The Star: May 03, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday May 3 2018 23
Our People
David Chambers
The entertaining teacher
Christ’s College director of drama David
Chambers has been teaching for 40 years
and been made a life member of Drama
New Zealand. He talks to Julia Evans
You’ve recently been made
a life member of Drama New
Zealand, how did that feel?
Well it was a total surprise, I
was absolutely gobsmacked, but
really honoured. There aren’t a
lot of them, there are only about
eight life members in total. It’s
the drama teachers’ association
for primary and secondary
schools from around the country.
I’ve never really held back
about what’s going on in drama
and how it could be better. I’m
very lucky that I’ve had a wealth
of students who are very talented
and got themselves some very
good results. I can bathe in their
glory a bit, that’s quite fun. I’m
always talking to other drama
teachers around the country
and we have a good dialogue together,
which I tend to contribute
to a fair amount.
Was your family proud?
They were absolutely gorgeous;
I got lovely reactions from all
around the country. It’s amazing
what Facebook does. They all
started posting it on Facebook
and it started going a little bit
viral. I’m lucky to have a life-long
partner who is also a high school
teacher. She’s brought me three
lovely kids and so now we have a
number of grandchildren sort of
all around the world.
Can you tell me a little bit
about your background in
teaching?
I started out with a commerce
and geography background
and taught all that stuff for 10
years. Then was lucky enough
to be able to shift into my first
drama department. I started
the first drama department at
Aranui High School and I did
that in 1987. Then I grew the
department while I was working
on all the national growth for
NCEA. So I spent 19 years at
Aranui, then moved to Linwood
for a year, and after that I came
to college. So this is my 21st year
at college, 40 years with a lot of
beautiful people.
It must have been an
interesting shift from Aranui
and Linwood to Christ’s
College?
Well it was. I often think that
the kids still need the same
thing. What you’re trying to do
is you’re trying to drag the best
out of each kid, give them the
opportunities; try and give them
the unconditional love and just
create the biggest challenges
for them to achieve. Just a little
bit above what they need to be,
an arm’s reach away. There’s a
greater wealth base at college, but
money isn’t the only thing people
are wealthy with. The wealth
of experience at Aranui is just
extraordinary. In fact, the demise
of Aranui is one of the saddest
things in my life. I believe
that school should still be there.
We had an amazing drama
department and it wasn’t only
drama, it was a bloody good
school. It’s such a pity it’s just
been wiped off the face of
the earth. It’s gone except in
the loving memories of a
few people.
How important is
drama?
Studying drama
in school means
that kids can
look at the
world
with a
fresh
lens.
It
opens
up
a whole
range of
thought and
opportunity
to think in
the skin of
other people.
It teaches
diversity,
it teaches
inclusion and
tolerance. Those things are just
vital right now in this confused
world.
Over the years you must
have taught some interesting
students, any juicy stories?
It would be very difficult to
know quite what stories to tell.
There have always been some
rat bags who thought it would
be a good idea to take my car
for a ride to go and get fish and
chips. That was a goodie. I mean
there are a lot more stories about
students who have been exceptional
in their own right. Those
are the real stories. I have had
the privilege of teaching some
really good television presenters,
actors, stage technicians, writers,
reporters. The most wonderful
thing about all of those young
people is the contact that I continue
to have with them, often
on a monthly basis. I’m still
always on the phone to someone
I taught at college or at Aranui.
It’s amazing.
How do you find the
Christchurch drama scene?
There are a lot of opportunities
at the moment, I mean there are
never enough. But there are a
lot between the opportunities
that schools provide, plus the
ones that the smaller societies
provide, plus the ones that Showbiz
Canterbury provides. Then
you’ve also got that wonderful
thing called The Court Theatre.
How did you get into the
world of drama and arts?
I found out that I could do it in
year 13 in 1971. It was something
that I could do at school but
also I could enjoy it beyond
the classroom. I did a bit of it
at Otago University and I did a
bit of it up here in Christchurch
with various outfits. Then when
I got to Aranui, I realised I could
pursue it, which is what I did.
