A veteran of Wellington theatre, Sarah Delahunty is an award winning playwright. She has sought out these local productions that sparked her interest and hopes they spark yours too! You can contact Sarah via our Facebook page FACEBOOK.COM/SCENEWGTN
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I SSUE 5 | J UNE 2018 W a i o ra: Te-U-Kai -Po (Th e Homelan d) | He Ku ra E Hu n a A n a Ben eath S k i n an d Bon e | Ou r To wn
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WGTN
ISSUE 5 JUNE 2018
director, Hone Kouka – who also wrote the now classic play back in 1996. Wãhine Works is a Northland theatre company formed last year by a group of young Mãori women. Their kaupapa is to provide opportunities for young women, provide affordable theatre to the local community and present work that “entertains, educates, challenges and inspires.” I spoke to Zahra Cherrington, one of the original Year 13 girls. Lucky to have had Bill Walker as director - a drama teacher with many years’ professional theatre experience - she’s excited to be coming to Wellington and determined to let the city know that there is talent in Northland. Also determined to address social issues through theatre. “Yes,” Zahra said, “it is personally motivated. Members of the group have lost friends to suicide.” Mental health is a huge issue among young people in Northland. In particular young Mãori.
WAIORA: TE-U-KAI-PO (THE HOMELAND) PRESENTED BY WAHINE WORKS Written by Hone Kouka Directed by William Walker Hannah Playhouse Fri 1st June, Sat 2nd June 7:30pm Sun 3rd June, Tues 5th June 6pm Wed 6th June, Sat 9th June 7:30pm School Matinee Thurs 7th June 2pm TICKETS: $29/$25 School groups $15 BOOKINGS: iticket.co.nz
On in June - the Kia Mau Festival. A contemporary indigenous theatre and dance experience. A sharing of work from Mãori, Pasifika and First Nations artists. In it’s fourth year in Wellington. And probably a place to look for some of the year’s most moving and vibrant theatre moments. The festival opens 1st June with a production that started life as a Whangarei Girls High Year 13 drama production. But became a theatre sensation in Whangarei with two sell-out seasons. Then became nationally known when the cast challenged Don Brash to see it. They’ve invited the Prime Minister to opening night here in Wellington. “ Waiora opens the Kia Mau Festival 2018, as it encompasses the kaupapa of this years festival: youth, wãhine, emerging artists and strong social issues,” says festival artistic
And so the play resonated with the students. Set in 1965, Waiora: Te-U-Kai-Po (The Homeland) is a vivid depiction of Mãori moving from their homelands to the cities of a different people, exploring differing interpretations of home and belonging. Director Bill Walker adds: “This play has so much to offer actors. I have been lucky enough to work in theatre almost my entire working life and I have never come across a play with a climax as emotionally charged and powerful as Hone Kouka’s climax to Waiora . Only in New Zealand and only by a Mãori playwright could such could such a play exist.” Zahra says there will be more plays from Wãhine Works in future– though the next one hasn’t been settled on yet. Hugely influenced by such films as Once Were Warriors and Waru , Wãhine Works also want to say something real about their world. Right now, Zahra’s looking forward to saying it here in Wellington with Waiora . And I for one am looking forward to listening.
BENEATH SKIN AND BONE OI OI PRODUCTIONS Written by Trae Te Wiki Directed by Neenah Dekkers-Reihana Bats Theatre Tues 12th June - Sat 16th June 6:30pm TICKETS: $20/$15 BOOKINGS: bats.co.nz Another first play. This time by a new group of young actors and directors based in Auckland but on the move. Trae Te Wiki wrote and stars in this production, with her real-life younger sister on stage as well. After a development season at Te Po in Auckland, the team are reworking the piece a bit before it arrives in Wellington via Taranaki. Through storytelling, waiata and movement they weave together a story of whãnau, loss and whakapapa. And there’s a bit of magic thrown in. With a play written mostly in English but with Te Reo Mãori embedded in the dialogue, both the characters and the creative team are finding the courage to travel into new territory. And it’s territory worth exploring.
