Standing Room Only for Sunday 9 June 2019

12:37  The best of New Zealand crime writing

When you look down the longlist for 2019 Ngaio Marsh Award for crime, mystery, and thriller writing, you'll see just how broad a church the annual prize covers.

There are 10 titles, and two Dames, including Dame Ngaio herself, have made the cut.  This is particularly surprising in the case of Ngaio Marsh, who died in 1982.

There are books for young adults, and several that come from tiny publishing houses.

Convener of the judges is Craig Sisterson, known as the godfather of New Zealand crime writing, despite living in the UK these days. He talks to Lynn Freeman about the current range of New Zealand crime fiction.

The finalists will be announced on the second of August but - cue suspense music! -  they'll have to wait until mid September for the winners to be revealed.

The long list are:

No One Can Hear You by Nikki Crutchley (Oak House Press)

Cassie Clark: Outlaw by Brian Falkner (Onetree House)

This Mortal Boy by Fiona Kidman (Penguin)

Money In The Morgue by Ngaio Marsh & Stella Duffy (Harpercollins)

The Quaker by Liam Mcilvanney (Harpercollins)

Call Me Evie by JP Pomare (Hachette)

The Stakes by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin)

Make A Hard Fist by Tina Shaw (Onetree House)

The Vanishing Act by Jen Shieff (Mary Egan Publishing)

Rain Fall by Ella West (Allen & Unwin)

12:49  Dunedin's vanishing cinemas 

Remember when you went to the cinema and it was a real occasion?  You would stand for the Queen,  there was an interval when you could stock up on treats, and there was only one film on at a time.

Dunedinites have been sharing their memories of the city's cinema heritage with local theatre makers, WOW Productions.

The shout-out ties in with the New Zealand premiere of a Pulitzer Prize winning play called The Flick, set In a run-down movie theatre in the US.

Lynn Freeman talks to Rosella Hart from WOW about the project - and also about her own early cinema going experiences.

There's a talk on Thursday 13th June at the Dunedin Public Library on The Flicks: Remembering Dunedin's Picture Palaces.  And on the 4th of July, Allen Hall Theatre hosts the New Zealand premiere of the play The Flick by Annie Baker.

To share your Dunedin cinema stories with WOW, email  thedunedinproject@gmail.com and put  'The Flicks...' in the subject line.

1:10 At The Movies

Dan Slevin reviews Rocketman, Godzilla King of the Monsters and One last deal

1:33 Carried Away: Bags Unpacked

More than 150 bags, from the practical to the impractical, are going on show at Auckland War Memorial Museum.

They include what you would expect - handbags, backpacks and kete - and others you might never have heard of.

Carried Away: Bags Unpacked doesn't just show the bags.  It tells their stories and talks about the people who made and used them.

Lynn Freeman talks to the museum's Applied Arts and Design Curator, Grace Lai and to one of the contributing artists Emily Siddell, and discovers a bag often reveals as much as it conceals.

Carried Away: Bags Unpacked opens Thursday at the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the book of the same name is published by Allen and Unwin.

1:47  Expat Kiwi photographer Cody Ellingham

Showing cities future versions of themselves is what expat photographer and Art Director Cody Ellingham does.  And he's about to unleash a vision of Wellington to come on the capital.

Cody, who specialises in architectural imagery, hails from Waipukerau but now bases himself in Japan.

From there he runs his company Derive, which creates the digital visuals and soundscapes that go into creating Future Cities.

Cody Ellingham is in Wellington for the Lōemis Festival, where he'll offer locals a vision of their possible future.  Lynn Freeman gets a sneak preview.

2:06 The Laugh Track - James Roque

Who knew that the Next Big Thing in Kiwi Komedy was Filipino?  There's award-winning standup James Roque of Legal Alien fame.  There's that guy from the comedy trio Frickin' Dangerous Bro, not to mention the leading light of Proudly Asian Theatre.

