New Gig at Newtown Community Festival

Here we go again.
For those of you who say sometimes you can’t tell where I’m at, this gig is in New Zealand.


Two short new plays by Diane Spodarek will premiere in the NEWTOWN COMMUNITY FESTIVAL in March.

“Marley and Rachel & A Body Part” a brief glimpse into a love story between the homeless in New York City. Directed by Barry Lakeman, featuring Kazz Funky Blue as Marley and Paulette McIndoe as Rachel.

“In the Cellar of My Heart” a short story about suicide. Directed by Marjorie McKee, featuring a solo performance by Diane Spodarek.

Newtown Community Centre, Colombo St, Newtown. March 7th & 9th at 8 pm. Free.

Imagining Reality - a Review

Imagining Reality, Fringe 07
Devised and performed by Milo Haigh, Sherilee Kahui and Jake Preval with Insomniac and Hummel
BATS Theatre, February 18 –22, 2007


Imagining Reality begins with a film of a woman taking a pee in a toilet. As we watch her, we are collective voyeurs. She never acknowledges us with her eyes but let’s us know she knows we are there with her graffiti writing on the toilet wall: “I can’t believe you are watching this.” We are caught. But safe. We are, after all, the audience. We have come to watch.
More: http://www.lumiere.net.nz/reader/item/828

Cancellation of Show

It is not easy to cancel a show. But here is the notice sent to my blog friends today:

The production of my two plays: “In the Cellar of My Heart” and “Marley & Rachel & a Body Part” for the Paekakariki Fringe is cancelled. Due to artistic differences, I am no longer associated with Black Inc. and Neil Furby.

A workshop version of “Marley & Rachel” by the cast and director will be presented on February 14, 15, and 16 at 7 pm at St. Peters in Paekakariki. You are welcome to attend, but please understand this is not a finished work and is not ready for reviews.

I hope to present these plays in the near future.

The Bowler Hat - A Review

A review. Fringe Festival 2007, BATS Theatre. Reviewed 08 Feb 07

ANGIE FARROW opens The Bowler Hat with Rene Magritte’s funeral, taking the artistic and surrealist license to create his death for the audience. Magritte is there naked on top of the coffin, or is he? His clothes, the ones that appear in many of his paintings – a dark suit, white shirt and bowler hat – are also missing. A priest in regal archbishop garb enters carrying a radio in a Joseph Cornell-type box and presides over the proceedings while Magritte’s wife and others, talk amongst themselves, in particular about Catholicism and nakedness. From here, the space and time move in and out of reality and dreaminess from a staged dance production to a carrot-chomping detective trying to find the killer of a drowned woman, or is that woman Magritte’s mother? And is Magritte also a suspect? And, the beat goes on. Magritte appears in his own play, reading his lines; and, just when we didn’t know what would happen next, it becomes clear, or not, but that is not the writer’s intention, or is it?
To Read More: http://www.lumiere.net.nz/reader/arts.php

DOUBT

John Patrick Shanley's very American play set in the Bronx in 1964 Bronx debuts in New Zealand February 10. I was fortunate to see the preview.

Doubt, A Parable by John Patrick Shanley, Directed by Sue Rider, Circa Theatre. With cast: Simon Ferry, Helen Moulder, Angela Green, Tanea Heke. Opens: 10 February. Preview Night 9 February, 2007.

I loved this play when I first read it this past October on a recent trip back to New York. It won the Pulitzer for Drama in 2005 and the introduction by its author John Patrick Shanley was inspiring. (He dedicates the play “...to all the many orders of Catholic nuns who have devoted their lives to serving others...Though they have been much maligned and ridiculed, who among us has been so generous?”)


To read more:www.dianespodrek.com

Lovers of Central Park Fringe 07 A Review

A new play by James Hadley
‘The play’s the thing’ and the thing this summer is James Hadley’s new play, Lovers of Central Park. The elements have a part in this play along with over twenty actors, six directors and the unexpected: stray dogs, smart-mouthed kids, the birds, the traffic, the wind, the sun and the changing light from bright to twilight in this two-hour production.
To read more: http://www.lumiere.net.nz/reader/item/811

Patience

This is Patience. I met her at Waihoanga Centre January 2006 while at a retreat there. Anna and I enjoyed sneaking carrots from the kitchen to feed her. After a while she recognized us. She often hung out with the ram on the property. We saw her licking him. On our last day we said goodbye to Patience and tears were running down her eyes. Something in her eye? Or something more? My friend Dawn says horses take on the emotions of others, they are so sensitive. I was sad to leave but I was also in a sad place, missing my daughter in New York during the holidays.

Patience died in December, 2006. A lovely story has made the end of her life even more special. It was Patience's habit to follow Barry, her owner, when he walked along the fence to retrieve his newspaper. On his walk back, he gave her a bucket of nuts. Barry noticed Patience seemed to get lazy, to not follow him every morning. But then the Ram began leading Patience to the end of the fence and back again. It was discovered Patience was blind and the ram was helping her get around. Patience was over 36 years old.

Marley & Rachel Rehearsal Pic

Kazz Funky Blue as Marley & Paulette McIndoe as Rachel

Celebrities who used to be older than me who are now younger than me

From the "Celebrities who used to be older than me who are now younger than me file": Dionne Warwick.
Wellington, New Zealand