Fitting accolade for star of stage

One of the country's newest Arts Foundation laureates, Stuart Devenie, owes much to his early days in Hawke's Bay, writes Tania McCauley

Actor Stuart Devenie's first foray into public theatre was playing a dung beetle at the age of 12 in a junior Hastings Group Theatre production.
From such inauspicious beginnings, he kicked off a professional career acting and directing for stage, television and in film, spanning more than three decades.
He has performed twice in Napier this year, in Duet for One and Roger Hall's Four Flat Whites in Italy, both directed by renowned local director Gillian Davies.
Hastings-raised Devenie was last night named as one of the NZ Arts Foundation 2010 Laureates, alongside composer/percussionist Gareth Farr, cinematographer/director Leon Narbey, ceramicist/theatre designer John Parker, and choreographer Michael Parmenter at a special ceremony held in Dunedin.
Speaking from Dunedin where he has been rehearsing for his role next week as The Dame/Granny Hood in Roger's Hall's Red Riding Hood pantomime, Devenie said he hadn't put much thought at this stage into what he would use his $50,000 foundation grant for.
"It was a wonderful surprise and a great honour. I might be able to do some study, it's marvellous."
Devenie was a founding member of Wellington's Circa Theatre, was associate director at Christchurch's Court Theatre, and artistic director at Centrepoint Theatre in Palmerston North. As well as being a leading stage performer, Devenie has also appeared in numerous television dramas and comedies, and is regarded as one of the country's top voice-over artists.
He was also a senior tutor at the New Zealand Drama School and Northland Polytechnic, and established the Playfair Theatre Company in Whangarei.
He became a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit this year for services to entertainment.
Devenie felt the laureate award wasn't his alone, but a tribute to all the people who helped nurture his talent along the way, right back to his teens in Hastings, with directors such as Eva Farquharson, and Miriam Heath.
Media personality Paul Holmes and Radio New Zealand journalist Eric Frykberg were among Devenie's youthful counterparts at Group Theatre.
He recalled playing Cromwell "about 40 years too young" in A Man For All Seasons when he was supposed to be studying for UE.
Devenie has kept returning to the Bay as both an actor and director.
In his early days he would come back for summer holidays and direct productions such as Twelfth Night for Group Theatre.
He also benefited from the enthusiasm of Hastings Boys' High School drama teachers Peter McMeekin and Bertie McConnell, including being cast in his final year in 1969 in The Royal Hunt of the Sun.
It was the most extraordinary production for a school show, he said.
"The things they taught me still remain, that early grounding in technique, it was a wonderful time."
The Laureate awards recognised senior New Zealand artists who had a substantial track record of excellence, and who would make great work in the future, said Foundation chairman Ros Burdon.
They are selected without their knowledge by a panel of peers and art experts, and are called "out of the blue" with the news.
The 2010 panel were Jack Body, Elizabeth Caldwell, Colin McColl, Anne Rowse and Deborah Shepard, convened by non-voting chair, Lloyd Williams, who was an Arts Foundation Governor.
Laureates must be New Zealanders, but they can practise in any arts discipline, and be located anywhere in the world.
The Foundation has now awarded 54 laureateships, worth a total of $2.37 million, since it was founded in 2000 to help grow private support for the arts.
The 2010 Laureates will also be celebrated at events in Wellington on November 10 and Christchurch on November 16.