Latest news with #AucklandWritersFestival
The Spinoff
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
Would you pay to secure a gig? Local theatre company sparks debate over casting fees
An Auckland community theatre company's request for cast members to pay a $150 fee to star in its production of The Phantom of The Opera has been labelled 'unethical'. A dream role, with a 'hefty' price tag attached: an Auckland theatre company's production of The Phantom of The Opera has copped flak from thespians for asking its cast to each pay a $150 fee, put towards production costs. In the eyes of one actor, it's like paying $150 for a 'job interview'. Ardent Performing Arts' upcoming Phantom production will be paid for out of the pockets of director Linda Marais and her husband who run the company, plus the fees fronted by its cast. A casting call published on April 10 for the production asked for potential stars to front '$150 upon audition' for an unpaid acting gig. The call was amended over the weekend to specify that the fees would be required only once actors were cast, after actress Gabrielle Salazar penned an open letter alleging it was 'unethical' to ask actors to pay, given for the most part they are paid no fee to perform in local theatre. Salazar told The Spinoff a pay-to-play model of business was basically non-existent in New Zealand's theatre community, and operating by that blueprint risked creating a barrier to participation, and commodifying a 'fun hobby'. Membership fees are common throughout many community theatre companies and offer perks such as free tickets, Salazar said, but they aren't a requirement to star in a show. 'Phantom of The Opera is going to be a huge show, but I reckon if you don't have the means to put it on, just don't,' Salazar said. She acknowledged the price that comes with producing a show – time, venue hire, costuming and more – but noted the actors were also offering their time and services for free. Local theatre productions are typically funded by ticket sales, though other funding options are available such as Auckland Council's regional arts and culture grants. In this instance, smaller companies such as Ardent would compete for funding with the likes of the Auckland Writers Festival, dance collectives and other various businesses in the arts. Fundraising events and sponsorships are other options, but can be less reliable. Salazar had contacted Ardent to share her disappointment about the fee, to which Marais replied that the casting fee 'included' the Ardent membership fee. After more concerns were shared, the Ardent representative clarified that the fee would only be required on casting. After publishing the open letter, Ardent edited the call to clarify that fees are 'due on casting', and published its statement to social media. The company sent The Spinoff the same statement when asked for comment. They were 'truly sorry for the confusion or distress caused' by the original wording and 'deeply appreciate those who took the time to reach out'. The statement, sent by Marais, explained that the company typically charged a $50 membership fee for cast, but as Phantom was a 'significantly more ambitious and resource-intensive production', the fee had been upped by $100 to meet costs. 'It would only apply to those offered and accepting a role in the production, and certainly not be collected on audition day,' she said. Marais said anyone who could not front the fee could 'speak with us confidentially'. Marais said Ardent was also 'actively pursuing other fundraising options to support this production'. 'We are listening, learning and always striving to do better,' the statement ended. Salazar's open letter drew support – as well as criticism – from a number of experienced actors and directors in Auckland's community theatre scene. One Auckland-based theatre director wrote in a Facebook group for local actors that he and his theatre partner 'lived off noodles' and made 'a lot of sacrifices' to be able to pay their way without the help of arts grants. 'I just downright wouldn't do a show we couldn't afford.' 'I'm not saying they are bad people,' they wrote, 'but perhaps a committee of advisers to help them on the right track is a good idea. Working within your means is important … The entire thing just screamed inexperienced at their end and that's OK.' Other actors who say they have worked with Ardent in the past confirmed they had paid a membership fee to star in the company's productions, but were happy with the free ticket perks which came with the fee, and support from the owners. 'They go above and beyond to be an inclusive family style theatre group that include [sic] everyone from kids on the spectrum to disabled people to more elderly individuals,' one commenter wrote.
