Hilarious drama and excitement unfold when a stash of Frances Hodgkins paintings ends up in the hands of a Parisian gallery owner who has never heard of the artist. Jan Bolwell's critically acclaimed play Double Portrait: Finding Frances Hodgkins weaves a fictional story together with real life incident to paint a convincing and moving portrait of the very private Frances Hodgkins, regarded as the most significant New Zealand ex-patriate modernist artist of the 20th century. Frances Hodgkins spent much of her adult life in Europe with brief forays back to New Zealand to promote her work and see family. Although celebrated now, while she was alive she was largely ignored in New Zealand, but gained a firm footing in the artistic world in Paris and London. her private life remained a mystery and in Double Portrait Jan Bolwell hopes to cast light on her life filled with eccentricity, hardship, fun and love as she travelled extensively from Dunedin to Paris, Sydney to Cornwell, and Wellington to Morooco.
".... like a painting emerging on canvas as the artist's brushstrokes cast their spell, the play reveals itself as a rich and humorous blend of human drama, historical documentary and social satire." Theatreview