PRODUCING A PLAY

Te Ao Hou, Royal Tour 1953, Page 39

The writing committee. (Ashton.) A project specially prepared by the Maori Club at Auckland Teachers' Training College. PRODUCING A PLAY This year for the first time the Maori Club at the Auckland Teachers' Training College has staged a play to be shown publicly in Auckland. Not only have they acted this play, they actually wrote it. They put on the stage the love affair of Ponga and Puhihuia, whose love affair three hundred years ago reunited the people of Maunga Whau with their cousins from the other side of the Manukau. As the college itself stands in the shadow of Maunga Whau (Mount Eden), it is an appropriate theme to have chosen, and the credit of the choice goes to Mr R. A. Dennant, an English lecturer, who suggested this story to the Maori Club. Five students from the Maori Club formed the writing committee. The original story was re-written to take place within twenty-four hours, half at Maunga Whau and half at Awhitu. Having roughed out a scenario on these lines, the committee began writing the actual dialogue. Here, first-hand experience of speech-making on the marae was useful, for the first few minutes of Act I are taken up by a debate which, while based upon genuine marae procedure, also tells the audience about the situation when the story opens. Two Elders plead for peace, and two for war, whilst the Ariki listens and the rest of Maunga Whau look on. The Elders are able to explain in their argument about the expected visit of a peace party from Awhitu, led by Ponga. Into the midst of their debate comes a messenger to say that Ponga will arrive at any moment. The Ariki decides for peace, and when the visitors arrive both sides dance a haka of welcome and greetings. The first act of the play went ahead quickly—after the debate, and the visitors' arrival and welcome, Ponga sits alone with his slave, and the slave (who sees that his master has fallen in love with Puhihuia) suggests a plan by which Ponga can speak to the girl alone. The final scene of the first act shows the plan car-

ried out, and Ponga stealing out of the whare whakairo to talk to Puhihuia in the moonlight. The lovers decide to run away with the whole of Ponga's party before dawn, whilst all the people of Maunga Whau are still asleep. To make the plot a little easier, it was decided to cut down the number of chiefs who in the original story fall in love with the beautiful Puhihuia, and make Ponga the only lover. In addition, a new figure, Turi, was created, belonging to Puhihuia's own tribe. This Turi would have married the maiden had it not been for Ponga's unexpected arrival. At the end of the play. Turi was married off to another invented figure, Keere, sister to Puhihuia. Apart from these simple variations, the story follows the original legend. This is to be a play and not a musical show; a drama of real life rather than an excuse for stringing traditional songs and dances together. But the very fact that it is Maori real-life means that songs and dances do appear, since Maori culture is so intensely alive and rich in these things. The haka of welcome and its response in Act I have already been mentioned; Act II opens on the marae at Awhitu, with a poi dance by the girls of the pa before the news comes of Ponga's unexpected return with Puhihuia. In addition, Maori speech, even when translated into English for a pakeha audience, is vividly poetic and exciting to listen to. The Club hopes that this venture will prove to be not only a new development of living Maori culture, but a successful New Zealand play in its own right. At present, casting is in progress, costumes and scenery are being designed, dances are being worked out by Kahu Ngata—the Club is fortunate in having this grand-daughter of Sir Apirana as one of its members—and rehearsals will begin at once next term. The production is to be early in December. (The facts for this article were related to Te Ao Hou by Mr R. A. Dennant.)