From there, we developed it and
I just made it happen for the
kids. They wanted it to happen.
It is my life role, it’s what I’m
here to do really, because it gives
me such a buzz discovering texts,
discovering culture, discovering
things about myself in a great
way, I just want to share that
with the kids and pass it on.
When was the last time you
performed on stage?
Years ago. Probably the last
time I would’ve performed
would have been the 1994
production of Les Miserables,
BACKSTAGE: David Chambers is currently
working on the Christ’s College and Rangi
Ruru Girls’ School’s production of West
Side Story. PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
I think. That was such a huge
feat, to be able to fit that in was
a very difficult task, but
I managed it and the
school wanted me
to do it. That was
the last and that’s
because there’s just
no time. This is a
seven-day a week
job and you just
can’t commit to
a full production.
Someone
asked me the
other day if
that made me
unhappy. I
said ‘well, no,
it can’t be
because if I
was unhappy
I would
have done
something
about it’. I
think I am,
if truth be
told, happy
enough
to be
where
I am
making
it possible
for
other
people
to act,
sing
and dance. Well interact, because
acting is really interacting.
Have you had any on stage
disasters?
There’s been plenty of them.
Every show has its own set of
challenges and sometimes it just
sort of stops. Fortunately, that’s
not often. When it does stop, you
just have to get it started again.
If the fire alarm goes off, you’ve
just got to stop, reset and do it
again. I’ve had a few of those.
In 1994, most people forget,
while Les Mis was on there was
an earthquake. We were doing
a matinee at the Isaac Theatre
Royal and everyone had to
evacuate. We all walked past all
those bricks that hadn’t fallen
down but would fall down later
in 2011. Everybody forgets. I can
remember the lights moving and
the building moving. We were
standing on the side of the stage
and all of the lights just started
swinging and we’re thinking
‘holy heck’.
The whole audience and cast
just piled out so there was a
whole French Revolution out
on Gloucester St. Back to it
after a few durries. I played the
policeman, Javert.
What are your favourite
shows to watch?
There’s a huge range. I love
absurd theatre like Waiting for
Godot. I love modern musicals
like Rent and Spring Awakening.
I’m adoring doing one of the
greatest musicals of all time West
Side Story. The work of Stephen
Sondheim is extraordinary in
terms of musical theatre. A
good play, any good well-crafted
play is worth watching. I love
watching a good New Zealand
play, there’s been a lot of good
plays coming out of this country
recently. There’s a young man
called Eli Kent who has written a
play, which is great.
What does a day off look
like? Do you have any hobbies
outside of drama?
There isn’t a day off. It would
look like a walk in the park and
movies, if I had one. The last
movie I went to was the Young
Marx. It’s film of the show put
on by the National Theatre in
England. They record their
shows and put them out as
movies, which is a phenomenal
thing. Loved it. But it’s all drama
these days. I used to enjoy
gardening but we’ve bought a
house that basically hasn’t got
one.
I used to enjoy getting
involved in local government,
just contributing to the national
or local discussion about stuff.
But since the earthquake I’ve
been teaching and very heavily
involved in trying to get our life
back together again; we lost a lot
of property. I was the chairman
of a body corporate where we
had to pull down an old set of
flats on Cranmer Square. The
city tried to convince us we
could keep it, the Government
said we couldn’t, and the
insurance company said we
definitely couldn’t. All of those
things took up all the morsels
of my time, and we were still
trying to maintain an even keel
at school. We were still providing
six lessons a day for 600 boys.
So, I guess, I don’t do sport and
things at the moment but I try to
get out and walk. We’ve caught
the overseas travel bug, so I love
doing that. We’re off to Europe
in July for seven weeks, which
will be great.
What are you working on at
the moment?
First I’m working on getting
the biggest classes I’ve ever had
through NCEA. The drama
classes at college has grown a lot.
Then we’ve got West Side Story
that we’re putting on in the hall
with Rangi Ruru Girls’ School,
which I’m thrilled about. Then
I’ll get the boys tuned up and
ready to start their house plays,
which they do at school. Then I
get on a plane and let someone
else finish it.