Theatrical journey of creativity
Ewen Coleman has had a multi-faceted career in theatre in Wellington for more than 40 years. The prolific director is also a life member of Wellington Repertory, Theatre New Zealand and the Association of New Zealand Drama Adjudicators. As well as directing shows for groups he runs workshops that help hundreds of actors with their craft.
This year he was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for outstanding services to theatre and last month was awarded the Arts Welly at the Wellingtonian of the Year Awards.
What inspired you to pursue a career in the arts?
I started doing speech and drama at an early age and, as a kid, appeared in local Christmas pantomimes which gave me the bug for “performing”.
I was then able to do drama through school and got involved in local theatre groups from the moment I left school and have been involved ever since.
When I came to Wellington in the mid 1970s I was able to participate in theatre workshops which gave me a taste for directing which I was then able to pursue with various Wellington theatre groups and which I am still doing.
How do you approach creativity and innovation in your work?
Like many of the arts, creativity and innovation is innate and relatively undefinable. When directing a theatre production you have ideas, visions of how you see the finished product, how you want the production to turn out and so you then create those into tangible concepts that then become the basis of the production. And how you can create something unique that is outside the box with a production.
Many things drive creativity and innovation from little things like the colours of flowers in a garden to architecturally designed buildings. You are always looking for things that will stimulate the imagination.
What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in community theatre over the years?
The biggest change is the acceptance and production of New Zealand works in local theatre groups, not constantly doing English comedies. Many theatre groups now produce one or two NZ plays a year which never used to happen. And diversity and inclusiveness, particularly amongst the younger generation, is a major factor these days in the performing arts. This leads to a lot more questioning of how productions are to be cast and produced.
What is one of the projects you are most proud of?
This is a difficult one as all projects are unique and special unto themselves and so it is hard to single out any one in particular. When directing, the cast and crew of each production become like a family and at the time are the best ever.
Having directed more than 100 shows for community theatre they are all up there with the best.
But also, working with Theatre NZ, coordinating their annual TheatreFest has been a major project each year for the past five years and it’s given me great satisfaction to see how how successful TheatreFest has become.
What would be your dream show to direct or produce?
The Rocky Horror Show.