Play Reviews

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Theatre: Trees Beneath the Lake

trees

Trees Beneath the Lake
Auckland Theatre Company
With Michael Hurst, Catherine Wilkin, Theresa Healey, Brooke Williams, Peter Hayden, Leighton Stichbury
Directed by Simon Bennett

Hi guys! Chloe here.

I want to tell you all about this fantastic and amazing play that’s on at the moment called Trees Beneath the Lake. I saw it last night with my sister and couldn’t wait to write a review, even though I wasn’t intending to. And now I realise that since I’m writing it on Jawkward I have to make it sound coherent and less erhmagerd… so here we go.

Trees follows an ex-Wall Street guy called William Campbell, who returns to his childhood home of central Otago to kinda hide out a little bit when he starts to get investigated by authorities under suspicion of fraud. Here, with his wife Jen and son Ross, his mother Nieve, lawyer Ruth, and old family friend Tom, William tries to regroup and fight for his reputation and future, but just as we know from movies such as Death at a Funeral and August Osage County, when you get family back together like that, there are skeletons that come out of closets you never knew had been built. If you’re familiar with the story of Allan Hubbard or Bernie Maddoff at all then that kinda sums Campbell up nicely.

The play was written by Arthur Meek, who wrote the very well received play On the Upside Down of the World. He wrote Trees while living in New York, courtesy of the Harriet Friedlander New York Residency which he received in 2012.

The thing I like about Trees is that it doesn’t tell a “typical” story but instead tells the story of how this fraud investigation affects his family - his wife, his mother, his son - and how it all falls apart around him. Something a little bit different, and it works. And, this play is FUNNY. It’s almost black humour with the snide observations and one-liners, but not quite. I laughed more than I was expecting to, let’s put it that way, even when I knew I ought to have been horrified by the scene.

And what really propels the play from good to great is the acting. Michael Hurst et al are solid, delivering lines and attitude that perfectly match the pace of the script.

Basically, it was so good, you guys. It’s quite possibly the best play I’ve seen by ATC so far. It is on now at the Maidment Theatre until September 27.

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The Tautai of Digital Winds - Review

The Tautai of Digital Winds

What does it mean to feel incomplete? In the search for identity, cultural or otherwise, do we look forward or back?

The Tautai of Digital Winds provides a unique blend of Polynesian mythology and storytelling, contemporary experiences, art, dance and music to weave a vibrant production that spans generations and cultures. The cast of new and seasoned actors breathe life into characters attempting to navigate their way through an increasingly digital world.

The production hinges on two main narratives that bleed into each other. 16 year old Maui Inati, a kinetic (because he’s always on the move), free-spirited but troubled boy played with the perfect amount of teenaged arrogance by Aisea Latu and the story of Celeste, quiet, poetic whose diary entries detail a story of teenaged angst and heartbreak that ends rather surprisingly- intensely portrayed by Jennifer Perez.

The live band is great, stand-out scene: when Celeste is having an intense journaling session dripping with teenaged angst as the band plays an emotional track while interpretive dancers use movements to depict Celeste’s turmoil. The play ends on a rather ambiguous note, taking us back to the initial monologue right after Celeste’s scene that somewhat mirrors Tavita’s (Maui’s brother) except the scene ends before we can find out if Celeste does what Tavita did. The fragmented way in which the story is told allows the show to mess around with time and take us anywhere, a bit like a TV show.

The use of video from the Bollywood fantasy- real talk I had a math teacher just like Mr Sadhavas- to Isumus (lol y’all know isumu means mouse in Samoan, right? RIGHT? More on this Jklol Thoughts below) the hacker’s vlog- was on point. There’s an abundant referencing and use of technology, digital winds indeed.

Ultimately I did feel the play was a tad long, with a few somewhat dragged out scenes, at over two hours and no intermission it could seem a bit much. However the play hits all the emotional notes with the right amount of humour. The poignancy is not undercut, however, just alleviated.

There’s a chance for it to become a little preachy, running the risk of coming off as an after-school-special but there’s a enough gritty realism to stop this thought short. The Tautai of Digital Winds takes the audience on a journey through cultural disconnection and offers contemporary views on the navigation toward identity while giving a hat-tip to traditional mythology.

