Rep Talk: Joan – author and playwright

I spotted Joan Rosier-Jones in the Repertory Theater auditorium watching a rehearsal of her latest play Flat Out and she agreed to spend a few minutes chatting with me.

I was curious about her story and how she came to writing.

“I went to Teachers’ College in Christchurch, but I did my PA year in Wellington,” says Joan.

From there Joan taught at various schools in the North Island and finished teaching when she was in Auckland.

“I have always written since I was a child. When I won a few short story writing competitions, I became more confident. My first play When the Stars Go Down was shortlisted in a playwriting competition in one act and was produced in New York by alumni of the American Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.”

What led her to write plays as well as stories?

“Well, I’ve always put so much dialogue in my stories that I thought I should write plays because I liked to write dialogue…to use that dialogue. I also like the suspension of the disbelief at the theater. The spirit accepts it, even the most bizarre things.”

I reminded Joan that she once said Flat Out was her way of gently poking fun at the Flat Earth Society.

“I did some research about four years ago and they had a convention in Auckland which was attended by about a thousand people.”

Joan says she wrote the piece before Covid hit.

“I watched a Netflix documentary of a Flat Earther trying to convince his mother to believe.”

She says there was also a convention in America with thousands of people there, and that sparked the idea of ​​Flat Earth.

“It’s absurd! I’m just kidding a bit. I really like watching the rehearsal, seeing it all come to life,” she says.

Yes, it all comes to life under the capable direction of Kerry Girdwood. The theater promises to be a lot of fun, so join the fun at the Repertory Theater on Thursday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 22, Saturday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 24, a matinee at 2 p.m.

Other performances will take place from Wednesday April 27 to Saturday April 30 inclusive at 7:30 p.m.