• 
• 
• 

In the latest NOT my day job series on The Big Idea highlighting creatives with multiple careers we hear from Gareth Davies, economist by day, playwright by night. 

* * *

Tell us about your day job 

Executive director of Vinstar since 1994. Vinstar is an Auckland-based economic advisory consultancy that has completed 162 assignments in 32 countries, mainly in Asia and the Pacific. The work Vinstar undertakes is funded by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the New Zealand Government and the Australian Government.

Tell us about your creative work when you're NOT doing your day job?

Playwright. I have written five plays, a number of which have been performed at the Hay Festival in the UK. Another was written to celebrate the 74th birthday of Richard Booth the King of Hay. My fifth play, Everest Untold, is due to be performed at the end of September.

Working with words - In my day job I am called upon to write proposals to win work, in direct competition with large transnational companies. Given ours is a relatively small company (what we refer to in our marketing material as "boutique"), we have to work doubly hard on our words to win the business.

How do you manage juggling both?

I do my creative work late at night and the weekends.

What has inspired you? Who or what keeps you going?

I'm inspired by the fact that there are so many stories that I feel need to be told. I'm also inspired by my wife who is my biggest supporter. What keeps me going is the challenge of writing a good play and then finding and working with a great cast and director. It's not too dissimilar to what keeps me going in my day job.

Would you like your creative work to be full-time?

Yes I would like, but there is very little money in the arts, so I can't!

What would help you achieve this?

A Hollywood producer buying the rights to one (or more) of my plays and asking me to write the screenplay(s)!

If you had the chance to start your creative career or path again, what would you do differently?

Start writing with conviction in my 20s. Unfortunately I waited until I was in my mid-50s.

What advice would you give to someone pursuing a similar creative career or pathway?

Given the level of funding in the arts - don't give up your day job!

Tell us about your recent or upcoming creative projects.

My fifth play, Everest Untold which tells the story of George Lowe, the "Forgotten Kiwi" on the successful 1953 British Everest expedition. It will be performed at the Q theatre on 24 to 27 September.

What’s your big idea for 2014?

I have another play in my head about another NZ hero that I want to get written and then performed. I also plan to find time to rewrite my first play, the Good Socialist. It's about dirty politics - ever topical. At the time of writing it I didn't have the skills to do it justice.