Newsroom
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Newsroom
For the love of Chidgey
There is something obviously and explicitly special going on with the reading public's adoration of Catherine Chidgey. It has been going on for some time now, first elevated when she wrote her first bestseller The Wish Child (2016), confirmed when she wrote Remote Sympathy (2020), blown up when she wrote The Axeman's Carnival (2022), and now coalesced into a kind of near-worship with her latest novel, The Book of Guilt – the biggest-selling book in New Zealand right now of any kind and by any author ie local or international, with a signing queue at the recent Auckland Writers Festival going out the door and into the rain. She inspires a feverish quality in readers, more so even than Eleanor Catton, not merely because the Booker winner lives remotely in Britain (Chidgey is a citizen of the republic of Waikato). Catton's work is neither as intimate or felt as Chidgey's fiction. The hype is real. The latest example was in the responses from readers in the latest ReadingRoom giveaway contest. A free book is offered each week. Some of them are very popular contests and some of them generate very entertaining replies to whatever question is posed. Nothing compares to the responses in the contest to win The Book of Guilt (as well as Delirious, by Damien Wilkins). Readers were asked to say something interesting about either author. One or two chose to make comments about Wilkins ('Damien once stayed in my house in Queenstown, but I was away on a film job up north. He might've put a book I didn't read signed and left in the bookshelf in the guest's bedroom'). Everyone else had something to say about Chidgey – and they were not always complimentary, not all of them from fans. There was a strange frisson going on within the 100 or so replies. A selection follows. Buddy Mikaere Last year I visited the States on a tour to retrace the American Civil War. Back here in Aotearoa I am involved in a project that will see the establishment of a NZ Wars Centre – Te Putake O Te Riri. As the NZ Wars of the 1860s were happening at the same time that the civil war was raging in America – I wanted to see how they had depicted that struggle at various battlefields and museums. At the departure airport, my partner Fi gave me a copy of The Axeman's Carnival to read on the plane. I loved it, finishing it at my Chicago hotel the day after I arrived. I flew to Washington and after a few days wandering about, went south to Fredericksburg in Virginia. On the outskirts of Fredericksburg I stayed with some Facebook friends who lived in the woodlands that surround the city. Over dinner that night – I think it was during a conversation about woodpeckers – I told the lady of the house about Tama the magpie, the central 'character' in Axeman and gave her the book to read. At breakfast the next morning, my red-eyed hostess told me she had stayed up all night reading the book which she couldn't put down. She said that despite the cultural differences she was completely captured by the power of the narrative and the fiery finale of the book in particular. I should explain that the couple made their living from their on-line consultancy and – just like Tama – they needed to have a 'presence' to attract and hold their prospective customers. The woodland setting of their house, the impatient subdued hammering of the woodpeckers in the trees – all combined to enliven the Chidgey narrative and bring it to a charged emotional level for my lovely hostess. As a result of that book I now have two great friends for life, and they look forward to visiting with me in the Coromandel. I might even introduce them to our local magpies. Madeleine Setchell I read recently in the Listener that Catherine and her husband had a long struggle with infertility. She may have spoken about this before, but it was not something I was aware of until recently. The article stated, 'For 13 years, she couldn't write. She and husband Alan Bekhuis, a mechanical engineer and daguerreotypist, wanted more than anything to have a child. Those 13 awful, long years were subsumed with IVF attempts and the debilitating side effects of the drugs used in the treatments. 'Alice was born in 2015. She was carried by a surrogate, who is now part of their family. The couple donated sperm to another woman desperate to have a child. That child is also now part of their family. She says, of Alice, 'She is the joy of my life'.' I thought she was so very brave to talk about this, despite infertility being very common there are still many reasons people don't speak about it publicly, or even to their families. I know Catherine's words will provide comfort to readers struggling with their own infertility challenges, and I hope, in some small way, they will know they are not alone. Full disclaimer, I am the Chairperson of Fertility NZ, a small but mighty charity that walks alongside all New Zealanders facing infertility. So perhaps I am on the lookout for these things. But it did really strike me a few weeks ago how great it was she included this in her interview. I too have a much wanted, and much loved daughter named Alice. Veronica Harrod I've had two personal interactions with well known authors. Keri Hulme of The Bone People who wrote a letter back to me in response to the letter I sent her, and Catherine Chidgey who I communicated with on one of the many digital platforms that have made letter writing a dying art in its own right. Perhaps that was why things went pear shaped. I'd finished her book The Axeman's Carnival which, like all her books I've read, I enjoyed immensely. But after I finished reading it I wondered why all the publicity I'd seen rarely mentioned the violence against the main female character Marnie. Instead it was all about the magpie as if the violence against Marnie was something unpleasant to be ignored. A common story in this country unfortunately. Then I told her about the magpies I had known. About one who a former neighbour of mine gave the name Mr Wu. It used to visit a few houses in the vicinity for a feed and to make a nuisance of itself. The first time Mr Wu visited me the magpie stalked in the open front door squawking for a feed. After that when Mr Wu visited he would stalk around the computer desk, where I was sitting, chewing on wires with his beak, peering at me from the top of the desktop computer or falling asleep in my arms when tired and needing a nap. He would make himself comfortable in my arms, his beak would curl into