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Why I read the play I read ERINA DANIELS On Wednesday to Come by Renée
I had just started my term as He Pia Kaihāpai Tuhinga with Playmarket when the coronavirus pandemic caused our Government to lockdown our country. I was grateful that I could continue this mahi – of learning more of the kupu and whakaaro of script advising and dramaturgy, during a time when many others were uncertain if their mahi would continue. Our time in lockdown allowed me to familiarise myself with terms of dramaturgy through reading plays of my choice and reflecting on them alongside my dramaturg mentor, Philippa Campbell. As I read Renée’s brilliant play Wednesday to Come, I became increasingly aware of the parallels between the drama of the play, set in New Zealand 1934, and of the drama of the pandemic in 2020. The play is set during the Great Depression of the 1930s; economists today portend that a similar fate (economic recession) will transpire soon. In Wednesday to Come, we see the effect of the Great Depression on a poor workingclass New Zealand family. I was glad to learn more of our nation’s history through this play and wondered if others would too if we were to perform the show today. I was glad
to have gained more perspective on what an economic depression of that scale might mean for us. And I was glad for this play's affirmation of rights for workers, and the example set of taking action to bring about change. The premise of the play is highly charged. We learn that Ben - a father, husband and brother - is dead. During the opening scene of the play, we meet his family at home, awaiting the arrival of the tūpāpaku. We meet four generations of this family within their domestic setting. The majority of the characters are women and the decisions of this household are determined by a strong matriarchy. Later in the play, we meet others who affect the immediate family dynamic – Ben’s brother, Ben’s mistress and a leader of a protest movement in hikoi to Parliament. Within the second line of the play, Renee orients us towards the characters’ relationship towards time. Here we meet the eldest character (mid-70s) in dialogue with the youngest character (13): Granna: What day is it Jeannie? Jeannie: Monday Granna. (She runs quickly to her bedroom, upset)
