Play about ex-patients
The adventures of four former mental health patients trying to cope in the outside world is the subject of a new play opening at the Globe Theatre next week.
Me and My Friend follows the lives of a group of friends recently released from a psychiatric hospital into the community.
Playwright Gillian Plowman conceived the play after learning about the number of former psychiatric patients trying to cope in the outside world.
"Without support and understanding, we could all be there - floundering."
The play opens at 7.30pm next Thursday and runs until September 5.
There is a 2pm matinee on Sundays.
Pioneers in Otago
Expatriate New Zealanders The Pioneers bring their acclaimed show to Otago today.
The group uses original acoustic music, text by New Zealand poets, story-telling and character portrayal to tell stories of their ancestors who travelled from England and Ireland to New Zealand.
The performance features vocalist Angeline Conaghan, guitarist Ben Brewer and double bassist David Leahy.
The show also features works by New Zealand poets and writers, including James K. Baxter, Bill Manhire and Len Lye.
The Pioneers perform at 7.30pm tonight in the Oamaru Opera House, at 8pm tomorrow and Saturday in the Otago Settlers Museum, Dunedin, and at 7.30pm on Sunday in the New Edinburgh Folk Club.
Well groomed
Comedian Millen Baird stages his one-man show Wedding Speeches in Wanaka and Queenstown this week.
His TV3 comedy series The Millen Baird Show is a nominee for the comedy category of the Qantas Film and Television Awards.
He performs at the Lake Wanaka Centre tonight from 8pm and at the Queenstown Memorial Hall tomorrow from 8pm.
Celebrating Dr Johnson
The Dunedin Public Library is commemorating the birth of critic, poet and lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson.
"Samuel Johnson 1709-2009: Life and Afterlife" celebrates Johnson's achievements and continued legacy in Otago.
Among the 18th-century items drawn from the collection for display are first editions of Johnson's ground-breaking, Dictionary of the English Language (1755), his Oriental Tale, Rasselas (1759), and his annotated edition of The Plays of William Shakespeare (1765).
The Dunedin Public Libraries holds the largest concentrated collection of Johnson's works in Australasia.
The exhibition is on in the Reed Gallery until November 1.
Spotlight on dance
A film celebrating the New Zealand dance scene at the end of World War 2 debuts in Dunedin next week.
Dance of the Instant: The New Dance Group is a 46-minute documentary about the New Dance group founded by Philip and Olive Smithells in 1944.
Philip Smithells later founded the University of Otago School of Physical Education, in 1948, and the university's Smithells Gymnasium was named after him.
The documentary, by New Zealand film-maker Shirley Horrocks, pays tribute to the Smithells and offers a glimpse into New Zealand dance history.
Dance of the Instant: The New Dance Group screens at 5.30pm on Wednesday, August 26, in the Hutton Theatre, Otago Museum.
Open mike poetry back
Open mike poetry starts up again at Circadian Rhythm, in Dunedin, next week.
The Octagon Collective performances will feature poet Sue Wootton (compere Sarah Paterson) next Wednesday, followed by Sally Ann McIntyre (compere Richard Reeve) on September 9, Claire Beynon (compere Martha Morseth) on September 23, Rogelio Guedea (compere Jacob Edmond) on October 7 and Michael Harlow (compere Cy Mathews) on October 21.
The poetry nights start at 8pm next Wednesday.
Don't forget to take a poem or two along for an open mike airing.
An appreciative audience is guaranteed.
Arts award finalists
Nine Dunedin artists have been selected as finalists in the 2009 Wallace Arts Awards.
Michele Beevors, Sam Foley, Peter Cleaverley, Jim Cooper, Alan Ibell, Georgie Hill, Philip Jarvis, Russell Moses and Kirsten Ferguson are among the 115 national finalists selected this week.
There were 500 applications for the awards, which are New Zealand's most prestigious annual art awards.
The 2009 Wallace Arts Awards will be announced in Auckland on September 7.
