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WHANAUNGA FROM ANOTHER MAUNGA Neenah Dekkers-Reihana on The Haka Party and other incidents.
On Saturday, 17th June 2017, the day after my 24th birthday, I was closing my short season of This is What it Looks Like – a solo-show I had nocturnally developed in my blue-velvet-curtain-for-a-door bedroom in a draughty flat in Brooklyn. I’d been welcomed into the whānau of what is still my favourite festival, Kia Mau. Hone Kouka shouted me a birthday tequila the night before. I knocked it back, holding my breath, and turned back to see Hone sipping it slowly. Shame. On Sunday night, I get a call from Hone. There’s a show coming down from Auckland, but one of the actors is sick and they need someone to jump in. There’s a preview show this Wednesday, and opening night is Thursday. Hone has full confidence I can do it so “yup sweet I’m keen!”. They need me to come in for rehearsal tomorrow. I’ve got a recording job in the morning so “I’ll come in as soon as I finish”. On Monday, mid-morning Dolina Wehipeihana emails me. “Here is the script – except scene 15 has changed – we will get that to you tonight”. I feel a little flutter of nerves.
But I remind myself, Hone sounded chill, it’ll just be a small part. I finish my job early and let them know I’m on my way over to Te Haukāinga. The company are still working at the Hannah Playhouse. “No worries, I’ll sit down with my script”. And so I do. I read the first ten pages and I’ve got maybe four lines so far. Sweet. I’m pretty good at learning lines anyway, especially when they make sense to me. And Mei-Lin Te Puea Hansen writes beautifully. This is going to be fun. I keep reading and - oh I’ve got some dialogue in te reo Māori. That’s a bit scary but ok. I read on and – oh my god is this Mandarin? No, Cantonese! And I have a love interest? Wow they’re really centring the romance too – and it hits me, The Mooncake and the Kūmara… I’m the bloody kūmara. I fell in love with Katie immediately. I already knew who she was, of course. One of the amazing wāhine who wrote and directed shorts for the anthology film, Waru, which I’d had the honour of playing a small role in the year before, my first named role in a feature film. And here she is, Katie Wolfe,
