Specialised Opera Director works for $7.40 per hour

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A ripple of humour wafts through the crowd at the entrance of the Doctor, Spinelloccio. Not only does the young singer capture an essence of the comedy and the pathos of the evening, there is also wry amusement that a moment ago this same singer (double cast as a dead body) was hefted off the stage bed and unceremoniously dumped out of sight. This then makes way for the shykster Gianni Schicchi, the most infamous of operatic impersonators, to beguile us with melody and, as in the best comedy, cloak the scene with irony which works its effect on an audience in a manner that no other art can do. Live performance is a highly specialist pursuit. My role as director of this opera has been crafted through five decades of countless workshops and stage directing tasks. The success of tonight’s performance relies on my specialist knowledge and decades of experience.

Performing arts emerge organically from every pocket of human community and has done so for millennia. Theatre is unstoppable, it always appears, therefore one could attest to its necessity. It can be neglected and taken for granted; and yet it remains.

My professional life has been crafted across continents and the teachings of masters, ancient and modern. I constantly turn over in my mind the interaction of design and performance. I consider and reassess the way I negotiate relationships, building trust and respect, connecting to the myriad of elements I must have insight into and mastery of. ?This evening’s audience is full of expectation and I, the specialist, must step forward and deliver, inspire my cast, bring all my decades to bear upon the necessity of storytelling.

The element of the tribal seer, entrancing an audience at the communal fire, this vibration is present and must be understood and transferred into technique and stage direction. Here I am, necessary and expected, an organic emergence of my community, and for this expertise and lifetimes pursuit I remain financially invalid.

Our performance on March 4th in the Medici Court at the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival of the Puccinci opera, Gianni Schicchi?receives a standing ovation, and I am congratulated and thanked by the audience and managers of the festival. And yet.

On this occasion, as part of the income share model taken by us, the managers of the company, I receive $400. my hourly rate comes to $7.40.

What of the engineer, medical specialist, business manager, dairy farmer, they like me, are a necessary function in our community so why do they receive financial rewards that belittle and insult mine?

New Zealand has a complex relationship to its artists, and after a lifetime in theatre I well know the shape and colour of this relationship. In an age that sees grossly distorted margins of return for depth of ability and effort, I shudder at the proportions.

Yet each day I choose to remain loyal to my profession and honour my occupation and experience. I am necessary so please, give me some oxygen. Grant me the right to be financially acknowledged and recognise the attainment of my specialisation, my work and dedication.