Well, all right, they're all the same guy - James Roque, the Filipino stepson of New Zealand Comedy, who joins Simon Morris on the Laugh Track.

James picks comedy trio Lonely Island with Michael Bolton, Hannibal Buress, Ali Wong, Key and Peele and Jo Koy.

2:26 An Indian epic novel makes it to the stage

It's a brave playwright who takes on a much loved and multi-generational epic novel, and tries to turn it into something that works on stage.

That's exactly what UK writer Kristine Landon-Smith and Tamasha Theatre, Britain's leading Asian theatre company, did with Rohinton Mistry's Man Booker Prize nominated novel A Fine Balance.

It's set in Bombay during the chaos and heartbreak  of 'The Emergency' - when then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's government  "cleaned up the city" by driving thousands of poor from their homes in the 1970s and 80s.

Auckland Theatre Company and Prayas Theatre are working together to perform the play for the first time in New Zealand.  Lynn Freeman spoke to Kristine in the UK to find out why she took on what, on paper, seems like an impossible challenge:

A fine balance premieres on the 14th of June at Auckland's Q Theatre.

2:40 Poet Amy Leigh Wicks

Kaikoura-based expat New York poet Amy Leigh Wicks reflects on the challenges facing new migrants, as well as relationships, in her latest collection.

The Dangerous Country of Love and Marriage is the name of Amy Leigh Wicks' collection. It  covers her time in the States, her move to New Zealand and her time in Kaikoura, pre and post the 2016 earthquake.

Amy Leigh joined the  project as a communications advisor, while completing her PhD.

Lynn Freeman asked Amy Leigh what brought her all the way to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2014?

The Dangerous Country of Love and Marriage by Amy Leigh Wicks is published by Auckland University Press.

2:50  Art photography in Sixties New Zealand

There's so much more to the 1960s than the hippy movement and free love.

And in New Zealand photographers were out on the streets and inside homes, recording everyday life and creating what we now call art photography.

The work of eight photographers who were are the forefront of that movement is the focus of a new book and exhibition called The New Photography.

Te Papa's Photography curator Athol McCredie set strict criteria when narrowing down his selection that includes Gary Baigent, Ans Westra, John Daley and Len Wesney.

Lynn Freeman visited Athol at the gallery during installation, and first asked him to explain how he came up with his short list. 

The New Photography exhibition opens at Te Papa on the15th of June and the book of the same name is published by Te Papa Press.

3:06 Drama at 3 - InSalt

Insalt is a devised play set in colnial-era New Zealand.  On a remote block of land in New Zealand in the 1850's, a young couple arrive to make a new life for themselves and to bury their dead father. But there appear to be locals...

 

Music played in this show

Artist: Chris Farlowe
Song: Handbags and gladrags
Composer: D'Abo
Album: Out of time
Label: Castle
Played at: 12.32

Artist: Barnaby Weir
Song: Bag of money
Composer: Weir
Album: The Green Room
Label: Loop
Played at: 12.58

Artist: Wheatus
Song: Teenage dirtbag
Composer: Brown
Album: Wheatus
Label:  Columbia
Played at:  1.08

Artist: Fiona Apple
Song:  Paper bag
Composer: Apple
Album: When the pawn
Label: Epic
Played at: 1.44

Artist: The Meters
Song:  Trick bag
Composer: King
Album: Trick bag
Label: Reprise
Played at: 1.58

Artist: Tex Morton
Song: Yodelling bagman
Composer: Morton
Album: Tex Morton collection
Label: EMI
Played at: 2.04

Artist: James Brown
Song: Papa's got a brand new bag
Composer: Brown
Album: Sex machine
Label: Polydor
Played at: 2.37

Artist: Rufus
Song: Pack'd my bags
Composer: Khan-Maiden
Album: Stompin' at the Savoy
Label: Warner
Played at: 2.58

Artist: Jay Jay Pistolet
Song: Bags of gold
Composer: Hayward-Young
Album: Happy Birthday You
Label: Stiff
Played at: 3.58