, 2010-2020.

Ché Zara Blomfield discusses it with Lynn Freeman, and also talks about her podcast of interviews with people responding to the pandemic called Wiser Conversations.

 

1:10 At The Movies

This week Simon Morris reviews Viking drama The Northman, a biopic of children's author Roald Dahl, To Olivia and a chilling horror film The Innocents.

 

1:31  Toby Laing's Bio Electricity taps into the music of the spheres

"Conjuring sound patterns that began eons ago and will continue into eternity" is what's being generated for a new music project called Bio Electricity 

Co-founder of Fat Freddy's Drop, Toby Laing is collaborating with composer Riki Gooch and music producer Parks for the show.

It'll premiere at the upcoming Loemis Festival in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, in a giant glasshouse and under a super full moon.

Toby plays a couple of excerpts of the piece, and explains to Lynn Freeman the concept, the gear and the three creators' mutual fascination with electricity.

Bio Electricity premieres on the 14th of June at Wellington's Begonia House as part of the Loemis Festival.

 

1:45  Sabrina Martin is used to performing in unusual venues

She's performed in hotel rooms, abandoned buildings, a shipping container - even a palace in Denmark!

Now Kiwi actor Sabrina Martin is taking on a solo stage role made famous by British actor Carey Mulligan, of Promising Young Woman fame.  

Girls & Boys written by Dennis Kelly is described as a family tragedy where the audience is addressed by a messy, honest, woman who's unravelling on stage as she tries to make sense of it all:

Sabrina talks to Lynn Freeman about the challenges of a one-woman show in an unusual venue.   Girls & Boys premieres at the Sustainability Trust Eco-store in Wellington.  It opens on May 31.

 

2:06 The Laugh Track - comedy consultant Sam Smith

The whole point of comedy is it's spontaneous - or at least it seems to be.  Things "strike us as funny".  Or we notice things, and wonder if other people are equally amused.   

But professional comedy writers can't afford to sit around waiting for inspiration.  Comedy - particularly TV comedy - is an insatiable beast, and it takes a certain sort of person to feed it.

People like today's guest Sam Smith.  He's the co-head writer of 7 Days, he's written for Wellington Paranormal, Taskmaster NZ and Have you been paying attention.  

He's also one of the most in-demand comedy consultants in the business.  He talks "funny" with Lynn Freeman, and illustrates it with clips from the Two Ronnies, Abbott and Costello, Rowan Atkinson and TV show Arrested Development.

 

2:26  Dunedin Symphony Orchestra is back on stage

The Dunedin Symphony Orchestra's  concert progrmme for 2022 is starting mid year.  But given the events of the last two years, that's understandable.

It also means the orchestra has been able to confirm an overseas conductor in the mix, something that couldn't have been confirmed until recently.

The invited soloists are all homegrown.

General Manager Philippa Harris tells Lynn Freeman that surviving the Covid era has been thanks not only to the government's wage subsidy scheme, and also to the fervent support of the local community.
 
Philippa explains the logistics involved in producing the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra's 56th programme next month.

 

2:37   Poet Richard Von Sturmer's love of an ancient Japanese form

Complex and yet a celebration of simplicity,  poet Richard von Sturmer uses the "Tanka" poetic form to explore big themes in a very few words in his latest collection.   

Resonating Distances shows Richard's mastery of the Japanese form of poetry, with the short form sequences leading into related prose passages.

Richard's also a musician, film actor and director and he runs the Auckland Zen Centre with his partner.

He reads from the new collection and talks with Lynn Freeman about it.

Resonating Distances by Richard von Sturmer is published by Titus.

 

2:47  Short story writer Vivienne Lingard talks Pocket Money

Miscommunication between couples and families features prominently in the first short story collection by Devonport writer and artist, Vivienne Lingard.

Pocket Money & Other Stories is the title of the collection, written over some 15 years.

After gaining her  Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Auckland, Vivienne took a short story masterclass in San Francisco  with author and editor, Tom Jenks.

Two years ago she published a fictional memoir called The (almost) True story of a Man called Jack, and she tells Lynn Freeman she's working on a novel called Mrs Forsythe.

Vivienne Lingard's book Pocket Money & Other Stories is published by Artistry.
 

3:06 Drama at 3 -  Part Two of Four flat whites in Italy

The second and final part of the radio adaptation of Sir Roger Hall's well-known stage play.  Four retired Kiwis discover much about life on the last part of their Italian holiday together.

Music played in this show

Artist: Body Electric
Song: Pulsing
Composer: Body Electric
Album: single
Label: Jayrem
Played at: 12.30

Artist: Joni Mitchell
Song: Electricty
Composer:  Mitchell-Murphy
Album: For the Roses
Label: Warner
Played at: 12.29

Artist: Mark Williams
Song: Love electric
Composer: Vander-Young
Album: ZNZ
Label: Albert
Played at: 12.42

Artist: Tubeway Army
Song: Are "friends" electric?
Composer: Numan
Album: Replicas
Label: Beggars Banquet
Played at: 12.58

Artist:  Jimi Hendrix
Song:  Have you ever been (to Electric Ladyland)?
Composer: Hendrix
Album: Electric Ladyland
Label:  MCA
Played at: 1.07

Artist:  Silk City/Dua Lipa
Song:  Electricity
Composer:  Ronson-Pentz-Picard
Album: Dua Lipa
Label: N/A
Played at: 1.42

Artist: Sia
Song:  Electric bird
Composer: Binns-Furler
Album: Some people have real problems
Label: Monkey
Played at:  1.58

Artist: MGMT
Song: Electric feels
Composer: Goldwasser-vanWyngarden
Album: Oracular Spectacular
Label: Columbia
Played at: 2.05

Artist: Black Oak Arkansaw
Song:  When electricity came to Arkansas
Composer:  Black Oak Arkansas
Album: Hot and Nasty and other hits
Label:  Flashback
Played at: 2.58

Artist: Electric Light Orchestra
Song: Telephone Line
Composer:  Lynne
Album:  Greatest hits
Label:  Jet
Played at: 3.58