his chest, his eyes would close and he would be out for the count until it was time to get busy again. I also told her about a magpie I had rescued from the side of the road as I was driving home from work one evening. It was flopping around with its wings outstretched so I pulled over and discovered it had almost had both its feet severed. I don't know what had caused the injury all I knew was the magpie would be vulnerable and in pain from the injury. So I grabbed a jumper from the front seat of my car, threw it over the magpie and bundled it in the car before turning around and driving to a local vet. A vet on duty took the magpie into another room. After a while he came out and said there wasn't much that could be done. I said I didn't own the magpie. I had found it on the side of the road flapping its wings and clearly distressed. He said it was unusual for the magpie to let me pick it up and transport in a moving vehicle. I agreed the best course of action was to put the magpie to sleep. Unfortunately the author found my story distressing – which it is in one way – but in another way the magpie was fortunate I responded to its distress. I was surprised by her reaction because The Axeman's Carnival is a book based on violence and a strong vein of violence runs through her novels often. I even said with some incredulity, 'But your book is about violence.' Perhaps though it's one thing to describe violence in a book but quite another to be in the thick of violence. Helen Nugteren I am definitely not a follower of fashion and hullabaloo does my head in. Give me Owen Marshall any day. I smile in recognition of his superb craftsmanship. Once the shouting about Catherine Chidgey has died down, I might get around to borrowing the new one from the mobile library in Arthur's Pass. Jan Pryor I love both authors for different reasons. Damien scares the bejesus out of me with his gentle terrifying depiction of ageing; I adore the Chidge because she recognised my genius and awarded my short story 1st prize in a competition a few years ago. Susan Gresson I waited in line at the book launch for Pet because I wanted to tell Catherine that after reading Remote Sympathy several times and contemplating the different perspectives I couldn't decide where my sympathy lay. The book places the reader in a position not to judge but to feel what it was like to live in a period where moral issues were not only dangerous but ambivalent. She replied, 'I couldn't make up my mind either.' It is this quality of her work that I love. she doesn't prescribe, she allows the reader to embrace the character's perspective. In a time where there are so many extreme and definite opinions, it is so refreshing to be treated like a competent reader to come to your own conclusion & struggle with the banality of evil. Patricia Fenton Back in the last millennium we were living in a charming little German village in the State of Hessen. My husband reckoned we might as well have had a flashing Kiwi sign above our apartment. Being in Central Europe, family, friends and acquaintances found their way to us, and they were always welcome. One day our daughter, Virginia, phoned and asked if her friend Cath, and Cath's mother, Pat, could come and stay with us. Cath was on a Goethe scholarship and her mother was visiting from New Zealand. 'You won't regret it,' Virginia said. 'They're good company, and Cath is destined for great things. She's going to be famous.' Our daughter was right – on all counts. The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) is available in bookstores nationwide.
The Spinoff
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending May 23
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books' stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. This week we are publishing Unity Auckland's bestsellers only, but will resume usual service and include Wellington next week. AUCKLAND 1 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) Thanks to an epic Auckland Writers Festival in which Chidgey appeared, The Book of Guilt is the first Aotearoa book to hit 1,000 book sales this year (according to NielsenIQ Bookdata). The Spinoff's books editor Claire Mabey gave Chidgey's latest novel a rave: read the review here. New Zealander Wynn-Williams on her time working for Meta. 3 Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Jonathan Cape, $26) Last year's Booker Prize winner set in space over one day, and the subject of a headline event at the Auckland Writers Festival last weekend. This year's Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction offered one of the most memorable nights in Ockham New Zealand Book Awards lore: Wilkins arrived only just in time to give his acceptance speech after a day of flight delays and other hi-jinks. Read an interview with Wilkins on The Spinoff, here. 5 You Are Here by David Nicholls (Hachette, $28) Absolutely charming story of walking and thinking and romance. 6 When the Going Was Good by Graydon Carter (Grove Press, $40) The memoir of a magazine editor. 8 The Emperor Of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (Penguin Random House, $38) Poet and memoirist Ocean Vuong's long-awaited novel is finally here and has arrived to rave reviews. 'Ocean Vuong's second novel is a 416‑page tour of the edgeland between aspirational fantasy and self-deception. It opens with a long slow pan over the fictional small town of East Gladness, Connecticut, beginning with ghosts that rise 'as mist over the rye across the tracks' and ending on a bridge where the camera finds a young man called Hai –'19, in the midnight of his childhood and a lifetime from first light' – preparing to drown himself. There's an almost lazy richness to the picture: the late afternoon sun, the 'moss so lush between the wooden rail ties that, at a certain angle of thick, verdant light, it looks like algae', the junkyard 'packed with school buses in various stages of amnesia'.' Read the rest of The Guardian's review, here. 9 38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia by Phillipe Sands (Weidenfeld & Nicholson $40) 'In 38 Londres Street, Philippe Sands blends personal memoir, historical detective work and gripping courtroom drama to probe a secret double story of mass murder, one that reveals a shocking thread that links the horrors of the 1940s with those of our own times.' Sounds like … a lot. 10 Air by John Boyne (Doubleday UK, $35) For those who have been following Boyne's bestselling elements series this is the book that brings them all together.
