Archivist's Notes
Collecting, organizing and now presenting (in part) these materials has been a joy. In a town where the ground still moves, physically, politically and culturally in ways that are at times debilitating and depressing, the sense of purpose and place that I have gained through this work is empowering. This is not a history dead and buried, past and forgotten; this is very much a heritage that lives and breathes in the actions of the company who are still vigorously presenting work of the time and seeking out new ways to inspire a free society through a free theatre.
Free Theatre is doing what it has always done, but here, amongst the rubble and uncertainty of Christchurch, there is a sense that the community with whom it is in dialogue is responding like never before.
Christchurch is a conservative place. But as in many places conservative, there are powerful creative undercurrents that find a distinct voice to resist the conformity and repression of the status quo. Free Theatre may be counted as part of a tradition of Christchurch weeds that have sprung up from the cracks to provide alternative voices: the Caxton artists in the 30s, 40s and 50s that forged distinct literature, music and visual arts in New Zealand; the Flying Nun group of musicians and sound artists that are credited with the emergence of a distinct New Zealand sound in the 1980s; the Physics Room and High Street Project that sought something new in New Zealand visual arts and performance art through the 90s; and Pacific Underground, the origins of a Pasifika voice in this country in the 1990s that now has achieved mainstream success and popularity through performance, music and film. As it turns out, many within these organizations or groupings have worked together, forever drawn by the desire for truly collaborative, cutting-edge art and performance. Now more than ever this spirit is needed in a city attempting to stand up and forge a new sense of self in an era that will necessarily see a rethinking about how we live together.
Documentary filmmaker Shirley Horrocks, who is making a film on the company, has said that the depth, diversity and richness of work revealed in the Free Theatre archives is astonishing. This is a company that, driven by the ferocious talent of Peter Falkenberg, has been defying the stifling provincialism of New Zealand since the early 80s, providing a connection to the outside world, especially for young people of all ages. Falkenberg’s grounding in the historical traditions of theatre and his grasp of the latest contemporary conversation has never been at the expense of the local; it is precisely because Free Theatre provides an exchange, a dialectic, between the local and the international that makes the company appealing for practitioners and audiences. In other words, the company actually embraces the more positive aspects of the provincial – to experiment and innovate in search of solutions to problems that are immediate to the participants (performers and audience). As the mainstream literary theatre continues to reflect (and prolong) a colonial hang-over that suggests that nothing ever happens here (see Falkenberg's article Nothing Ever Happens here) – that real life is “over there” – Free Theatre insists on being relevant and engaged with our everyday lives rather than a distraction from them.
In this, the company views theatre as a tool to engage with time and place, following a lineage that includes Antoine, Brahm, Meyerhold, Brecht, Artaud and Grotowski. Alongside New Zealand theatre pioneers such as Red Mole and Amamus, Free Theatre has provided a different idea of theatre (and life) in New Zealand, one where art maybe more true than what we are told is ‘reality’.
It is then perhaps not surprising that one of the major trends that comes through the 34-year history of Free Theatre is the attempts to make invisible or inconsequential the work of the company. At times there have been aggressive campaigns to wipe it out. Given this hostility and the often striking misreadings of the work (this is most evident in the strange preoccupations and miscues of some critics), you have to wonder whether this ongoing attempt to dismiss Free Theatre – “too intellectual” or “too arty” – is a sign, ironically, of its success. Perhaps Free Theatre really does challenge and contradict imposed ideas of social and political ‘reality’ – corrupting young minds to believe that they really can change the world for the better – and this means it is not always possible simply to ignore it, there actually needs to be an active campaign to destroy it.
Resisting these kinds of attacks can of course be incredibly draining. However, it also forces you to continuously question your chosen path, providing integrity to the ultimate conclusion, which, for me, continues to be that this work is very much worth doing. It is important. And the fact that this company, against all odds continues to produce work that is always experimental and gaining an appreciative audience in sold-out, critically acclaimed productions is proof that such a presence is wanted and needed. To this end, I’d like to thank very much the founders of the Free Theatre for creating this wonderful oasis within the monoculture of Christchurch New Zealand. Herein lies but a fraction of your work and those that have followed. While we can’t get across the live experience of the performance – and often filmed recordings are misleading in this regard – we can at least provide a trace of something special, alive and inspiring for a new generation of theatre-makers.
