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N. Z. Opera’s La Boheme

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

La Boheme, The student garret / studio (Act I & IV) Image. Andi Crown

La Boheme

Composer Giacomo Puccini

Librettists Luigi Illica, Guiseppe Giacosa

N Z Opera

Kiri te Kanawa Theatre

Until June 6

Then

Wellington 18 – 22 June

Christchurch 2 – 6 July

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

There are no gods or fairies in La Boheme. There are no heroic figures in La Boheme. There are no evil or deeply flawed characters in La Boheme and there are no complicated plots or byzantine machinations in La Boheme.

All the characters we encounter are young and ordinary, all making their first steps into adulthood, living in a bohemian environment, full of possibilities.

This ordinariness is in contrast to many other great operas where characters face great moral dilemmas, battle tyrants or life’s injustices. This is one of the few great operas where we see characters on stage who we can recognize as very much like ourselves – or twenty year old versions of ourselves.

Four of the very ordinary characters live in a very ordinary student flat and the opera opens with Rodolfo, a writer and his artist friend Marcello struggling to create masterpieces while they battle the freezing temperature by burning one of Rodolfo’s plays to keep warm. Colline, a philosopher, and Schaunard enter with food and drink but instead of paying the rent they decide to celebrate Christmas at the Café Momus, where they encounter  Marcello’s girlfriend, Musetta who is with her sugar daddy Alcindora.

At the same time Rodolfo meets the frail seamstress Mimi, and they fall in love. But their tender romance is doomed, for Mimi is ill with consumption, and Rodolfo is too poor to help her. Through the opera they also have to confront the other aspects of life and love -jealousy, guilt and despair which comes with that love. As a contrast is Musetta whose love has a wider focus given to Marcello, Alcindora as well as others.

Ji-Min Park (Rodolfo) and Elena Perroni (Mimi) Image. Andi Crown

The slowly dying Mimi (Elena Perroni) who all but whispers in many of her arias gives memorable performances. While she presents a gentle voice often almost whispering while at other times she was able to sustain an expressive intensity as with her “Donde Lieta Usci”aria

Rodolfo and Mimi have a purity of soul which seems to bond them despite their Act 3 questioning of their relationship and this is reflected in their voices. Ji-Min Park (Rodolfo) is able to express an urgency with his rich voice while both Elena Perroni’s voice and demeanor coveys a sensitivity and frailty.

Rodolfo’s three friends  also contribute  some lively singing with their first act witty dialogue and humorous interchange with the landlord Benoit. Marcello  provides some brilliant duos with Mimi and Musetta, notably the third and fourth acts while the philosopher Colline ( Hadleigh Adams) provides an additional concept of love with his aria dwelling on his much-loved coat.

The musician Schaunard (Benson Wilson) contributes slightly to the singing in the opera but his main purpose seems is to always have some money and always has food or wine available as the hedonist of the group and a contrast to Rodolfo.

Emma Pearson (Musetta) Image. Andi Crown

The setting has been changed for Mid nineteenth century to Paris in in 1947 and the bohemian nature of the artist’s lives in seen ibn some huge paintings like those of Pierre Soulages in the studio / garret. The post war date also means the costume designer (Gabrielle  Dalton) have been able to give the Musetta and Mimi some contemporary fashion with Musetta being attired in some stylish Dior inspired outfits.

The simplicity and honesty of La Boheme  has meant it is always accessible with a story which is clear, immediate and romantic and universal. Director Bruno Ravella and Conductor Brad Cohen have ensured that the story and  the characters are brought to life with sensitivity, authenticity and joie de vivre.

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Auckland Philharmonia’s Enigma

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Enigma

Auckland Philharmonia

Auckland Town Hall

March 27

Conductor Karl-Heinz Steffens

Grieg, Norwegian Dances
James MacMillan, Concerto for Orchestra ‘Ghosts’ (NZ premiere)
Elgar, Enigma Variations

On the programme for the Auckland Philharmonia’ s “Enigma” concert was a newly commissioned  work by the Scottish composer James MacMillan. His “Concerto for Orchestra” was subtitled “Ghosts” and had an enigmatic quality to it.

As the composer says of the work, “The music seems to be haunted by other, earlier musical spirits and memories,” These musical memories which creep into the composition can be seen in the reference to Beethoven’s “Ghost”  trio along with other musical references – Debussy, Scottish traditional music and an eastern musical hymn.

