Indelible Freckles

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Le Tonu

Polynesian Laboratory: Max Palamo, Fasitua Amosa, Beulah Koale, and Shadon Meredith. (Absent: Amelia Reid-Meredith.)
Polynesian Laboratory: Max Palamo, Fasitua Amosa, Beulah Koale, and Shadon Meredith. (Absent: Amelia Reid-Meredith.)

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 21st century.

The actor’s are more polished in their roles – to be expected in a second go-round – and just as near pitch-perfect as last time. The direction is tighter and nigh invisible – the pacing, movement and tone enough to move me to tears again. And the story – very relevant to any adult with parents well into their retirement years – is as sharply told and succinctly performed as before.  It doesn’t overstay its welcome – its hour-long running time is over before you notice it – and grips from beginning to end.

So was I as enamoured of this run as last year? No. This is due in large part to my familiarity with the plot – a lot of the material has carried over from its maiden season, with some beats deepened, and others dropped (and obviously not missed) – and with familiarity a few flaws and Hitchcockian fridge-moments can be discerned.  It’s thanks to the collective’s active ingredients of talent, experience and skills that an entertaining and moving evening of theatre is pretty much guaranteed.

Do I recommend this to friends, family and random strangers?  If they missed last year’s run, then absolutely.  If, like me, friends/family/strangers have seen the previous season and loved it, then I’d suggest that it’s optional – they certainly won’t be disappointed if they revisit the old man’s birthday party.

Disclosure:  the co-directors, Shadon Meredith & Amelia Reid-Meredith, are directing the 2013 premiere season of Goodbye My Feleni, while P Lab principal Fasitua Amosa was in To’ona’i.

*  Don’t worry: reviews of local/ethnic theatre will be rare things here.

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GOODBYE MY FELENI: Rehearsal Week -4

Leki (obscured), Andy, Amelia, Samson and Taofia tell tales.
Leki (obscured), Andy, Amelia, Samson and Taofia tell tales.

Watching a director and actors in rehearsal is not unlike watching a kitten at play with an unfortunate cricket: at first it can be baffling but then you realise why the feline is doing it (better hunting through play) while the process is alternatingly cute and cruel.

The actors form up for their director (seated).
The actors form up for their director (seated).

Watching director Amelia Reid-Meredith work with actors Taofia Pelesasa, Samson Chan-Boon, Leki Jackson Bourke and Andy Sani using exercises, provocations and other actorly-technical-stuff was mostly baffling for this writer.

And yet… seeing the actors begin to get under the skin of not only their characters but the story and its milieu was exciting to observe.  This wasn’t just some let’s pretend kind of thing going on – it was about understanding the how and why, and how that knowledge just seeps through to the performance in such a way that within an instant on walking stage, it’s not just an actor reciting lines and hitting marks – it’s a person in the middle of their story and the audience is right there with them.

Director and actors look over the printed word.
Director and actors look over the printed word.

As one of the characters keeps saying in the script:  Phwoah.

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Hypothesis One – Afterword

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 new one, truth be told – and yes, it spoke to me in a cultural/ethnic and personal way. It had wonderful acting. Excellent direction. Technical stuff that was invisible which meant the whole was seamless.

What I had witnessed was professional theatre.

All too often, the Pasifika theatre I’ve watched has been self-conscious and either presented as just entertainment or entertainment-with-a-message. For me and my very limited theatre-going/research budget, there is:

  • entertainment – the easy laughs, the bear-with-us-we’re-only-humble-performers, and the rush to production;
  • and then there is engagement: that there is a point to the whole of the performance, that care is taken to respect both the material and audience, and that craft and skill will elevate the theatre experience to something nearing an out-of-body experience.

I knew there was a good reason why I hazarded “a pointer to the future of Pasifika theatre” in my original post: Hypothesis One engaged me on more levels than I expected. I don’t think I’ve walked away from Pasifika theatre like this since… my first ever holy-shit-wow introduction to it two decades ago as an audience member.

And lookee here: they’re back with Le Tonu.

Disclaimer: this post is all my doing, with no nudges, winks, or complimentary tickets from the P Lab.