OUR TOWN BY THORNTON WILDER Directed by Sally Richards Studio 77 Wed 6th June - Fri June 8th 7pm Sat 9th June 2pm & 7pm. TICKETS: $16/$8 BOOKINGS: Eventfinda And now for something completely different. Our Town was written in America in 1938 and the story is set even earlier. So what is the attraction of staging it in 2018?
HE KURA E HUNA ANA TAKI RUA PRODUCTIONS Written by Hõhepa Waitoa Directed by Nancy Brunning BATS Theatre Tues 12th June - Fri 15th June 7pm Sat 16th June 2pm and 7pm. TICKETS: $25/$18 BOOKINGS: bats.co.nz This is a play set to raise expectations regarding the place of Mãori language in theatre. Writer Hõhepa Waitoa, is a leading Te Reo Mãori advocate, a tutor in the Te Reo Mãori department at the Institute of Canterbury, and leader of the South Island kapa haka rõpu Ngã Mau a Tãne. This is his first play. And a first main stage production in Te Reo Mãori for Taki Rua Productions. I talked about the process with Tãnemahuta Grey, kahukura / CEO of the theatre company. He tells me Taki Rua has a programme specifically aimed at giving experience in writing and directing for theatre to strong Te Reo Mãori practitioners and composers of kapa haka. In 2015 Taki Rua commissioned Hõhepa to write a play with a regional story. He chose that of the creation of pounamu in
the Arahura region, (Hokitika) – when Waitaiki is abducted by the jealous taniwha Poutini, her lover Tamaahua pursues them to the depths of the Arahura River. A traditional story surrounded by a contemporary one - a young woman returning home, struggling with the anniversary of the death of her parents and twin sister in a car crash, and with the pressures on a young adult in today’s world. This play has obviously been given a lot of care and attention. There was a first development performance in Christchurch in 2015. Then further work in 2016 as part of the Matariki Development Festival in Wellington. The third evolution came through working with reknowned director Nancy Brunning. This production is set for a six city NZ tour, plus interest from Yirramboi, the Melbourne indigenous international festival for 2019. And though of course it’s a risk, Tãnemahuta feels there is a growing community of people wanting to experience te reo Mãori works onstage. “The atmosphere of the show is very potent, and even if people aren’t able to follow the fully detailed layers of the journey without language, they have been able to follow the show’s generic narrative.” And he believes the tide is turning. That “Aotearoa is starting to embrace it’s culture and language in a more authentic and interested way.” Well, I’m pretty keen to participate in a theatre experience which has been the focus of so much talent, experience and hard work. I don’t understand the language - yet - but I appreciate energised and meaningful theatre.
I asked director Sally Richards up at Vic Uni where this play is part of the theatre programme. She described it as “meta-theatrical.” Not having been to uni, I googled this: “describes the aspects of a play that draw attention to its nature as drama or theatre, or to the circumstances of it’s performance.” So now I know. She told me that though a staple of American theatres, Our Town has had much less attention here. This current staging involves 17 acting students and 5 design students. “ Our Town is a great vehicle for students because it is a tried and tested script and it can accommodate a large cast. “Because of the robust nature of the script we can bring our own understanding to the play and our own aesthetic in regards to style and design.” And these student voices are from all over Aotearoa plus some from England and Switzerland. Sally continues: “Much of our focus has been on working collaboratively, and on text, which has really tested our ability to find creative solutions together and to give everyone a voice in the melee of the rehearsal room.”
Sally feels the message is very contemporary. That “Thornton Wilder was hoping to wake his audiences up, for them to take time to appreciate those small moments in life, of joy and beauty. Insignificant and momentous moments, the dark and the tragic.” Those moments nowadays often disrupted by being channeled through social media. (Which fits in with the meta-theatrical business – our lives now lived on screens. Watching ourselves performing...) But you won’t see the actors texting, twittering or instagramming – rather, this production is an escape from that. Could be any time, any place. Universal. But also meta-theatrical...
I asked about the main themes of the play - does it say something universal? “Nostalgia, family, life-cycle, joy and loss. And community.” Okay - pretty universal. And what about American accents? “We decided that Our Town was any town, any time and anywhere. Universal. This is our setting. However, we also acknowledge we are here, now, so there are subtle cultural signifiers of Aotearoa, mostly through soundscape.”
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