Interview with Andy Saker

Andy Saker

- following a creative dream

By Christine Young

Andy Saker is a teacher, writer, actor and director, and in October presented at The PumpHouse ‘Flying with the Eagles’, the third and final instalment of his trilogy of plays about life on the North Shore. He grew up in Castor Bay and attended Campbells Bay Primary, Murrays Bay Intermediate, Westlake Boys and, briefly, Takapuna Grammar. So far, so very North Shore. So how did he end up doing a Masters degree at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London, despite his admission that though he was always encouraged to be creative, he was “not good at school”? And what is he doing living in the Australian Outback?

Christine Young asked him about his peripatetic life and career.

Andy left New Zealand for London when he was 21. He based himself there for 13 years, returning to New Zealand in 2000. He had no acting experience when he arrived but as soon as he went to the West End he was “captured by the respect for the performing arts” in London; sufficiently captivated that he began acting himself…

Channel Magazine: Did you always have ambitions to be an actor and/or playwright?

Andy Saker: I began acting in London in the late ’80s, attending various courses and performing in small independent theatre companies. I had no major ambitions; I just thought it would be interesting and fun. I also attended script-writing workshops as I had story ideas I wanted to develop, ideas I had been working on. After I had been attending acting refresher classes at RADA over five years or so, one of my tutors pushed me to apply for the Masters degree RADA had running. The course was in Text and Performance which was perfect. I loved everything about the studies there, the teaching and being in an exciting creative environment. I also enjoyed the social aspect and the pub after classes. The tutors at RADA inspired me to be a teacher.

CM: Did you then go on to an acting career in London? Or did you focus on writing?

AS: A combination of both. I acted in plays in London and Edinburgh Festival, plus various commercial work, tv ads and stills.

On his return to New Zealand, after 15 years away, Andy formed Devonport Theatre Company, spurred on by some of his students “desperate to be in a production”. They successfully presented ‘Beauty Queen of Leenane’ by Martin Donnagh.

Devonport Theatre Cpompany took a back seat as Andy then trained as a teacher at AUT’s Akoranga campus on the Shore, and won a role at Rosmini College. He’s now been teaching for over 20 years – adult drama classes, English as a second language (ESOL), secondary school drama, and remote teaching.

CM: Are you still artistic director At Devonport Theatre Company? Please tell us a bit about what you have achieved there.

AS: Yes, I still have Devonport Theatre Company. I use the company to produce theatre I am interested in, in particular my new writing. We

Teacher, writer, actor and director Andy Saker says the Shore is his spiritual home.

have performed five plays in all. In addition to the three plays in my trilogy these were 'Beauty Queen of Leenane', which we performed at The Devonport Cinema, and 'Keeper' by Steven Snell, performed at the PumpHouse Theatre.

CM: More recently you’ve spent some time living in the Australian outback, working with an indigenous community. Please tell us about that.

AS: I began secondary teaching at Rosmini College in Takapuna. It was a great experience at a great school and I developed as a drama teacher. I felt I needed a new challenge and put out a few feelers for new and different teaching opportunities. Responding to a request to start ‘now’ in a remote part of Australia, I relocated to the Northern Territory, Australia to teach indigenous children. I have been living and taught [not just drama, but everything, including life skills] at several schools in the region over the past ten years. I am currently running a 40-student school in a small aboriginal community which is three hours’ drive north-east of Alice Springs.

CM: ‘Flying with The Eagles’ was the third play in the trilogy based on life on the Shore – what prompted you to write these plays?

AS: All places have their characters and stories. Why not the North Shore? The number one rule of writing is to write about what you know, [and] I know the Shore. I find the Shore an interesting place with many good stories and conversations. We performed the first, ‘Pearshaped’, in 2010 and ‘Gavin Puts Things Straight’ in 2011 so it was quite some time before the third play. The plays were intended to be a trilogy but I am sure there will be more plays from me based on the Shore.

I usually write down conversations and situations I have heard which I found funny and real, and work them into the play.

CM: Is comedy your natural metier? Or was it a deliberate device to highlight some of the Shore community’s foibles?

AS: To describe my plays as purely comedy is inaccurate as there is always a degree of drama and realism woven through the story. I usually write down conversations and situations I have heard which I found funny and real, and work them into the play. I would hope the characters aren’t coming across as stereotypes but as honest relatable people, people we know. I return to New Zealand quite often and to me the essence of the North Shore doesn’t change that much. There are more people and infill housing, but it is still the same place.

CM: At one stage you were also writing a book – has that come to fruition or have the plays (and other priorities?) taken precedence?

AS: I have been working on a novel set in New Zealand for a number of years; I hope to finish the final draft soon.

While Andy's book, like the plays, is set on the Shore, it’s a drama set 50 years in the future. Andy is planning to find a quiet place in Thailand next January, before school resumes, to compete the final re-write. Part of the original attraction of taking a job in the Northern Territory was its proximity to South East Asia, and the ability to indulge his love of travelling there. He is now considering relocating to Darwin to work with the Darwin Theatre Company; that move depends on the right teaching position being available.

But for now, he will return to his school in the Northern Territory, and continue to take advantage of what he describes as “generous” holidays not only to travel but “to visit New Zealand as often as possible as it is still my home; my spiritual home in particular”.

Living a life of plenty, surrounded by nature.

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