Disclosure: Shadon Meredith & Amelia Reid-Meredith, co-directors of Hypothesis One are directing the 2013 premiere season of Goodbye My Feleni, while P Lab principal Fasitua Amosa was in To’ona’i.

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GOODBYE MY FELENI: Rehearsal Week -5

From left to right: co-director Shadon Meredith with actors Samson Chan-Boon, Leki Jackson Bourke and Andy Sani admire the Toi Ora artwork during a break.
From left to right: co-director Shadon Meredith with actors Samson Chan-Boon, Leki Jackson Bourke and Andy Sani admire the Toi Ora artwork during a break.

No plan survives contact with the enemy.
– Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, by way of Edward Zwick

The plan for the first rehearsal was for Jack the Military Consultant to put the actors – Samson Chan-Boon, Leki Jackson Bourke and Andy Sani – through their paces on how to move and drill like enlisted men while co-director Shadon Meredith observed, and I recorded the rehearsal for posterity. Sickness delayed Jack’s attendance so we had three boys ready to rehearse but nothing to do. Anyone with experience with actors (or children) knows that idleness inevitably leads to mischief. A new plan was needed.

Last year’s production had squeaked by with a short running time and dredged-up memories of these:

Samoa Independence Day schools' march past (pic courtesy of See Reeves at seereeves.blogspot.com).

Yes, the annual independence day schools’ march past in Samoa. I hereby acknowledge the brothers at Chanel College and the teachers at Samoa College for basic drill instructions that I have somehow retained a quarter-century later. These were dusted off and reapplied to the boys. Then – thank you, fond memories of Stripes and a rifle drill manual – some basic rifle drills were practised. And then – thank you, Youtube – a couple of bayonet drills were practised.

And you know what? Sure the details may be a bit sketchy but keep in mind it’s only the first rehearsal – and what quickly became apparent on the floor was that there’s something about three guys moving, marching and drilling in sync that immediately conveys soldiering, camaraderie and discipline. Exactly what the play needs.

Onwards to the next rehearsal.

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The Kitten

130222_The_Kitten

After the departure of The Cat last year, the rat population expanded and some damage was done to Tilly the Dishwasher AND THE GODDESS WAS NOT HAPPY. Messengers were sent to the two corners of Auckland where there are animal refuges, and a connect at a southern outpost mentioned a certain fearless kitten with the kennel-name of Tango.

The name was a promising sign for us: The Goddess and I like to do a mean tango at the local RSA on occasion. Within hours of receipt of news of A Kitten Called Tango looking for a home, The Goddess, The Girl and I visited the said kitten. The Goddess and Girl were immediately smitten by the bundle of tortoiseshell fur and claws; I insisted on a ninety day trial period.

The Kitten joined the Fortress Mamea workforce in mid-February. In her first week, she quickly taught The Dog that she was not a feline to be trifled with, while as part of her familiarisation with the fortress layout, she investigated my workspace and, with careful paw placement, initiated a search for “cccoooolllll” on the MacbookPro.  I halved the trial period to 45 days.

In The Kitten’s third week, I had a bit of a plink with a few pieces from the armoury. This was my effort for the afternoon:

Target

Without any prompting from me, The Kitten joined in:

130403_Cat_target_redacted

A bit high with a whisker of a pull to the left but that sub-1.5-inch group spells eschaton for local vermin.

The Kitten stays.

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GOODBYE MY FELENI: Order of Battle

The “Goodbye My Feleni” cast (left to right): Taofia Pelesasa, Samson Chan-Boon,Leki Jackson Bourke, Andy Sani

We don’t have stocktakes or inspection days at Fortress Mamea where the menagerie present themselves front and centre with clean nails and shiny coats.

We do have a standing order of battle: our Forward Operating Base (FOB) Pi*, The Dog, The Goldfish, and The Chickens. I like to keep The Amphibian, The Kaimanawa Pony (Goddess permitting) and The Kitten** in reserve.