These musical references emerge from the composition like ghostly figures, sometimes gradually appearing, sometimes unexpectedly while some of the themes overlap.  The music is full of juxtapositions and surprises as various instruments and combinations of instruments introduce new themes and spiritedly amplify them.

The lively spirits of the opening were created by dramatic percussion and piercing brass which led to a great chattering of sounds with some eerie conversations between the strings and brass.

Throughout the work there is a sense of the instruments floating around, trying to discover and capture themes which have been lost. This floating, colliding and capturing of elusive themes creates a tension within the piece. The dramatic flourishes of percussion, the sinuous sounds of the strings as well as some jazzy sequences all add to the works restlessness and urgency.

The sounds all helped create a dreamscape of remembered, and reimagined sounds and like some ghostly figures were continually slipping and finally the wispy sounds disappear.

The piece recalls the Shakespeare line from the Tempest

The isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices

Many of the same musical ideas appear in Elgars “Enigma Variations” where various musical instruments are used to convey impression of people that were close to the composer. The one theme that is probably never heard is the one that represents the composer himself. The variations feature the composer’s own ideas about his friends and close contacts conveying their physical, psychological and spiritual personalities.

The variations with their delightful impressions include variation I said to be of his wife, has a wistful quality and  an anthem overflowing with joy but also with s hint of sadness, Variation IX Nimrod with its heavenly sounds and the violas solo in Variation VI – Ysobel

Conductor Karl-Heinz Steffens was able to ensure that each of the portraits was interpreted with the appropriate mood, pace and colour and he seemed to relish both the music and the narratives of the work and his sharp, sensitive gestures had him performing like some grand puppet master manipulating the  dozen characters of Elgar’s world.

The opening work on the programme was Grieg’s “Norwegian Dances” and Steffens was able to lead the orchestra through the spirited dances with its changing portraits of the people, the history  and landscape effortlessly, taking the orchestra from lethargic to happy and ebullient.

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Animal: The great little show in the farmyard

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Animal

Cirque Alfonse

Q Theatre

March 19 – 23

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

It was not much of an act, chucking an egg in the air, have it land on your back and keep it there while you jiggle around. Anyone could do it , except one of the performers in the Quebec based group “Animal” had to have three goes at it. One of the eggs splatting on his back and head and two more landing on the stage. He got more applause for the broken eggs than did his two fellow perfomers for their safely caught eggs.

It’s always great to see performers achieving pulling off acts , but it’s more amusing when they fail – fail, recover and get on with the show. It often reveals the skill and dexterity of the performer and shows up our own lack of skill. In another of their acts one of the females spins a bucket full of seeds which is supposed to keep the seeds inside  . She misjudges and we get a stage strewn with seeds and she doesn’t miss a beat – it almost seems as if she meant that to happen. I think the little children may have learned one of their basic science lessons about centripetal force.

Theres a lot of basic science in” Animal” along with basic acrobatics as the group perform basic balancing, juggling and springboard work. They take the audience on a slightly surreal  journey through their weird farm of outlandish animal  and wacky activities – tossing pitch forks, balancing on milk churns, riding bucking cows.

As well as being skilled acrobats and contortionists the group are also skilled musicians playing guitar, trumpets, a range of percussion instruments, flute and keyboard – and they can sing too, belting out their own French compositions which are probably very witty if you are up on your French.

The Canadian Cirque Du Soliel group has shown us  how to put on a high-powered performance with cool moves and dazzling costumes but “Animal” is more down to earth, using all the contraptions from the farm, – wheelbarrows. milk churns and  hay forks, along with a jumble of clothes and hats which they must have found around the barn. Their routines are all clever and entertaining, bringing together circus, song, dance and theatre with some  quirky live music.

It may be designed for children but it has a universal appeal  with their displays of strength  agility and balance in their boutique version of the grander Cirque displays.

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Gene Kelly; A Life in Music

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Gene Kelly; A Life in Music

With the Auckland Philharmonia conducted by Neil Thomson

Auckland Town Hall

March 15

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

It was billed as Gene Kelly; A life in Music but it could equally have been called Patricia Ward Kelly; A life in Music as the show which was written by his wife was brilliantly presented as she narrated the life of the dancer with the music played by the Auckland Philharmonia along with crisp remastered clips  from his films.

The two met in the mid 1980s, when he was 73 and Patricia was a 31-year- expert on the works of Herman Melville who had never seen any of the actor/dancer’s films. He asked  her if she would work with him on his autobiography which she did, for five years.