Written and Directed by Iaheto Ah Hi and co-directed by Leilani Clarke.

WHEN: August 5th to August 16th 7pm-9.15pm
WHERE: Mangere Arts Centre – Ngā Tohu o Uenuku
Corner Orly Avenue & Bader Drive
Mangere Town Centre
Mangere

VERY NICE, HOW MUCH: Adults: $20.00, (6-18 years): $10.00

BOOK NOW: Eventfinda

 

JawkwardLOL Thoughts during the show, in no particular order:

- Tokelauan and Samoan are really, really, similar. I mean I thought so before but I pretty much understood what they were saying in Toke. ALSO yo that feke (octopus) story whose story is it? Because there’s a Samoan myth that’s basically identical, we even have a song! Which I kept singing in my head.

Si fe’ē, tago ia i lou ulu
Po’o a ea, na mea o iai
A o si fe’e, ua tilotilo mai
Ua le malie lona loto
I le mea ua fai

English translation:

Poor Octopus, touch your head.
What is that on it
But the poor octopus was looking over
Not at all happy
With what was done

- Where can I get me one of those vests?

- I’m pretty sure that’s a funeral song. IT IS! Manaia manaia le lagiiii- don’t sing along to the funeral song you vale. But why’d the kids sing a funeral song for White Sunday-OH. Interesting. This play is in support of suicide prevention and support. There’s a disconnect between the song and White Sunday, while disconcerting, serves to make you stop and think- wait that’s not right… or am I reading too much into this?

- The lady behind me keeps talking, lol should I find her a mic?

- Yaaasss leg stretch.

- I can dance like that…no you can’t- okay I can’t.

- Jess should have come, that bollywood fantasy would have been right up her alley. Lol is that the Mangere Bridge?

- It was a good thing Luisa came so I can bombard her with questions about organisations mentioned.

- Straight up, what kind of gang leader nickname is Petalz. Also I would so watch a TV show about their gang. Can we get that funded because I need more of Blinky. BLINKY’S MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER.

- Are you loyal, tho’?

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Girl In Tan Boots | Basement Theatre | JawkwardLOL Review

Girl In Tan Boots

If you went missing tomorrow, who would notice?

The New Zealand premiere of Girl In Tan Boots, written by Australian playwright Tahli Corin, boasts an impressive all-female ensemble with Catherine Wilkin (Outrageous Fortune, McLeod’s Daughters), JJ Fong (Go Girls, StepDave), Toni Potter (Shortland St, In The Next Room), Jodie Hillock (Nothing Trivial, After Miss Julie), Anoushka Klaus (Shortland St, Nothing Trivial), and Catherine Downes (The Case of Katherine Mansfield, Shortcut to Happiness), all under the keen direction of Janice Finn (Agent Anna, The Strip) with a revised ‘Kiwi-fied’ script.

As the story of Hannah’s disappearance unfolds onstage you start to wonder whether you even care if Hannah is ever found. Not because you’re bored, but because you’re definitely more interested in everything else taking place.

We have a world-weary, hard-case, detective who identifies too much with the missing Hannah, an overbearing mother who hinders more than aids the investigation, red-herrings, bitchy (in the guise of ‘just trying to help’) co-workers and strangers answering an anonymous posting in a train-newsletter. Girl in Tan Boots comes off seeming like a procedural drama with added monologues and asides, although it -in Chloe’s words- ‘felt a bit meandering’ the play itself is held together by good acting, decent one-liners and some wackadoo characters.

Hannah’s disappearance is important only so far as it brings to the forefront the intricacies of the different characters and their interactions during Detective Carapetis’ investigation, the mystery itself is derivative of the ‘gone without a trace’ narratives we all know. The play is a melting pot of the fear of being alone and overlooked and a keen sense of wanting to be wanted- while at the same time longing to be free from the constraints of the societal expectations of those around you. The audience members will be thankful for the humour that disperses some of the more heavy(handed?) scenes and you’ll find that the cast riff off each other exceptionally well.

Fair warning, you will come away a little bit confuzzled as to what to make of it- with the added bonus of ‘Angel of the Morning’ stuck in your head. I still have it stuck in my head, ‘just call me angel, of the morning angel. Just touch my cheek before you leave me-‘ sorry. However do yourself a favour and check it out, if not for the intrigue than definitely for the wackadoo characters.

