UC writer in residence questions ‘kiwiness’ and identity

UC writer in residence questions ‘kiwiness’ and identity

In a public seminar, Philip Braithwaite, the 2016 Ursula Bethell Writer in Residence at the University of Canterbury, will discuss the vexed question: What is New Zealand’s identity?

In his free seminar on Friday at UC’s Ilam campus, the playwright will discuss the troublesome problem of ‘kiwiness’ and identity, as viewed through the lens of his own work, family history and experience.

“It has become such a picked apart question, so politicised, so corporatised, that it has become thoroughly boring and meaningless,” Braithwaite says.

“So let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about being me: a playwright. In New Zealand. A New Zealand playwright? Or a playwright who just happens to live in the country? Is there a difference?”
He will examine two of his recent plays, Honest to God, about New Zealand theologian Sir Lloyd Geering’s 1967 heresy trial; and The War Play, about his great-uncle Jack Braithwaite, who was executed for mutiny in World War I.

“Both are ostensibly ‘New Zealand’ plays, therefore they should express something about ‘kiwiness’: our mythology, our values, our stories. And they do, but they also don’t. Should they? Does a New Zealand writer have a responsibility to represent their country?” the playwright asks.

A writer of plays, essays and short stories, Braithwaite’s recent plays include The Mercy Clause (Centrepoint, 2014), winner of the 2013 Adam NZ Play Award; and The War Play (Fortune, 2015), winner of the Robert Lord Award for Script/Narrative of the Year.

During his residency at UC, Braithwaite will be working on the aforementioned Honest to God about the heresy trial of Sir Lloyd, as well as another play, The Atom Room, about a long-distance relationship between a husband in New Zealand and a wife who lives on Mars.

Braithwaite has been a scriptwriting and theatre teacher at Massey University, Victoria University, and Whitireia Polytechnic. He has mentored young playwrights at the Fortune theatre, Dunedin; and in 2013-14 he was the William Evans Playwriting Fellow at the University of Otago.

His work has been produced in New Zealand, Australia and Europe, and he has collaborated with groups from the Royal Court Theatre in London, the BBC and the SEEyD theatre company. His radio plays have been produced on the BBC World Service and Radio New Zealand.

All are welcome to attend the free New Zealand Studies seminar on New Zealand’s identity, Writing the Country, on Friday, 1 April, at 1pm in the Psychology-Sociology building Rm 213 at the University of Canterbury’s Ilam campus.

ends

© Scoop Media