They married when he was 77 years, and each day she documented and recoded his life, This close association with him made her the most knowledgeable person about the dancer’s career.

Her knowledge, of Gene, the music and films all merge into a superb account of Kelly’s life as well as a snapshot of American dance movies of the mid twentieth century.

Most of his iconic films were shown including scenes from Singin’ in the Rain, An American in Paris, Brigadoon, Summer Stock, Les Girls and It’s Always Fair Weather.

We saw him perform with Ginger Rogers, Leslie Caron, and Cyd Charisse as well as with an animated Jerry the Mouse getting a dance lesson from Gene Kelly in “Anchors Aweigh”.

We also get to hear the music of the great composers of the time as well -Andre Previn Lerner & Loewe, Cole Porter and the Gershwins.

We also get to appreciate the clever way in which realism and abstraction was used in  the sets. This combination created some surreal dance sequences with vivid use of colour which highlights the spectacle of the dance routines and shows how Kelly helped change the nature of dance on film with a new mode of choreography and filming.

For the introduction to the second half which featured clips from Brigadoon she had a piper stride up the aisle and then in a surprise appearance she introduced Michael Crawford of Phantom of The Opera fame, who now lives in New Zealand and who acknowledged Kelly as a major influence in getting the role.

Patricia Kelly’s  presentation brought  clever showmanship and intimacy to the evening accompanied by the Auckland Philharmonia conducted Neil Thomson.

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A Mixtape for Maladies:   Music and  Memories of a War

Ravikanth Gurunathan (Vishwanathan), Tiahli Martyn (Subbalaxmi), Ahilan Karunaharan (Rajan), Gemma-Jayde Naidoo (Sangeetha – past) Image – Andi Crown

A Mixtape for Maladies 

By Ahilan Karunaharan 

Director, Jane Yonge  

Auckland Theatre Company  

Until March 23

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

The Sri Lankan Civil War of the latter part of the 20th century provides the backdrop for Ahklan Karunaharan’s “A Mixtape for Maladies” which explores the lives of a Tamil family, who are caught up in the conflict, some of whom are killed or immigrate to New Zealand.

The play explores the reality of living in a different time and culture in a period of tension and transition and we identify and sympathize with the family’s trials of living through a war.

I was jolted back to another reality at the end of the show however. My Uber driver looked South Asian, so I mentioned about the show and how it combined politics and family. He was from Sri Lanka and acknowledged the tragedy of the war and its impact on the country. But his experience was very different from the family I had just witnessed on stage as he had been an air force pilot during the war contributing to the death and destruction, providing an alternative history of the period  

One of the few things that Sangeetha (Ambicka G.K.R.) one of the daughters has brought to New Zealand was a tape recording of songs she loved growing up. Her New Zealand born son, Deepan (Shaan Kesha) finds the tape and plays the songs during his online podcast which trigger personal and political memories for her. 

Through the course of the play Deepan plays these songs and Sangeetha remembers elements of the family’s life – hearing about the war, her and her sister hanging around the store where Anton (Bala Murali) works because he plays all the latest local and international songs as well as songs from the movies. 

Shaan Kesha (Deepan), Ambika (Sangeetha – present) Image Andi Crown

While some of the songs are played on the tape recorder others are sung by various members of the cast, accompanied by a duo (Ben Fernandez and Seyorn Arunagirinathan) playing a variety of instruments – keyboard, Carnatic violin and flute. Ahilan Karunaharan (Rajan), and Bala Murali give particularly fine vocal performances while Tiahli Martyn’s (Subbalaxmi) display of Tamil dance was skillful. These vocal and dance  performances had many of the Tamil audience singing and swaying along to the music.

Among the tunes were Doris Day singing” Que Sera Sera”. “La Bamba” and some Tamil songs. These songs act as a cultural glue which holds the family together but also reminds us that these songs had universal appeal listened to by Sri Lankans as well as New Zealanders at the time.

The play is a mixture of social history, family exploration, cabaret and personal journey with music playing a central role in the play as well as the instruments the family would have listened to the songs on – an old turntable, a hi-fi player and the tape recorder.

The simple set features Dareen and Sangeetha in his podcast studio on one side and musicians on the other, flanking the family home and Anton’s general store.

The exploration by Dareen is initially an innocent enquiry into his mother’s music choices but becomes a journey into Sri Lanka’s history as well as triggering memories of his mothers and her family’s past and the impact of the war on their lives.

