The cartoon character ‘Handala’ by Palestinian Artist Naji Al-ALi.

Dr. Rand Hazou, Lecturer in Theatre, Interviewed on RNZ’s ‘Nights’ with Bryan Crump
Lecturer in Theatre, Dr. Rand Hazou was interviewed by Bryan Crump on Radio New Zealand’s ‘Nights’ which was broadcast on Monday 16 September 2013. The interview focused on the importance of theatre for refugees and asylum seekers and recounted Rand’s experience attending the production of Handala, staged by Alrowwad Theatre in Aida Refugee camp in Bethlehem, and the inspiration behind the concept of ‘Beautiful Resistance’. The interview is available online: http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/audio/2569493/drama-in-dramatic-places

Dr Steven Taylor and poses in front of Massey theatre students acting out the final scene of The Invisible Foot’.

‘Invisible Foot’ kick-starts workplace theatre at Massey
Massey University’s theatre and business programmes came together for a unique performance last week – a reading of a play that was never meant to be performed on stage. Called The Invisible Foot, the 40-minute piece was written by business academic and playwright Associate Professor Steven Taylor, who is currently visiting Massey University with the Fulbright Specialist Programme. Dr Taylor specialises in organisational theatre – the performing of plays in workplaces to effect transformational change. While this is a relatively new concept in New Zealand, it has a long established following elsewhere, especially in Europe. The idea, he says, is to get people thinking about aspects of the world of work in a different way.

“I see the plays as a way of opening up a conversation about things that we usually take for granted or don’t think about,” he says. “My hope is that the images and metaphors in the play stick with people and provide them with a way to talk and think about aspects of their lives that they may want to change.

“For example, I’d be delighted if a year after seeing The Invisible Foot someone said at a meeting, ‘there it is, the invisible foot of the market kicking us in the backside’, and that started a different sort of conversation about what the organisation might do.”

The Invisible Foot explores the relationship between capitalism and Christianity and critiques the business world’s addiction to growth. Students from Massey’s theatre studies programme had only a few hours to familiarise themselves with the text before performing a reading of the play in the university’s new Theatre Lab performing arts space.

Dr Taylor says when his plays are performed in workplaces he usually gets “a fair amount of laughter and knowing nods” and a lot of good discussion. The spirited reading of The Invisible Foot at Massey certainly elicited plenty of chuckles from an audience who appreciated its critique of the underlying reasons for the global financial crisis. After the performance, a panel discussion with business and arts academics and industry representatives explored the uses for workplace theatre in New Zealand. Panel member and The Warehouse general manager of human resources Anna Campbell said that she believed there was a place for theatre in organisations as long as it was used pragmatically. She went on to describe how The Warehouse uses actors as a part of its customer service training programme.

“While it’s a structured training programme, the people delivering it are improvisers and actors and it’s been hugely successful. Improvisation helps staff bring very real situations to life but in a non-threatening way. It gets them to take stock and think, ‘Oh my God, we do that to our customers, that’s really shocking.’ We wouldn’t get the same results if we stood in front of them and lectured them.”

The similarities in the skill sets of actors and good leaders was also discussed, and several members of the audience shared their accounts of being mentored or “directed” by good managers and learning to “act” in leadership roles and connect authentically with others. The performance of The Invisible Foot is just one of several workshops that will be run by Dr Taylor during his month-long stay in New Zealand. He has already worked with PhD candidate Kate Blackwood to start turning her research data on workplace bullying in hospitals into a play.

“With my New Zealand workshops I hope people will come away with some idea of the possibilities of how we can use the arts in organisations – and maybe even be a little inspired to do so,” he says.

Massey senior lecturer Dr Ralph Bathurst, who secured the Fulbright scholarship to bring Dr Taylor to New Zealand, said he hopes Dr Taylor’s visit will be the first step towards Massey embracing theatre to understand and discuss organisational behaviour.

“My longer-term plan is to bring our business and theatre programmes together to offer a troupe to go into organisations and be involved in professional development,” he says. “I’d also like students to consider turning their research into a play – that’s much more accessible than a dissertation that sits on the library shelf and never gets read.”

Derek Gordon and Sanam Vaziri in A Night In Iran. Creative producer Rand Hazou. Staged at the Massey University Theatre Lab, Albany Campus.

Iranian folktales come to life at Albany
The epic adventures of an Iranian folktale hero will come to life at Massey University’s new Theatre Lab at Albany on July 31.

A Night in Iran, produced and performed by well-known professional storyteller Derek Gordon, who teaches at Massey’s Expressive Arts programme, and Iranian migrant Sanam Vaziri, will offer audiences a rare glimpse into Iran’s legends and rich literary history in a performance of colourful storytelling, traditional songs and music.

A slayer of mad elephants, tamer of wild stallions, warrior in epic battles and seducer of beautiful princesses, Rostam is the central character in a series of 10th century folktales from Iran’s Persian region that are central to the production.

The idea for the performance came about through a chance meeting between Gordon and Vaziri earlier this year at an outdoor opera concert in St Heliers. The conversation quickly turned to Persia’s literary heritage – a subject dear to Vaziri, who moved to New Zealand from Tehran with her family ten years ago.

Under the stars at St Heliers the pair discussed the idea of creating a cultural event during Nowruz (Iran’s New Year) in March, but decided on a later date so they could concoct a fully-fledged production encompassing stories, art, music and food.

Dr Rand Hazou, Lecturer in Theatre with Massey’s Expressive Arts programme at Albany, saw the project as a perfect fit for his vision of the newly launched Theatre Lab as a space for the stories, experiences and voices of Auckland’s diverse cultures to be performed and shared with the wider community.

Gordon, who became New Zealand’s first full-time storyteller in 1981 as Bringwonder the Storyteller, says the Iranian folktales resonate with universal themes – a quest for knowledge, meaning and origins. The romantic legends featured in A Night in Iran predate Iran’s Islamic traditions, giving New Zealand audiences an insight into the rich heritage of the region, he says. And for Iranian migrants, the evening will be a special opportunity to re-connect with an aspect of their identity.

For Vaziri, who studied art at Auckland University, her love of traditional Iranian stories began at a very young age, as her grandfather would read her tales of kings and other classic folktales.

Gordon, who has performed in schools and festivals both nationally and internationally, says the art of storytelling has a unique power to create empathy by communicating across cultures and time zones. “There’s a magnetism in stories with heroic journeys, in love stories, and stories of discovery and realisation. Beauty and wildness co-exist – it’s magic,” he says.

According to the Heritage Institute website, the names Iran and Persia are often used interchangeably to mean the same country. Iran is the legal name and Persia was an ancient kingdom within Iran. Iran came to be known as Persia in the West thanks to classical Greek authors during whose time Persia was the dominant kingdom in Iran.

A Night in Iran will be performed by Sanam Vaziri, Derek Gordon, Azita Kusari, Morteza Hajizageh, with creative production by Dr Rand Hazou. It will run from 6pm to 8pm on July 31 at the Theatre Lab in the Sir Neil Waters Lecture Theatre Building, and Middle Eastern refreshments will also be served.

Watch a TV3 News item about the production Online.