Standing Room Only for Sunday 27 August 2017

12:16  One Hundred Small Objects

Telling the social history of New Zealand in 100 tiny objects was the challenge set for the woman who oversees New Zealand's biggest collection of Ephemera. Barbara Lyon from the Alexander Turnbull Library sorted through thousands of everyday objects like tram tickets, drivers' licences and protest badges to create a new exhibition called Humble; the life of 100 small objects. Barbara talks to Lynn Freeman about the challenge she was set for the exhibition, which opens in the National Library in Wellington this week.

12:30 Just One Thing - Ben Hurley

Making people laugh for the best part of two decades, TV Host and comedy writer, Ben Hurley says comedy was all he ever wanted to do for a living. But growing up in the small dairy farming town of Hawera it never felt like it would become a reality, Presenter Sonia Sly chatted to Ben at Auckland’s Classic Comedy Bar in Auckland for the final episode of this season’s podcast series,

12.45 The Talented Mr Bungay

Mike Bungay QC represented many of this country's highest profile criminals with an enthusiam and flamboyance that earned him a reputation - and enemies. His turbulent personal and professional life are the subject of a new five- part TVNZ drama series, Dear Murderer. Bungay believed everyone accused of a crime deserved a defence - well, almost everyone - and took on cases no one else wanted to touch. Lynn Freeman talks to star Mark Mitchinson, who plays Mike Bungay, and to crack screenwriter John Banas, who adapted the book written by Mike Bungay's last wife, Ronda.

1:10 At The Movies

This week, Simon Morris reviews The Dark Tower, Logan Lucky and The Trip To Spain.

1:33 Getting indigenous - and important - stories on stage

Four Maori playwrights are making the most of a new opportunity to workshop and hone their scripts. They've been picked for a new developmental programme at Auckland's Te Pou Theatre - based on an Australian scheme to encourage indigenous theatre.  Aroha Awarau, Maraea Rakuraku, Krystal Lee Brown, and Jason Te Mete explore some tough issues in their plays - youth suicide, the death of a child, the former "gay panic" defence in court. 

There'll be readings of the scripts as part of the Kōanga Festival on the  6th and 13th of September. It's in association with the Going West Festival next month.  Lynn Freeman talks to three of the writers - Aroha Awarau, Maraea Rakuraku and Jason Te Mete.:  

1:48  British artist John Stezaker and the art of collage

He's a great example of an artist hanging in there, waiting for their big break. For British artist John Stezaker the break came in 2011 when he held a retrospective of work he's been producing since the 1970s.

John cuts out images from the past - actor head-shots, film stills and vintage postcards - then creates collages that are often disturbing and genre-bending. His first exhibition in New Zealand, Lost World, is showing at the City Gallery Wellington, before traveling to the Govett Brewster in New Plymouth and the Christchurch Art Gallery.   He tells Lynn Freeman that even after all these year of cutting up photographs, it still sometimes feels like he's cutting through flesh:

 

2:06 The Laugh Track -Victor Victorious and Clever Hansel

The guests on the Laugh Track are vaudeville/variety performers Victor Victorious and Clever Hansel, aka  Eli Joseph and Hans  Landon-Lane.  Their picks include Tallulah Bankhead and Groucho Marx, Justine Smith, TV series Animaniacs, Eddie Izzard and Monty Python.

2:26  The viola gets a rare moment in the spotlight

The mellow-toned viola is often overshadowed in a string ensemble - but not this week, as Wellington to hosts the 2017 International Viola Congress. It will feature dozens of events over five days, involving musicians from more than 20 countries, and including concerts, lectures, master-classes and panel discussions.

Viola-player for the New Zealand String Quartet,Gillian Ansell, is co-hosting the 44th Viola Congress, as well as working on arrangements.  She talks to Lynn Freeman about the event, which starts in Wellington on September 2.

2:40  Jazz on a winter's weekend

Nigel Patterson honed his keyboard and composition skills playing with seminal New Zealand bands The Black Seeds and Fly My Pretties. But his love of jazz saw him form The Nigel Patterson Quartet back in 2007.  His compositions acknowledge the work of jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington, but they also veer off in edgier directions.  

The quartet is gearing up for a concert at the upcoming Jazz in Martinborough festival on September 2, and Nigel talks to Lynn Freeman about the changing face of jazz.

2:49 Sculpting the future of mining

Nicholas Mangan is the son of a miner who explores mining, the environment and even the global political economy in his sculptures and videos. Nicholas's series about the Pacific island of Nauru's phosphate mining industry is owned by Te Papa, but it's currently on loan to the Dowse Art Gallery in Lower Hutt for as part of an exhibition called Limits to Growth.

Lynn Freeman talks to Nicholas about the exhibition, which also compares a new form of mining - mining for bitcoins - with the ancient Rai stone money of the Micronesian island of Yap.  

 

3:06 Drama at 3 - You Are Pauline Smith by Fiona Farrell

 

A "Choose Your Own Adventure" fun adventure romance, with Ginette McDonald as the narrator, and Joanne Simpson as "Pauline Smith:"   Also, Stuart Devenie reads the short story The Famous Portrait by Stephen McCurdie.

Music played in this show

Artist:  Crowded House
Song:  Four seasons in one day
Composer:  Finn-Finn
Album:  Woodface
Label:  Capitol
Played at:  12.12

Artist:  Norah Jones
Song: 4 broken hearts
Composer: Burton-Jones
Album:  Little broken hearts
Label: Bluenote
Played at:  12.30

Artist:  Led Zeppelin
Song:  Four sticks
Composer: Page-Plant
Album:  Led Zeppelin 4
Label: Atlantic
Played at:  12.58

Artist: Cake
Song:  Friends is a four letter word
Composer:  McCrea
Album: Fashion Nugget
Label: Volcano
Played at:  1.07

Artist:  Cilla Black
Song:  Work is a four letter word
Composer: Woolfenden-Black
Album:  Completely Cilla
Label:  EMI
Played at:  1.45

Artist:  Bob Dylan
Song:  Positively Fourth Street
Composer: Dylan
Album:  Greatest Hits
Label:  CBS
Played at:  1.58

Artist:  Faron Young
Song: Four in the morning
Composer:  Chesnut
Album: It's four in the morning
Label:  Bianco
Played at:  2.04

Artist:  The Clash
Song:  Four horsemen
Composer:  Jones-Strummer
Album:  London Calling
Label:  Columbia
Played at:  2.35

Artist:  Manic Street Preachers and Cate Le Bon
Song:  Four lonely roads
Composer: N/A
Album:  Rewind the film
Label:  Columbia
Played at:  2.58

Artist:  Neil Young
Song:  Four strong winds
Composer: Tyson
Album:  Comes a time
Label: Reprise
Played at:  3.58