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Belle: Spectacular and disjointed

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Belle Image. Andi Crown

Belle

A Performance of Air

Movement of the Human (MOTH)

Director / Producer, Malia Johnston

Kiri te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre

March 6 – 9

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

“Belle” had all the elements to make it a stand-out performance however it never quite managed to make it a truly  thrilling show.

The all-female cast of skilled aerialist / dancers/ singers performed a range of acts with a touch of magic and their routines were all immersed in a riotous soundscape and a remarkable light and fog environment.

Sometimes it felt a though someone had told the musicians that they only needed to play loudly and that would cover any mistakes or lack of continuity.

There was also a  lack of cohesion between the various sections or vignettes which was a major  problem. Even though the acts were spectacular, there was no sense of narrative or trajectory.

Many of the sections had a sense of cavorting angels or goddesses and this could have related to the figures and Ranginui and Papatūānuku in the digital work “Ihi” by Lisa Reihana which is in the Aotea Centre foyer.

Most of the acts were performed in a half light, with the performers often seen in silhouette. Along with the dramatic use of light this added to the drama of the performance but it also meant the audience was often not able to appreciate the athleticism of the performers.

Some of the acts were brilliant conceived with figure rising and falling from the stage and disappearing into the enveloping fog of the stage. Other sequences saw the cast using elaborate equipment such as aerial wheels and large pivoting wheels.

But the lack of interconnection and lack of coordination between the sequences and music did  a disservice to the acts and a disappointment to the audience.

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Shakespeare in the Park: A cold blooded tragedy and a highly promising comedy

Auckland Shakespeare in the Park 2025

A Shoreside Theatre production

Pumphouse Amphitheatre

(if wet – Pumphouse Theatre)

Richard III

By William Shakespeare

Dir Catherine Boniface

Jan 22, 23, 24, 28, 31, Feb 1, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15

The Taming of the Shrew

By William Shakespeare

Dir Mags Delaney-Moffat

Jan 23, 29, 30, Feb 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14

Review by Malcolm Calder

22 January 2024

Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Chris Raven) surrounded by his friends, perceived rivals
and even some who survived his ascension to the throne

Tragedy is a commonly used euphemism in theatre for when lots of people die.  Richard III doesn’t quite reach Titus proportions, but it has to be up there and this particular production is in good company.

It is part of Shoreside Theatre’s annual Shakespeare in the Park series, now in its 29th iteration, and staged at the delightful, terraced, outdoor amphitheatre adjacent to Lake Pupuke at Takapuna’s Pumphouse theatre.

Rather than try and recreate Shakespeare’s historical setting and fail, Director Catherine Boniface has chosen to locate her Richard III in a seedy but sartorially splendid 1930s London.  Her program notes suggest the setting is reminiscent of Peaky Blinders – and, yes, there were some artfully angled flat caps on display.  Gangland in a word.  It works too, largely because it is analogously appropriate to the dastardly deeds that Richard, Duke of Gloucester got up to towards the end of the the English Civil Wars.

I won’t even begin to list all the deaths he generates.  Suffice to say it’s a lot – one might even suggest he ‘eliminated’ his way to the top.  And misogynistically too because, as far as I recall, all those who died were males.  Something to do with lineage in those dastardly days when York’s rose challenged that of Lancaster and the distaff lines were those who suffered the pain and of loss.

Richard, of course, received his final comeuppance and the reference to Leicester reminded me that his remains were eventually discovered under a carpark there only 15 years ago.

Chris Rather played Richard with a suavely cool and assured arrogance, his ambition plainly on display, and even his disintegrating final days were well handled.  He was a standout for me in 2024’s Measure for Measure and it was good to see him progress to the Richard role.  The supporting roles more than served to enhance and focus attention on Richard’s dominance but the standout for me this time was Suzie Sampson as Lady Margaret – subtle, nuanced and very, very professional.

The period setting on a simple stage is fairly stark but allowed the inclusion of some delightful props – the wooden Lancaster bomber, the pistols and, of course, the costumes.  I could swear the ghoulishly severed head with spectacles intact was still dripping blood.  Although I did wonder if the prominently held and waved cigarettes may have in fact been vapes.

On balance, another competent and highly entertaining part of the Shakespeare in the Park series.