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Catherine Chidgey's The Book Of Guilt Is The First NZ-Published Book To Hit Number 1 This Year
Press Release – NielsenIQ BookData According to NielsenIQ BookData, the leading provider of consumer research and retail sales analysis for the book industry, The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press) is the first New Zealand published book to hit number one overall this year to date with over 1000* copies sold through the New Zealand BookScan panel of retailers, following Chidgey's recent successful appearance at the Auckland Writers Festival, Waituhi o Tāmaki. Number two in this week's chart is The Let Them Theory, by Mel & Sawyer Robbins (Penguin Random House) and The Book of Guilt has now broken its 5-week run at the top of the charts. Catherine Chidgey is no stranger to the New Zealand bestseller charts, appearing a total of 183 times across various positions in the NZ Fiction top 10 (since BookScan began sales tracking back in 2008) for her books, Pet (2023), The Axeman's Carnival (2022), (both Te Herenga Waka University Press), Remote Sympathy, (2020), and The Wish Child (2016) (both Victoria University Press). Chidgey has previously hit number one on the NZ Fiction chart 25 times prior to this latest week across these same four titles and last week, The Book of Guilt went straight to number one on the NZ Fiction chart after only 3 days on sale. This current week marks a new milestone however, with The Book of Guilt coming in at number one overall across all types of book sales (all genres, both NZ-published and international books). Nevena Nikolic, Territory Manager for NZ, said: 'There has been a 206% increase in sales from 2020 to 2024 for Catherine Chidgey's titles proving her star is on the rise in New Zealand in terms of book sales. This latest novel, The Book of Guilt, looks set to break further records based on early sales to-date.' *Source: NielsenIQ BookData New Zealand, BookScan data to week ending 17 May, 2025 About NielsenIQ BookData NielsenIQ BookData offers a comprehensive range of services to the international book industry, supporting the discovery, purchase, distribution, and sales measurement of books. We proudly manage the ISBN and SAN Agencies for the UK & Ireland, providing publishers with a suite of services, from assigning ISBNs to adding metadata to our database, along with promotional tools to help market your book effectively. For booksellers and libraries, we offer access to our database of over 52 million book records for title look-up, enriching websites, and managing internal systems. Our research services deliver retail sales analysis for both print and e-books across 17 territories, complemented by insights from our Books and Consumers Survey, as well as Country and Genre-specific reports. The company is wholly owned by NIQ. For more information, visit:
Scoop
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Catherine Chidgey's The Book Of Guilt Is The First NZ-Published Book To Hit Number 1 This Year
According to NielsenIQ BookData, the leading provider of consumer research and retail sales analysis for the book industry, The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press) is the first New Zealand published book to hit number one overall this year to date with over 1000* copies sold through the New Zealand BookScan panel of retailers, following Chidgey's recent successful appearance at the Auckland Writers Festival, Waituhi o Tāmaki. Number two in this week's chart is The Let Them Theory, by Mel & Sawyer Robbins (Penguin Random House) and The Book of Guilt has now broken its 5-week run at the top of the charts. Catherine Chidgey is no stranger to the New Zealand bestseller charts, appearing a total of 183 times across various positions in the NZ Fiction top 10 (since BookScan began sales tracking back in 2008) for her books, Pet (2023), The Axeman's Carnival (2022), (both Te Herenga Waka University Press), Remote Sympathy, (2020), and The Wish Child (2016) (both Victoria University Press). Chidgey has previously hit number one on the NZ Fiction chart 25 times prior to this latest week across these same four titles and last week, The Book of Guilt went straight to number one on the NZ Fiction chart after only 3 days on sale. This current week marks a new milestone however, with The Book of Guilt coming in at number one overall across all types of book sales (all genres, both NZ-published and international books). Nevena Nikolic, Territory Manager for NZ, said: 'There has been a 206% increase in sales from 2020 to 2024 for Catherine Chidgey's titles proving her star is on the rise in New Zealand in terms of book sales. This latest novel, The Book of Guilt, looks set to break further records based on early sales to-date.' *Source: NielsenIQ BookData New Zealand, BookScan data to week ending 17 May, 2025 About NielsenIQ BookData NielsenIQ BookData offers a comprehensive range of services to the international book industry, supporting the discovery, purchase, distribution, and sales measurement of books. We proudly manage the ISBN and SAN Agencies for the UK & Ireland, providing publishers with a suite of services, from assigning ISBNs to adding metadata to our database, along with promotional tools to help market your book effectively. For booksellers and libraries, we offer access to our database of over 52 million book records for title look-up, enriching websites, and managing internal systems. Our research services deliver retail sales analysis for both print and e-books across 17 territories, complemented by insights from our Books and Consumers Survey, as well as Country and Genre-specific reports. The company is wholly owned by NIQ. For more information, visit:
