Brian Rudman: Despite quake, show must go on

After the earthquake in Christchurch. Photo / Geoff Sloan

How does one write a "use it or lose it" pep talk about the need to support the Auckland Arts Festival, which bursts into life this week, when not so far south, Christchurch lies battered and hurting.

It seems rather heartless and callous - Jafa-like behaviour indeed - to be encouraging people to spend the next three weeks feeding the soul and the mind in snug Auckland theatre spaces, when our fellow citizens in Christchurch are finding it a struggle to feed the body and to find basic shelter.

The simple answer is, tough as it might sound, what good will it do to add this burgeoning young festival to the list of earthquake casualties. By that I don't just mean the three-week arts extravaganza about to begin, but its whole existence as a cornerstone of Auckland arts and culture in coming years.

At the risk of sounding melodramatic, a financial disaster this time around, just as the decade-long struggle to create an Auckland festival of a truly international standard is coming to fruition, could trigger its permanent demise. And what comfort would that bring to anyone?

Barbara Glaser, chief executive of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and her team agonised over this issue before last Thursday's concert, as they did back in November, when a scheduled concert immediately followed the Pike River Mine disaster.

On the earlier occasion, the APO added Elgar's soulful Nimrod variation to the programme which was broadcast nationwide. The mayor of Greymouth was alerted beforehand and thanked the orchestra for the tribute. Ms Glaser spoke then of the power of music in times of despair. At Thursday's concert, Bach came to the rescue, and two minutes of silence were observed.

"It sounds really brutal but in some ways life has to go on, and for me, experiencing great art can be really comforting and a great way to reflect on life and come to terms with the awful stuff in whatever way you can," she said.

"Going to the APO or the festival is not the same as going out to a party or having a raucous time."

It can be "very healing and not disrespectful ... probably the last thing anyone would want is completely stopping the festival".

Like me, she also worries that if people don't go to this festival "then once the earthquake is over, there won't be a festival".

Visiting Bolivian theatre company Teatro de los Andes offered to replace their proposed show, starting March 8, with another performance based on the story of the 1998 Bolivian earthquake. Festival organisers say the change wouldn't have been practical, which seems an unfortunate missed opportunity, but they did acknowledge the offer was a reminder "of the importance of story-telling and the arts in understanding and processing these sorts of terrible disasters".

Postponement was not an option. There are 75 separate shows, local and overseas-based, in the main festival, and similar numbers in the parallel fringe festival. Groups are booked months or years ahead. Many performers are already here or about to land.

The festival has a budget of $8.75 million, made up of $2.2 million in projected box office take, $3.5 million in local and central government funding and the balance in sponsorship and donations. The money is already spent or committed. All that is needed are audiences, to ensure this one is a success and that the institution itself survives.

Of course Aucklanders are shaken and deeply concerned and saddened for Christchurch and its people. Each one of us has friends and relatives, or knows people whose friends and relatives are affected. Auckland Council has dispatched over 100 staff, including engineers and rapid response teams.

Watercare Services has rushed down four large water treatment plants. Welfare centres have been established in Auckland for evacuees. Every Aucklander I've spoken to supports some sort of tax levy - a reversal of last year's tax cuts seems a simple solution - to help fund the rebuilding of the southern city. We do care and, living atop a field of young volcanoes, appreciate only too well how all New Zealanders are fellow citizens of a very fragile spot on the earth's crust.

That said, no good will be achieved for anyone by the festival's demise. Neither is any disrespect meant to the people of Christchurch by Aucklanders supporting it.