Conversely the comedic Taming of the Shrew is the very antithesis of Richard.  Its content, gender-neutral casting and the fact that it is performed by what is effectively Shoreside’s youth company mean it would be facetious to compare the two.

Katerina (Matilda Chua) and Petrucio (Heather Warne) in The Taming of the Shrew

The plot itself of Shrew is well-known.  In overly-simple words, Lucentio loves Bianca but cannot court her until her shrewish older sister Katerina marries. The eccentric Petrucio marries the reluctant Katerina and uses guile and trickery to render her an obedient wife.  Lucentio marries Bianca and, in a contest at the end, Katerina proves to be a most obedient wife.  The end !

There is probably a moral in there somewhere but the play is almost like a minefield for actors with cross-cuts of double entendre, split-second timing and that all important factor – suspension of disbelief. Shrew calls for a closer understanding of, and appreciation of the nuance in Shakespeare’s words coupled with the timing that is essential to pull this off revealing the farce beneath.  Without them the humour just doesn’t work.

And that is where director Mags Delaney-Moffat is to be congratulated on clearly focussing her youthful and highly-promising cast.  They work as an ensemble, there are laughs aplenty and the work that has gone into achieving them is clearly on display.  

It would seem churlish to single out anyone but the work of Heather Warne (Petrucio) is almost upstaged at times by the wit, humour and general antics, and indeed the timing and presence, of Lizzie Morris as her ‘man’-servant Grumio.  And, despite a demure start, Matilda Chua (Katerina) grows in confidence as true love with Petrucio eventually blossoms.

But there are many highlights and both director and cast are to be congratulated.

The annual two-play Shoreside season is now firmly established on the Auckland theatrical calendar in this, its 29th season.

Note: If wet, transfers indoors.

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The passion and drive of Alexander Gavrylyuk

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Alexander Gavrylyuk

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

Alexander Gavrylyuk

Auckland Town Hall

November 16

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Opening the NZSO’s latest concert “Alexander Gavrylyuk”, conductor Vasily Petrenko spoke about the three works on the programme and what he saw as the  links between them. The three composers had all left their native homes – Lera Auerbach and Sergie Rachmaninov from Soviet Russia and Bela Bartok from Hungary to escape the Nazis. He also noted the three composers search for freedom of expression and the nature of transformation in the three works.

The major work on the programme was Rachmaninov’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini” which has some interesting history or mythology to it  . The nineteenth  century violinist Nicolò Paganini was such a virtuoso, that many believed he had made a pact with the devil. Rachmaninov seems to have subscribed to that view as he  includes a reference to  the medieval melody Dies Irae (Day of Wrath) and some of the darker elements in the music reflect those diabolic aspects.

This drama and other elements were highlighted by pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk in a perfect performance that showed a perceptive approach to the music

He displayed a mastery of stylish playing, able to ignite the orchestra with his passion and drive.

His playing technique: changing tempos, charging through themes and varying the tonal qualities added to the excitement of the playing and appeared to enliven conductor Vasily Petrenko well as the orchestra.

Hunched over the piano his playing was by turns delicate, whimsical and ferocious. There were times when his sounds were like rippling water while at other times they were more like gushing torrents.

This was brazen and adventurous playing which slowly revealed the technical and emotional depths of the work moving from the childlike to the theatrical and  onto the grand and funereal.”

Breugel “The Fall of Icarus

The first work on the programme had been Lera Auerbach’s “Icarus” which tells of the myth of Icarus who ignored his father Daedalus and flew too close to the sun, causing the beeswax securing his wings to melt and him to fall into the sea.

The composer said of the work “What makes this myth so touching is Icarus’s impatience of the heart, his wish to reach the unreachable, the intensity of the ecstatic brevity of his flight and inevitability of his fall.”

The opening strings and brass provided a sense of take-off and the exhilaration of Icarus. This was followed by a galvanised orchestra and flutes suggesting flight. Sounds of alarm from  the orchestra signalled the coming disater  and Concertmaster  Vesa-Matti Leppanen brilliant little solo took a dreamlike diversion which became increasingly tense. This led to the insistent brass heralding Icarus’ fall.

The final sequences could be seen as the composer’s response to Bruegel’s painting “The Fall of Icarus” where the action of the event is reduced to a leg just visible, poking up  from the water . The pulsing strings suggested the vibrancy of the sun which is a counterpoint to the disaster, the quivering sounds a refence to Icarus’ fall into the water and the scattering of feathers. The work ends with a gentle requiem suggesting Icarus becoming a mythic hero.