The Goodbye My Feleni production also has its order of battle:

Rehearsals commence next week.  I’ve gone cold turkey on Left 4 Dead II in order to finish the last draft of the script.  And our faithful and loyal avatar, Chocolate Stigmata, has gotten itself a twitter account.

At Goodbye My Feleni HQ this phase of operation is not called ‘getting one’s ducks in a row’ – Jenni insists that we  call it getting ready to stomp on your shit.

* Pi – Samoan for honeybee (pronounced ‘pee’), rather than the Greek letter and irrational number.
** Yes, an update on the expanded menagerie will follow, complete with pictures for your desktop, laptop and phone wallpapers.

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‘Onosa’i

If there’s a word guaranteed to give me an immediate rush of blood to the head, it’s that all-time classic from my parents: ‘onosa’i. I suspect it’s a Samoan-isation of “honest” but its meaning and application is “hang in there” or “it’ll be worth it in the long run.”

Of course, in hindsight, my parents were mostly right in their invocation of this word to a spoilt and easily frustrated child but to be honest, Dad, when I said I’d had enough of playing cricket with a real cricket ball, and you used that word, and in the next over I was concussed by that really hard cricket ball, maybe I needed more than your standard “Ua a la ‘ia?” (as in “What did you expect would happen [if you don’t duck]?”).

Hoo! I’m waving my hands in the air to cool myself already!

All of the above leading in typically looong and meandering way to a bit of a confession: I’ve been writing another blog.

Since 2011, I’ve run up over 170 posts on that blog. Canny image use/linking, potty language, reasonably regular posts, and the Shield of Anonymity have racked up over 3100 pageviews.

On this site, up since 2006, I’ve published 426 posts (admittedly, some of them reposts in time of personal need), and my analytics tell me I’ve just broken 9000 pageviews.

That’s 37 pageviews per post on the other blog, versus 21 on my home site.

That’s a rate of 1 post every 3.57 days on the other blog compared to this one’s 1 post every 5.65 days.

One could argue I could put my energy into just the one blog and see the stats rise. But that other blog has been a welcome relief – still is a welcome drink of spring water – and its purpose is at odds with Indelible Freckles on a number of levels.

So… Guess I just have to be ‘onosa’i.

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Filler: Beauty and the Beast (2012)

I’m old enough to have fond memories of the 1987 series with Sarah Conner Linda Hamilton and the ever-reliable Ron Perlman looking longingly at each other every damned ep or two. So when I sat down to watch the 2012 version, it was partly curiousity but mostly because it has Go Girls‘ Jay Ryan in one of the lead roles – hey it’s the same reason I’m looking forward to trying similarly Kiwi-led shows Banshee and Falcón.

So I’m past the teaser, maybe ten minutes into the show, when the thought occurs to me: This must be what shows look like in the world of Logan’s Run.

Or maybe I’m just feeling my age.

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Judged

The ever-reliable Editing Room have thrown up an abridged script for one of my 2012 faves, Dredd. Some of you may wonder how such almost literal cannon fodder can rub shoulders with the likes of Never Let Me Go and This Must Be The Place.

From Chris W‘s abridged script:

INT. HALL OF JUDGENESS

JUDGE KARL meets his plucky new sidekick OLIVIA THIRLBY.

JUDGE KARL

So you failed the Judge SAT test, but you’ve got Kuato powers so we’re giving you one more chance to prove yourself.

OLIVIA THIRLBY

(using mind powers)

I sense that you’re very... You’re kind of... You’re sort of...

JUDGE KARL

Yeah? Go on?

OLIVIA THIRLBY

(pause)

Uh, nevermind. Forget it.

JUDGE KARL

But you were about to reveal something interesting and profound about me that might give my character the slightest shred of depth.

OLIVIA THIRLBY

(looks at watch)

Wow, you haven’t shot anyone for a full two minutes.

JUDGE KARL

Damn, you’re right. Characterization can go fuck itself. Let’s go kill something.

Yeah.

I loved Dredd because it didn’t try to be anything more than it is, whether it’s a balls-out actioner, a more-faithful-than-hoped-for adaptation of the original comic character, a nicely self-contained dystopian sci-fi flick, or a combination of any/all of the above.

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