{"id":43786,"date":"2025-09-26T04:24:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T04:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/43786\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T04:24:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T04:24:08","slug":"on-the-up-selwyn-theatre-director-june-renwick-still-inspiring-on-stage-at-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/43786\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Up: Selwyn Theatre director June Renwick still inspiring on stage at 87"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cBeing able to create images and bring people together, and to see how good people feel about themselves when they\u2019ve done it. That\u2019s what really gets to me,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\"JuneJune Renwick says her motto is ‘just do it’ and encourages people to give theatre a go. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n

One thing that becomes very clear, very quickly is that Renwick lives and breathes her work. She\u2019s directed and produced shows for Selwyn Community Arts Theatre since it began in 2005 and spent more than 20 years as Selwyn College\u2019s head of drama , but her passion for the arts started long before that. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom age 4, I was learning dancing and singing on the town hall stage,\u201d she says, recalling fond memories of performing Dame Vera Lynn\u2019s It\u2019s a Lovely Day Tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Her parents encouraged her to join a local operatic society, and she says at high school, \u201cdrama was my life\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t care about anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JuneJune Renwick loved to perform from a young age. Here she is at a childhood dance recital. Photo \/ June Renwick<\/p>\n

Having \u201cmany strings to her bow\u201d like hockey training and home economics skills meant the world was her oyster. She trained as a home economics teacher, and it wasn\u2019t until she was 40 that she studied for a drama diploma.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The diploma] was sort of my second chance, you know, to do things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her work took her to Fiji, where she directed shows, including one performed in Hindi. When she returned to New Zealand, she committed her time to teaching, both in schools and community theatre.<\/p>\n

\"SCAT'sSCAT’s upcoming production of Mamma Mia is one of the many June Renwick has directed over the years. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love the energy and what [students] give, and also the fact that we can be on the same wavelength, not as a granny and kids, but as a teacher and young kids who want to learn. I\u2019m very lucky to have been able to do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the rise of drama and music in schools has given us this wonderful group of people who are going forth and creating, not only on stage, but on the technical side of things,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s blossoming and kids have got futures in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JuneJune Renwick (left) at the Lautoka Arts Club, Fiji, in 1975 pictured in a production of The Lover by Harold Pinter with Chris Sutton. Photo \/ June Renwick<\/p>\n

Renwick still keeps in contact with past students \u2013 they often turn up to her shows. She believes it\u2019s a testament to the power of community theatre.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything\u2019s sort of a disaster around us, so to come to the theatre and be taken away by the magic of theatre, it\u2019s just wonderful,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

As for her own path ahead, Renwick is just as optimistic. For her, it\u2019s not about struggling or pushing, but instead about keeping that feeling and passion alive by just doing what she loves the most.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think about being 87,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI\u2019m still going to do things. I say to my family that if I ever write a book, it will be called \u2018just do it.\u2019 You just do it and keep on doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JuneJune Renwick is a jack of all trades, and her infectious enthusiasm rubs off on all those who are blessed by her tutorage. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n

A testament to her passion \u2013 and perhaps persuasion \u2013 Renwick says she\u2019s convinced 90-year-olds to get on stage (although sometimes they have fallen asleep) and also convinced her cousin\u2019s retirement village to help out with art projects for shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe you should keep on doing what you love until you can\u2019t do it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s love that dictates the musicals that have a special place in Renwick\u2019s heart, like Rodgers and Hammerstein\u2019s South Pacific.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved it, really because of my husband. When we went overseas, I\u2019d lose him, and then he would be whistling Some Enchanted Evening, and because of that I\u2019d find him again.”<\/p>\n

\"JuneJune Renwick with the cast of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. Photo \/ June Renwick<\/p>\n

Next door, drills and hammers pound away at the Greek Island Pier being built to transport audiences from Selwyn Theatre to the world of Mamma Mia. Magic in the making, no doubt. And Renwick is already thinking of a way to rope new people into performing in her next show. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be great \u2013 you might even be in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamma Mia runs at Auckland\u2019s Selwyn Theatre from Friday, September 26 to Saturday, October 4, with tickets available via Iticket.<\/p>\n

Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald\u2019s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke\u2019s Bay Today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBeing able to create images and bring people together, and to see how good people feel about themselves…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[38886,5831,1975,2108,5822,1559,38891,3936,156,6440,2753,38890,5431,15674,702,38887,13419,5511,20558,5430,111,139,69,9716,90,5823,38885,38884,38889,9643,5433,38888,16758,6100,6642,223,7069,810,14605,6730,30812,1530],"class_list":["post-43786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-38886","tag-alive","tag-at","tag-book","tag-bright","tag-called","tag-casts","tag-director","tag-entertainment","tag-ever","tag-eyes","tag-glimmer","tag-hageman","tag-inspiring","tag-it","tag-jokes","tag-june","tag-just","tag-kept","tag-mitchell","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-old","tag-on","tag-passion","tag-renwick","tag-selwyn","tag-shines","tag-spark","tag-stage","tag-stagecraft","tag-stalwarts","tag-still","tag-tells","tag-the","tag-theatre","tag-up","tag-whats","tag-would","tag-wrote","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}