The final work on the programme was Bartok’s five movement Concerto for Orchestra

It was his last major work and can be seen as some sort of musical autobiography of his last few years having had to leave his native Hungary and settle in the US

Composed a couple of years after his escape from Hungary it traces out his journeying from a bleak Europe to a new life, moving from a dark period in his life to one of  freedom and light. The music reflects this moving with ominous and threatening sounds through to lively and energetic melodies.

The work opened with sombre music punctuated by the flutes and raucous brass. Anguished strings confronted by ferocious brass, woodwind and percussion and the continued presence of the flutes sounded out the call for  freedom.

There was a sense of evolving events and narrative and about remembrance and loss with whimsical passages as well as a constant sense of oppression and mystery.

While there were references to horrors and drama of WWII the work is filled with inventive  music which was constantly evolving with a carnival-like sequence, playful sounds as well as hints of folk melodies  and strains of Eastern music.

The success of the work was in part due to the focused conducting of Vasily Petrenko with his lively and energetic approach and his precise direction in shaping the music’s dramatic sounds

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This Doll’s House Sizzles

Reviewed by Malcolm Calder

Laura Hill (credit Tatiana Harper)

A Doll’s House Part 2

By Lucas Hnath

Directed by Paul Gittins

Design John Parker

Costumes Elizabeth Whiting

Lighting Jane Hakaraia

Production/SM Teresa Sokolich

With Laura Hill, Stephen Butterworth, Danyelle Mealings, Maya Dalziel

Herald Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland

14 Nov to 1 Dec 2024

Reviewed by Malcolm Calder

A Doll’s House, Part 2 runs about 90 minutes with no interval and is a bit like a well-cooked, multi-course series of tastes – or tapas if you will.  It is a meal that sizzles and left me feeling delightfully sated.

Each taste is marvelously well-prepared and each is impeccably presented.  Chef Hnath’s initial offerings covered ground prepared by others although he put an individual tweak to each and ensured they were delightfully delivered in ways that addressed time-proven issues of women’s independence, choice and self-fulfillment. 

His chief protagonist Nora Helmer arrives through the same door through which Ibsen had exited her 15 years previously.  But now she bears the scars, world-weariness and hard-won wisdom of a woman who has emphatically found and secured her place in the world as a clearly successful writer.  She is confronted by the worldly-wise Ann-Marie , Nanny to her abandoned children, an older woman who has looked, listened and learned much.  Ann-Marie is able to match Nora when it comes to verbal sparring and their discussion, debate, and general discourse delves into independence, freedom, patriarchies and the expectations of society.  And what that means.  But up to this point Hnath’s menu largely provides tastes with which we are familiar – albeit extremely well done with lashings of aspiration and confidence and some magical energy exchange between the two women.

Humour is never far away, arguments are sophisticated and standpoints and circumstances are outlined one after the other.

However well-presented these standpoints are and just as I was thinking I had heard most of their supporting arguments previously and had mistakenly arrived at a law moot, Hnath introduces Nora’s perhaps-former husband and not quite-ex Torvald.  His arrival is somewhat unexpected to the two women and now the meal and its courses becomes successively tastier.  New garnishes are added – subtly at first as incomprehension, resentment and self-doubt became apparent between all three.  But liberal sprinklings of emotion that initially bubble to the surface and then burst forth as spicy aromas that grow as they are savoured.

And that is the crux of Hnath’s play.  I sat enthralled as each new dish was served raising questions about family, marriage and responsibility.   Again, hardly new arguments, but assembled in dramatic combinations.

The dialogue is fast and vibrant – some of it using very modern vernacular. There is confusion and disagreement and miscomprehension that is sharp and pointed.

Director Paul Gittins is the interpreter of Hnath’s dishes and adds depth and nuance to each.  Designer John Parker enhances them with a simple set that is little more than a platform containing three or four chairs, a small table and an omni-present door frame that acknowledges where Ibsen left off.  Its very simplicity allows Gittins’ cast to better explore and extract light and shade.  Elizabeth’ Whiting’s costumes hint at Ibsen’s period, but nor are they of the present.  Timeless and script-driven are terms that spring to mind.

Rightly so, Laura Hill is billed as the ‘star’ and makes a compelling Nora as the chemistry between her and others is abundantly clear.  Her initial interactions with a remarkably strong Maya Dalziel as Nanny Anne-Marie and then with Torvald reveal the maelstrom that lurks beneath the surface of their worlds.