April 2013
Dr George Parker
Free Theatre Christchurch / Te Puna Toi
PO Box 2736 / Christchurch / New Zealand
Free Theatre is doing what it has always done, but here, amongst the rubble and uncertainty of Christchurch, there is a sense that the community with whom it is in dialogue is responding like never before.
Christchurch is a conservative place. But as in many places conservative, there are powerful creative undercurrents that find a distinct voice to resist the conformity and repression of the status quo. Free Theatre may be counted as part of a tradition of Christchurch weeds that have sprung up from the cracks to provide alternative voices: the Caxton artists in the 30s, 40s and 50s that forged distinct literature, music and visual arts in New Zealand; the Flying Nun group of musicians and sound artists that are credited with the emergence of a distinct New Zealand sound in the 1980s; the Physics Room and High Street Project that sought something new in New Zealand visual arts and performance art through the 90s; and Pacific Underground, the origins of a Pasifika voice in this country in the 1990s that now has achieved mainstream success and popularity through performance, music and film. As it turns out, many within these organizations or groupings have worked together, forever drawn by the desire for truly collaborative, cutting-edge art and performance. Now more than ever this spirit is needed in a city attempting to stand up and forge a new sense of self in an era that will necessarily see a rethinking about how we live together.
Documentary filmmaker Shirley Horrocks, who is making a film on the company, has said that the depth, diversity and richness of work revealed in the Free Theatre archives is astonishing. This is a company that, driven by the ferocious talent of Peter Falkenberg, has been defying the stifling provincialism of New Zealand since the early 80s, providing a connection to the outside world, especially for young people of all ages. Falkenberg’s grounding in the historical traditions of theatre and his grasp of the latest contemporary conversation has never been at the expense of the local; it is precisely because Free Theatre provides an exchange, a dialectic, between the local and the international that makes the company appealing for practitioners and audiences. In other words, the company actually embraces the more positive aspects of the provincial – to experiment and innovate in search of solutions to problems that are immediate to the participants (performers and audience). As the mainstream literary theatre continues to reflect (and prolong) a colonial hang-over that suggests that nothing ever happens here (see Falkenberg's article Nothing Ever Happens here) – that real life is “over there” – Free Theatre insists on being relevant and engaged with our everyday lives rather than a distraction from them.
In this, the company views theatre as a tool to engage with time and place, following a lineage that includes Antoine, Brahm, Meyerhold, Brecht, Artaud and Grotowski. Alongside New Zealand theatre pioneers such as Red Mole and Amamus, Free Theatre has provided a different idea of theatre (and life) in New Zealand, one where art maybe more true than what we are told is ‘reality’.
It is then perhaps not surprising that one of the major trends that comes through the 34-year history of Free Theatre is the attempts to make invisible or inconsequential the work of the company. At times there have been aggressive campaigns to wipe it out. Given this hostility and the often striking misreadings of the work (this is most evident in the strange preoccupations and miscues of some critics), you have to wonder whether this ongoing attempt to dismiss Free Theatre – “too intellectual” or “too arty” – is a sign, ironically, of its success. Perhaps Free Theatre really does challenge and contradict imposed ideas of social and political ‘reality’ – corrupting young minds to believe that they really can change the world for the better – and this means it is not always possible simply to ignore it, there actually needs to be an active campaign to destroy it.
Resisting these kinds of attacks can of course be incredibly draining. However, it also forces you to continuously question your chosen path, providing integrity to the ultimate conclusion, which, for me, continues to be that this work is very much worth doing. It is important. And the fact that this company, against all odds continues to produce work that is always experimental and gaining an appreciative audience in sold-out, critically acclaimed productions is proof that such a presence is wanted and needed. To this end, I’d like to thank very much the founders of the Free Theatre for creating this wonderful oasis within the monoculture of Christchurch New Zealand. Herein lies but a fraction of your work and those that have followed. While we can’t get across the live experience of the performance – and often filmed recordings are misleading in this regard – we can at least provide a trace of something special, alive and inspiring for a new generation of theatre-makers.
April 2013
Dr George Parker
Free Theatre Christchurch / Te Puna Toi
PO Box 2736 / Christchurch / New Zealand
