Scriptwriter
Rehearsals for Still Life With Chickens kicked off this week with an Auckland Theatre Company welcome followed by a reading, then a read-through. I got to meet and thank set, puppet and costume designer John Parker. I caught up with director Fasitua Amosa and actor Goretti Chadwick, as well as met the masterfully coiffured Chicken puppeteer Haanz Fa’avae …
Continue reading “STILL LIFE WITH CHICKENS: rehearsals commence”
Auckland Theatre Company are hosting a reading of Still Life With Chickens next week. Directed by Andrew Foster, featuring Goretti Chadwick, Julia Croft, and Fasitua Amosa, with a workshop chicken puppet by Katie Parker, and under the watchful dramaturgical eye of Philippa Campbell Jo Smith, it’ll be 45 minutes of laughs, clucking and gardening. If you’re in the neighbourhood next Thursday, check it …
Further to my earlier burblings, it’s only fair to give my thoughts on the latest iteration of P Lab’s latest work*. Le Tonu (The Decision) spends a day – the birthday of the family patriarch – with three generations of a Samoan family, each with its expectations of life both in New Zealand and in the …
It took a meeting with Ole Maiava to crystallise my “[still processing my] almost visceral cultural reaction” to last year’s Hypothesis One. It took the phrase “what came before” in terms of Pasifika theatre to make me realise why the piece stood out so much. Sure, it was a Pasifika story – and not a …
P Lab‘s maiden production, Hypothesis One: a compound reaction from New Zealand Samoans, is a devised piece that is not the kind of theatre I generally have in mind for an evening out. The main reason for my knee-jerk aversion is “devised” (a natural enough prejudice for a closet control freak writer like myself). Earlier …
WE ARE MANY (2022; 75min play) Written by D F Mamea Produced by Nathan Mudge Directed by Sarai Perenise-Ropeti 1–5 November 2022, Circa Theatre, Wellington STILL LIFE WITH CHICKENS (2018; 75min play) Written by D F Mamea Produced by Auckland Theatre Company Directed by Fasitua Amosa 2017 Adam New Zealand Play 2017 Adam Award for Best …
My lengthier meanderings will return once I’ve finished mucking around with them. And I have more time. Or have a script to deliver but just don’t feel like it right now. Until then – Locals looking for some chuckles – no, some jandle-stomping, gut-stitching hilarity – are urged to see Vela Manusaute‘s Super Fresh which …
Earlier in the week I attended Playmarket‘s 2008 Pasifika Playwrights Development Forum. Fellow BREAK survivor and newly appointed Playmarket development coordinator, Jenni Heka, was responsible for my attendance: she’s scary. In my experience, Pasifika* gatherings have been the last place to have a good time. I’ve felt out of place at them, like I’ve gatecrashed …