Chloe gives it 3.5 out of 5 Silent LOLs and, I must say, I do concur.

What: Girl In Tan Boots
Where: Basement Theatre - The Basement, Greys Avenue, Auckland, New Zealand
When: March 11 - 22
Prices: $23 - $25
Buy Tickets | basementtheatre.co.nz

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Black Faggot - A JawkwardLOL Play Review

Starring: Iaheto Ah Hi and Taofia Pelesasa
Source: Multinesia Productions

Multinesia Produtions in association with THE EDGE presents Black Faggot, a play written by Victor Rodger, directed by Roy Ward and produced by Karin Williams and enjoyed by anyone smart enough to grab a ticket. Starring talented actors, Iaheto Ah Hi and Taofia Pelesasa, as a torrent of memorable characters from an ‘undercover brother’ to a proud Samoan mother and gruff Samoan father to a ‘famous as’ fa’afafine, the LOLs will most definitely not be silent at the Herald Theatre in Aotea Square until after Black Faggot’s stint ends on the 8th of March.

Rodger’s play about what it means to be young, poly and gay; as told through a multitude of flash sketches is, unsurprisingly, riddled with sexual references, simulated sexual acts and potty mouthed characters. The sharp writing packs a punch both emotionally and comically, Black Faggot is never short on the wit, managing to illicit a cackle every other minute and in the next instance managing to evoke stirring moments of acute poignancy. Poignant enough to drag an emotion from even the coldest dead heart of this black soul. We’re lucky to see the play before it heads off to international festivals, picking up many much-deserved awards along the way. Ward’s direction sees a very simple production without sets, props, costumes, music or effects- just two great actors, excellent lighting, and perfect timing.

Taofia Pelesasa and Iaheto Ah Hi do a stunning job of portraying each character with the right amount of high energy and exaggeration, Iaheto’s explicit (though fully-clothed) scenes are an excellent combination of over the top sounds and absurd facial expressions. He did warn us he’d throw in some ‘extra innapropriate moaning’ for the heck of it. Much appreciated!

Taofia’s ability to hush an audience with an expression is realised with each monologue as Christian, a young Samoan praying to God to make him straight. Starts off initially as a light-hearted request but each time he comes back to ‘pray the gay away’ you feel the hopelessness building. Christian’s last monologue is perhaps the most affecting moment of the night as he pleads with an unanswering God about why he didn’t make him straight if it was what God wanted. When Christian informs God of his weariness with his situation, of being tired of his dad looking at him like he wishes Christian wasn’t his son, the way Taofia’s voice stalls like he’s barely holding it together is an exquisite show of skill.

The play doesn’t shy away from confrontation at all, from confrontational gay characters to outright gestures of homophobic prejudices and immature namecalling right alongside brilliant lines. These all work together to offer an insightful commentary on how the paradigms of homosexuality and the pacific are shifting but not without continued effort. With the largest Polynesian city in the world, Auckland New Zealand, as the backdrop you’re treated to an array of characters and stories all transitioning into each other seamlessly. Woven so well, and sometimes without even a breath in between, the monologues, scenes and ridiculously hilarious sketches seem to form a rich Pacific tapestry of lives and experiences of not only gay Polys but of those around them.

Seriously, go see ‘Black Faggot’ at Herald Theatre, Aotea Square. Last two shows this Saturday, 8 March.

Tickets $20-$25 | TICKETMASTER.CO.NZ or 09 970 9700.

Honourable [Mildy Spoilery] Mentions:

- The Samoan father trying to get to his poker site via his history and coming across “big black cocks”. And his son’s cover up story about a school assignment about “…minority chickens”.

- I swear the Samoan mum reaction of jumping directly to ‘ARE YOU IN TROUBLE’ is just so ‘Samoan Mum’. Also very Samoan in general, *gasp* ‘is she a Tongan?!’

- “He smiled and I was like DAMN HE’S A TONGAN!”

- Let’s make calling something ‘straight’ as an insult a thing. OMG THAT’S SO STRAIGHT! Stop being so straight, haha YOU’RE SO STRAIGHT!