Victor Rodger
Victor Rodger | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Rodger in 2021 | |
| Born | Victor John Rodger 1969 (age 56–57) Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Occupation | actor, playwright |
| Alma mater | Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School |
| Genre | Theatre, Television |
Victor John Rodger ONZM (born 1969) is a New Zealand journalist, actor and award-winning playwright[1] of Samoan and Pākehā heritage. Rodger's play Sons won acclaim at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards (1998) and received the Best New Writer and Most Outstanding New New Zealand Play awards.[2] In 2001, he won the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award.[3] Other plays include Ranterstantrum (2002) and My Name is Gary Cooper (2007), produced and staged by Auckland Theatre Company and starred a Samoan cast including Robbie Magasiva, Anapela Polataivao, Goretti Chadwick and Kiwi actress Jennifer Ward-Lealand.
Biography
[edit | edit source]Rodger was born in Christchurch in 1969.[4] Rodger's father is from the village of Iva from Savai'i island in Samoa.[5]
Rodger spent two years studying at Toi Whakaari, the New Zealand Drama School in Wellington graduating in 1997.[4] Also in 1997, his play Cunning Stunts was performed in the Young and Hungry Festival at BATS Theatre in Wellington.
During 2004–2005, he studied film writing at the Maurits Binger Film Institute in Amsterdam.[6] He gained the Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writers’ Residency (2006)[6] based at the University of Hawaiʻi.[2] In 2009, he was the Ursula Bethell Writer in Residence in Christchurch.[7]
His play Ranterstantrum (2002) was commissioned for the biennial New Zealand International Festival of the Arts.[1] His play Sons was published by Huia Publishers in 2008, and My Name Is Gary Cooper was published by Playmarket in 2012, in the anthology Urbanesia: Four Pasifika Plays. He is also a writer and a storyliner for TV soap Shortland Street.
He held the 2016 Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago.[8]
Erotic, funny and full of machete-sharp dialogue, one of our most daring contemporary playwrights offers a new insight into the steamy side of Paradise. Sian Robertson, Theatreview, 2007.[9]
His acting roles include Stickmen (2001), Mercy Peak and a recurring role on Shortland Street as Dr. Henry Mapasua.
Awards
[edit | edit source]In 2013, Rodger was awarded the Contemporary Pacific Art Award at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifka Awards.[10] In the 2021 New Year Honours, he was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to theatre and Pacific arts.[11]
Selected plays
[edit | edit source]- Ranterstantrum (2002)[12]
- My Name Is Gary Cooper (2007) - Auckland Theatre Company, Maidment Theatre. Director Roy Ward, set design Mark MacIntyre, costume Elizabeth Whiting. Cast: Nora Aati, Goretti Chadwick, Damien Harrison, Robbie Magasiva, Anapela Polata'ivao, Roy Snow, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Liesha Ward Knox
- Black Faggot (2014)[13]
- Club Paradiso (2015)[14]
- Girl On A Corner (2015) - Auckland Fringe & Auckland Pride. Basement Theatre, Auckland. Directed by Anapela Polataivao. Cast: Amanaki Prescott[15]
- At The Wake (2018) - Circa Theatre. Directed by Jane Yonge, designed by Sean Coyle. Cast: Lisa Harrow, Marco Alosio, Jerome Leota.[16]
- Sons - premiered at The Court Theatre, Christchurch (1995)[17]
- Uma Lava (2019) - First produced by FCC, at Circa Theatre, directed by Vela Manusaute. Cast: Goretti Chadwick, Mario Faumui, Anapela Polata’ivao[18]
- Lockdown La Ronde (2020) - First produced by Toi Whakaari at BATS Theatre, directed by Jarod Rawiri.[19]
Selected publications
[edit | edit source]- 2008 Sons: Huia Publishers, 128 pages. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- 2012 My Name Is Gary Cooper, published in Urbanesia: Four Pasifika Plays: Playmarket Play Series. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b [1] Archived 25 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine La Mama Theatre, New York. Retrieved 7 November 2009
- ^ a b [2] Archived 17 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine New Zealand Book Council. Retrieved 7 November 2009
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- ^ [3] Archived 14 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Playmarket New Zealand. Retrieved 7 November 2009
- ^ a b [4] Archived 16 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine Fulbright New Zealand. Retrieved 7 November 2009
- ^ [5] Archived 16 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine University of Canterbury. Retrieved 7 November 2009
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- ^ [6] Archived 21 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine Review by Sian Robertson, Theatreview 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2009
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- 1969 births
- Living people
- 20th-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century New Zealand male writers
- 20th-century New Zealand male actors
- 21st-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights
- 21st-century New Zealand male writers
- New Zealand male dramatists and playwrights
- Actors of Samoan descent
- New Zealand people of Samoan descent
- New Zealand male film actors
- New Zealand male stage actors
- New Zealand male television actors
- Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit
- Toi Whakaari alumni