Dynasty Destroyed

Future Combat

"The Mercy Clause" by Philip Braithwaite
28 June - 26 July 2014
Centrepoint Theatre
Palmerston North

Right or wrong? You be the judge.

Tom is about to take on the case of his career: a young man accused of killing his father.

His defence is straightforward: it was a mercy killing.

But when ethics and morals and right and wrong are reduced to mere words being battled out in a courtroom…then nothing is straightforward.

The Mercy Clause is an intriguing and intelligent psychological drama that will keep you guessing until the very end.

"Uncovering the Lie" from The Mercy Clause

"Mercy Clause theme" from The Mercy Clause

"Approaching the Magic Statue" from Copper

Performed by Jamie Garrick at the Adam Concert Room.

Yōkai works with a handful of harmonic fields containing pitches of fixed register. Fixed register implies that although a harmonic field (pitch collection) may span several octaves, each pitch within that harmonic field rarely appears in more than one octave. Each harmonic field used in Yōkai has its beginning in the pitch material of one of the work’s motifs or chords, with the fixed register approach then dictating the development of pitch material surrounding that motif or chord. The work’s formal structure is defined by the acceleration/deceleration of change between its underlying harmonic fields and the changes in tension that this generates. Consequently, motifs can be heard to interrupt one another, while elsewhere they are given extended space to breathe. Ascending and descending runs containing “foreign pitches” (somewhat akin to chromatic passing notes) provide occasional flashes of disruption by superimposing themselves over the fixed register pitch plan.

This work was not written with any extramusical associations in mind. Upon its completion, however, the yōkai of Japanese folklore seemed an apt thematic companion for the work’s sometimes unsettling nature, the elusive quality of its harmonic material and the liminal space it constantly traverses between perceivable rhythm and more conversational gestures. Yōkai are spirits, often possessing animal or human features, with some appearing as inanimate objects and others having no discernible shape (they are not considered ghosts as they are not supernatural manifestations of the deceased). The word yōkai is made up of the Japanese kanji 妖 (bewitching, attractive, calamity) and 怪 (apparition, mystery, suspicious). Yōkai can be anything from mischievous to malicious, though some actually bring good luck to those they encounter.

Yōkai received the NZSM’s inaugural Matthew Marshall Prize for Classical Guitar Composition in August 2014, and was placed third equal at the 2014 NZSM Composers Competition.

Yōkai, for guitar (2014)

"Together All Alone - Six short plays by Angie Farrow"
7 - 18 April 2015
BATS Theatre
Wellington

These six new plays by internationally acclaimed and award winning playwright Angie Farrow have at their heart a probing examination of the isolation, expectation and experience of ‘the city’. Brides, Mothers, librarians, lovers and gamers consider what is real, what is possible and what actually happened in this dynamic collection of new New Zealand work. “Brilliantly clever, witty and sharp — these works contain a multitude of real and surreal characters and worlds, and they take you on theatrical journeys way beyond the length of the plays.” — Stuart Hoar, Playmarket.

Theme from "The Real Thing"

Together All Alone - Six short plays by Angie Farrow
7 - 18 April 2015 BATS Theatre 
Wellington

These six new plays by internationally acclaimed and award winning playwright Angie Farrow have at their heart a probing examination of the isolation, expectation and experience of ‘the city’. Brides, Mothers, librarians, lovers and gamers consider what is real, what is possible and what actually happened in this dynamic collection of new New Zealand work. “Brilliantly clever, witty and sharp — these works contain a multitude of real and surreal characters and worlds, and they take you on theatrical journeys way beyond the length of the plays.” — Stuart Hoar, Playmarket.

"Confession/murder" from "The Real Thing"

Had a blast peering into the abyss with poet Alex Staines while contributing electronics and turning my hand to recording, mixing and mastering for his album, ‘Time of the Archons’. https://alexstaineswithguests.bandcamp.com/album/time-of-the-archons

Time of the Archons

"Coptic Lisp" from "Time of the Archons" by Alex Staines with guests

Had a blast peering into the abyss with poet Alex Staines while contributing electronics and turning my hand to recording, mixing and mastering for his album, ‘Time of the Archons’. alexstaineswithguests.bandcamp.com/album/t…archons

"Wistful Birds" from "Time of the Archons" by Alex Staines with guests

Brad Jenkins is a composer and musician based in Wellington

Brad Murray Jenkins