More than fifty years after his death, C F Goldie's work still has the power to polarise. Derided by most of the art establishment but adored by the general public there is still no New Zealand artist who stirs the national psyche like Goldie. This was evident in our rehearsal room as cast and creative team engaged in furious debate on the merits of these works. But this play is not an art history lecture. Playwright Peter Hawes takes plenty of dramatic license with the facts and figures of Goldie's life to bring you the man behind the faces--an intriguing, contradictory character--at once intense, passionate and elitist yet adventurous, enquiring and genuine, particularly in his attempts to understand the history and the spirituality of Maori.

When Goldie died hundreds of bits of paper, with just his signature scrawled on them, were found throughout his studio. The same with reference and art books he owned--on every page, over photographs and plates of paintings--Goldie has signed his name. Why? Was it the need for constant affirmation of his status or his insecurity? Perhaps both. Peter Hawes' play explores the dramatic possibilities of this strange fact.

 Colin McColl