Rose Beauchamp
Rose Beauchamp | |
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Born | 26 October 1946 |
Died | 5 January 2022 | (aged 75)
Occupations |
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Rose Beauchamp (26 October 1946 – 10 January 2022) was a New Zealand puppeteer, actress, musician, and member of the Red Mole and Hens' Teeth theatre companies.
Life and career
Rose Beauchamp Thomas was born in Auckland in 1946.[1] In her 20s and 30s she travelled and lived in the Middle East and England, attending puppetry festivals in Europe.[2] She married poet Ian Wedde at age 20; they were married for 20 years and had three sons.[2][3]
She began performing, mostly as a musician, with White Rabbit Puppet Theatre, a branch of the Red Mole Theatre Company.[4] She joined Red Mole in 1975 and began doing puppetry.[5]
Beauchamp studied and performed puppetry in Japan. She attended the UNIMA World Puppet Festival in 1988 and was funded by the New Zealand–Japan Exchange Programme to study and perform with a puppet company in 1989.
In 2015 she organised a puppet festival in Wellington.[5][7]
Beauchamp performed as a comedy duo with actress Helen Moulder. In 1997 they wrote a full-length show The Legend Returns with Michael Wilson, based on a sketch for Hen's Teeth, which they toured in New Zealand and to San Francisco.[8] Moulder played the opera singing heroine Miss Cynthia Fortitude and Beauchamp her accompanist, Miss Gertrude Rallentando.[8] Their second production was Cynthia & Gertie Go Baroque! (2015). The Legend Returns was recorded by Radio New Zealand and is a popular audio, often requested.[9][10] These characters were developed by Beauchamp and Moulder in Hens' Teeth, a women's comedy group.[11] Beauchamp performed in Hens Teeth for a decade alongside many other performers including Lee Hatherly, Bub Bridger, Sue Dunlop, Lorae Parry, Rima Te Wiata and Kate Harcourt.[1][12] Most recently Beauchamp performed at Circa Theatre in the show The Older the Better (2020).[13]
She died in January 2022, at the age of 75.[5]
References
- ^ a b "Obituary: Rose Beauchamp, the activist who believed in the power of puppetry". Stuff. 4 February 2022. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ a b Boyd, Sarah (12 August 2006). "Their generation". Dominion Post. p. E1-2.
- ^ "Michele Hewitson Interview: Ian Wedde". NZ Herald. 15 January 2013. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ Hawkins, Barry (7 November 1990). "Images for the environment". Evening Post.
- ^ a b c "Wellington puppeteer, pianist and performer Rose Beauchamp to be farewelled". Stuff. 9 January 2022. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ ISSN 0112-9341.
- ^ "Pulling all the Strings". RNZ. 24 September 2015. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ a b Manson, Bess (7 November 2003). "Silly season of opera". Dominion Post. p. B11.
- ^ "Cynthia and Gertie Go Baroque!". The Big Idea. 31 October 2017. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ "The Legend Returns from Major Plays". RNZ. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ "Other Productions (Helen Moulder & Sir John Trimmer in "Meeting Karpovsky")". Willow Productions. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ "Circa Theatre: [Programmes and fliers. 1990-1999]". National Library of New Zealand. 1 January 1990. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ "Middle C » "The Older the Better" – a triumph of age and experience at Circa Theatre". Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.