From being initially nervous and confused Torvald’s emotions soon take over and A Doll’s House 2 really starts to sizzle.  His Torvald is achingly sympathetic one moment, a blustering tyrant the next and ultimately a confused soul.

Their calm and rationale daughter Emmy (Danyelle Mealings) attempts to metaphorically and literally patch up the father-she-never-has-known as a voice of balanced reason but her voice is largely ignored, becoming almost that of a rather more dispassionate audience.

In conclusion one can only applaud.  This is an actor’s play that provokes its audience to empathise with different perspectives and director Gittins allows his universally strong and highly experienced cast to do so.

It is rather like that tapas meal where each course sizzles making A Doll’s House Part 2 a delight and, for me, one of the standouts of Auckland theatre in 2024.

As advised in all the pre-promotional material, familiarity with Ibsen’s 1879 original is not essential, but there are direct and indirect references and clues to it are strewn liberally throughout Hnath’s 21st century sequel. One might think of them as yet another layer of satisfaction – or a hidden dessert if you prefer.

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Wall to Wall Māfana

Red White and Brass: The Play

Stage adaptation by Leki Jackson-Bourne

Directors, Anapela Polata’ivao, Vela Manusaute

Musical Director, Joanna Mika Toloa

Production Design, Sean Coyle

Costume Design, Chrissy Vaega

Sound Design, Matt Eller

Choreography, Mario Faumui

With Haannz Fa’avae-Jackson, Mikey Falesiu, John-Paul ‘JP’ Foliaki, Onetoto Ikavuka, Saala Ilaua, Diamond Langi, Lauren Jackson, ‘Aisea Latu, Jason Manumu’a, Rocky Manusaute, Michaela Te Awa Bird, Kasi Valu

Original screenplay by Halaifonua Finau and Damon Fepulea’i

Co-produced by Piki Films and Miss Conception Films

A World Premiere

ASB Waterfront Theatre

Until 7 July

Reviewed by Malcolm Calder

Last weekend I had a cold and spent most of it confined to quarters.  You know – a bit of this, a bit of that and an overly-heavy dosage of highly-predictable news, current affairs and media gossip monochromatically detailing financial woes, political faux pas, a couple of murders, the inevitable obsession with car crashes and countless opinion from a whole heap of ‘experts’ confidently predicting an imminent emigration across the ditch. I was miserable.

Then I went to the Auckland Theatre Company’s world premiere of a new stage production of Red, White and Brass: The Play!  And I wondered what I was being miserable about.

The basic plot is well publicised and closely follows the original screenplay of the same name by Halaifonua Finau and Damon Fepulea’I about sporting underdogs who over-achieve just as Eddie the Eagle and those Jamaican bobsledders did at the Olympics.  Hollywood loves a good sports story especially where the underdog comes out on top and this story has a unique local flavour.

But this stage production is more subtly nuanced, goes well beyond sport and is weighted more towards capturing hearts and minds in ways that both embrace and express the social psyche that is Tongan Māfana.

It is a thing that generates joy and, without being in the slightest bit didactic about all things Tongan,

it assumes a knowledge of many things in a long, long list.  These range from the place of religion to the place of rugby; from gently acknowledging the contrapuntal role of the matriarch in a purportedly patriarchal society; from an acknowledgement that achievement rests ultimately on aspiration; from generational clash to resolution and to an understanding that even addresses the subsets within the contemporary urban Tongan diaspora in Aotearoa.

As Leki Jackson-Bourne has noted… this production is loud, proud and unapologetically Tongan. It is a statement about community, heritage and sense of self.  But it is more than that.  It also says something very important about our increasingly multicultural society and as such provides a further plank in the evolution of New Zealand theatre history.  It does so with unashamed pride and joy, and celebrates both.

JP Foliaki reprises the movie role of Maka, arguably with more light and shade than the movie allowed, and his relationship with his ‘bit less Tongan’ cousin Veni (Saale Ilaua) is well handled.  Overall the cast is strong and well-balanced and their choral work mesmerizingly memorable.

Sean Coyle’s busy set morphs well in multiple directions, the costumes are a hoot and the dialogue a completely understandable mix of Lea Faka-Tonga and English. The finale is a triumph- but no spoiler alert from me other than to say the band grows on one.

Congratulations to Auckland Theatre Company and mālō Leki – the last vestiges of my cold vanished on the spot!

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