The Lunchbox Interviews: Frances Adair McKenzie (Artist) & Thomas Morgan Jones (TNB; Watching Glory Die)

There is often a question that artists face — or which comes from people outside the audience of art: what is art for?

One answer might be: to reflect us and our world back to ourselves, something which indirectly became the subject of today’s pair of interviews.

First up, I got to meet Frances Adair McKenzie, a multi-media artist taking up residence at the Connection ARC for the next month. We talked about her experience of living almost her entire life without TV (and her current plans to fixate on it and reflect it), her travels with art in many parts of the country, and the many multi- and mixed-media projects she has done before.

And second, a wonderful return to the show of Thomas Morgan Jones, the Artistic Director of Theatre NB. Fresh off the completion of an extended run of Vigil, Jones is back to tell us about the latest production being staged at TNB. We talked about how this new play, Watching Glory Die, reflects on a fictionalized version of the tragic Ashley Smith story, how theatre plays a part in modern reflection, and his own reflections on surprises the black box theatre has presented.

Music today:

The weather can feel a little heavy and oppressive, so I acknowledge that with Brick by Steph Copeland from her Public Panic album.
A delightful, upbeat intermission was provided by Gypsophilia with the song Boo Doo Down from the album Night Swimming.
And theatre creates meaning where the was once was nothing but space, so we heard End of Nowhere from the album Crystallize by Ora Cogan.