{"id":642,"date":"2014-07-11T01:45:13","date_gmt":"2014-07-11T01:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/?p=642"},"modified":"2014-07-22T22:16:50","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T22:16:50","slug":"june-2014-new-zealand-stage-directorm-dione-joseph-heads-to-nyc-for-the-lincoln-centres-directorslab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/2014\/07\/11\/june-2014-new-zealand-stage-directorm-dione-joseph-heads-to-nyc-for-the-lincoln-centres-directorslab\/","title":{"rendered":"June 2014: New Zealand stage director, Dione Joseph, heads to NYC for the Lincoln Centre’s directorslab!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Seven years ago budding theatre director and third year Massey University student Dione Joseph left\u00a0New Zealand to go on a six month exchange to study theatre and film at one (if not the most) iconic\u00a0college destinations in the world, University of California, Los Angeles. It was an experience that would\u00a0change this young kiwi’s path forever.
\nThis year, after directing over thirty productions since that exchange she returns to the USA to represent\u00a0New Zealand at one of the most prestigious centres for performance: as an invited participant in the 2014\u00a0Lincoln Centre’s DirectorsLab.
\nHaving directed continuously since her early 20\u2019s (both at home and internationally) this invitation comes\u00a0at an opportune moment in Ms. Joseph’s career.
\n“I didn’t plan to be a theatre director,” says Ms. Joseph, “In fact I went to Massey, Palmerston North to\u00a0become a vet. Unfortunately, I soon found that my love for James Herriot’s writing didn’t quite translate to\u00a0the dissection lab; and after a few incidents with half-frozen rats and the potential of carving up puppies – I\u00a0decided a career change might be in order.”
\nHer love for literature made the decision to switch to the arts obvious. But it was in the drama department\u00a0that she found her real passion. Under the tutelage of Dr. Angie Farrow she directed her first production\u00a0in 2006, “The Land of Heart’s Desire”, an obscure Irish play by W.B Yeats about love, faeries, and of\u00a0course being whisked away on your wedding night.
\n“It was a bizarre choice for a first attempt as a young director and I am so grateful to my cast for trusting\u00a0me to direct such a work,” says Ms. Joseph, “At the time I had been studying post colonial literature and\u00a0was increasingly drawn to the stories and voices from Ireland, South Africa and the Caribbean. They\u00a0offered a perspective of the world that I felt increasingly connected to, an awareness of New Zealand’s\u00a0past and history within multiple contexts; a changing landscape where I felt that my voice and my story\u00a0has a place in our country’s unique and complex cultural matrix.”
\nSince then Ms. Joseph has directed a range of diverse productions, including being invited to direct Neil\u00a0Simon’s Fools at UCLA during her exchange; a work in Fuyang, China with local women; numerous\u00a0productions in Melbourne, Australia and also an opportunity to be Assistant Director to Scott Rankin from\u00a0Big hART on the company’s latest production of Hipbone Sticking Out.
\nShe will be the only New Zealander amongst fifty of the world\u2019s top international directors who will be spending three weeks at this year’s directorslab. “I applied two years ago to the lab but I didn’t get in, “says Ms. Joseph. This year not only is the theme of the lab focused on audience (ideal for my community based work) but I’ve also been able to clarify a lot of the reasons as to how and why I want to create large scale community based performances.” Ms. Joseph who graduated as a Massey Scholar with a BA in English has also received a first class honours in theatre studies from the University of Melbourne and an Artist scholarship to complete her MA in Community and Cultural Development from the VCA (Victorian College of the Arts). In addition, she is the recipient of numerous artistic and academic accolades and is honoured to be representing New Zealand in New York. “It’s not just about me, it’s about our whanua, the communities I work with, the creatives who trust me, the audiences who come to these productions with the understanding that story is medicine, and that theatre is a space to grow, engage, share and be transformed.\u201d She adds, \u201cI strongly believe a diversity of voices and perspectives from Aotearoa need to be heard and that people across the globe are witness to the fact that New Zealanders are individuals who work tirelessly to fulfil a vision that will serve not themselves, but their community; that is engineered not for self advancement but based upon the unswerving commitment to our people and our stories. That is certainly one of the most rewarding reasons to be in attendance at this year’s lab: to participate in however small a way, to ensure that our distinct voice is heard in an international context.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seven years ago budding theatre director and third year Massey University student Dione Joseph left\u00a0New Zealand to go on a six month exchange to study theatre and film at one (if not the most) iconic\u00a0college destinations in the world, University of California, Los Angeles. It was an experience that would\u00a0change this young kiwi’s path forever. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-expressive-arts-subject","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":646,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions\/646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.massey.ac.nz\/expressivearts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}