July 20, 2022

NEW VENUE AWARDS
FIVE FUNDED RESIDENCIES TO CREATIVES ACROSS DUNEDIN 

Te Whare o Rukutia, a new flexible, accessible and affordable 120-seat performing arts venue currently managed by the Dunedin Fringe Arts Trust, has allocated $20,000 across five residencies to creatives from across Ōtepoti Dunedin, with the first kicking off at the end of the month.

The residencies focus on the development – rather than presentation – of a performance piece. This focus was designed to respond to the many disappointments performers have experienced during the pandemic after having event after event cancelled, often with no compensation for the work that was put into developing the piece.

The residencies have been made possible by project funding received from Manatū Taonga: Te Urungi Innovation Aotearoa. Te Whare o Rukutia will host the following residencies from July to November 2022.

Rosella Hart
A week-long residency for professional actor and producer Rosella Hart to develop several performance projects including an ‘invisible’ street performance, a walking street-based show, and a verbatim piece centred around the gaming community.

The World’s First Lovers: Nā Jessica Latton
A development residency for The World’s First Lovers. A new theatre work in development, written by Ōtepoti based creative, Jessica Latton (Waitaha, Kāi Tahu), and led by Prospect Park Productions, with producer H-J Kilkelly (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe) guiding a team of established and emerging artists.

dollhouse theatre company
A week-long development residency for The Many Deaths of Jeff Goldblum, by local playwright Meg Perry (Aztec, Romani. dollhouse is a new theatre company that was established in early 2022 by internationally award-winning director Ryan Hartigan. Told as three pivotal episodes of a traditional American sitcom, The Many Deaths of Jeff Goldblum is the story of a clandestine company working to maintain the public image of their clients at all costs. After all, how many times can one celebrity die?

‘The Lost Dance’: Anna and Miriam Noonan
Drawing inspiration from the book ‘ The Lost Words’: a collaboration between artist Jackie Morris and Writer Robert MacFarlane, Anna and Miriam will take their research into the workshop and development phase. Through devised theatre and choreography, they will begin an exploration into the ways in which language and technology shapes sense of place and way of relating to one another.

Neža Jamnikar
In depth research to work towards an interdisciplinary solo work/movement installation that will be composed in a collaborative manner with a design/visual/sound collaborator.

“Programming live events has always involved significant risk, even pre-pandemic. Funding models can be very competitive, and if you aren’t successful in securing funding for your project, It’s only through staging your work that you can recoup the cost of development.

“We felt it was important to dedicate these resources to ‘process’, or the development stage, rather than presentation, especially the ongoing challenges in presenting work” said Te Whare o Rukutia Creative Producer Kate Schrader.