OPENING ACT

The Mayfair, New Plymouth, New Zealand, 2022.

On the 25th of October 1917 the film Intolerance was screened at Everybody’s Theatre (now known as The Mayfair) in New Plymouth. This silent film was one of the earliest in cinema showing a kiss between men. Near the end of the film Prince Belshazzar kisses The Mighty Man of Valor (Belshazzar’s guard). It is one of many moments in local queer history not formally recorded, but one Novak and the Make Visible: Taranaki project aims to record in local museum archives. Growing local queer archives can increase queer visibility and decrease feelings of erasure. It can help queer people feel seen, valued, and ultimately experience positive mental health outcomes.

The Mayfair became a safe space for queer youth in Taranaki to meet and receive support from RainbowYOUTH in recent times.

UNITE

This work explores physical and digital dimensions of queer hook up realms in Taranaki. The work is sited in the men’s restroom in the theatre as a reflection on Novak’s past experience in a public restroom. The fluorescent light stands upright, passing through a LED ring light symbolising sexual intercourse. This extends beyond gay sex to sex in queer communities in general. The contrast and intermingling between physical and digital hook up realms is represented by the fluorescent light (older technology) and LED ring light (newer web related technology).

mEND

This work explores the healing process in local queer communities. The work is sited in a green room near the main stage in the theatre. It is a long narrow corridor with one wall covered in writing and imagery from people that have performed at The Mayfair in the past. Unpotted lavender plants line this wall on metal stands and are illuminated with LED lights. The defaced and deteriorated walls echo the violence, bullying, and hate speech local queer communities experience. The lavender seeks to counter this negativity and heal damage done. Lavender was used in ancient times to wash and cleanse wounds and more recently has been adopted as a symbol of resistance by queer communities. The space itself as a green room is a waiting or transitory space that in this work, symbolises hope for a better future.

to paradise

This is a collaborative work between Shannon Novak and local Wesley Milne exploring trans experiences in Taranaki. Milne lives in Taranaki and identifies as trans and queer. They also work in The Mayfair with queer youth. The work is sited on a stairway in the main theatre foyer that leads to the upper balconies (otherwise known as “the gods” or “paradise” in theatre). Milne’s personal journal sits on a piano stool, lit by four LED lights. The journal is open showing Milne’s self-portrait on the left, and a snapshot of their day on the right. The stairway represents a lifetime, Milne’s journal positioned at a relatively early point on the path with a set of closed doors at the top.

Reduction

This work explores how queer people may be visible, yet silenced, censored, or caged in some way. The work takes its cue from another moment in local queer history when the New Plymouth Prison was a prison for gay men between 1917 - 1952 during a time homosexuality was illegal in New Zealand. The work on board includes a photograph Novak took of a boulder that still remains at the prison, in the prison quarry where prisoners engaged in hard labour. Novak has digitally edited the photograph to mimic the format of an intertitle in the silent film Intolerance, a film screened at The Mayfair (then know as Everybody’s Theatre) in 1917 and one of the earliest films showing a kiss between men.

The phrase Visible but silenced echo the lives of local gay prisoners at the time but also refer to the lives of local queer people today who feel muted or held back by society in some way. The phrase is held captive and neglected in a room with a skylight that has allowed birds to nest and defecate in the space over time. The public can view the room through large windows like one would view animals at the zoo.

A tASTE

This work captures one of the earliest examples of a kiss between men in cinema. It is a still from the silent film Intolerance screened at The Mayfair (then known as Everybody’s Theatre) in 1917 where Prince Belshazzar kisses The Mighty Man of Valor (Belshazzar’s guard). The work is sited in a small room near the main theatre foyer that is half way through renovation. This symbolises that although Taranaki (and wider society) has come a long way in relation to queer rights and acceptance, there is still much work to be done.

Transmute

This work acknowledges those in local queer communities that may be suffering in silence. Like a silent film they may be seen but not heard. Sited in the main theatre foyer, an apple tree sits unpotted in the centre of three fluorescent lights that form a triangle. The apple tree references the death of Alan Turing (1912 - 1954), a British mathematician who was gay and convicted for sex with another man. His cause of death was cyanide poisoning and it was speculated this came from a half-eaten apple found beside Turing’s bed, an apple he had poisoned himself. The light triangle refers to the pink triangle, a symbol reclaimed by queer communities symbolising pride, solidarity, and resistance. It is a triangle that seeks to transmute the apple/apple tree into another positive symbol for queer communities, a symbol of acknowledgement, awareness, and hope for those suffering in silence.