Waituhi – the life of the village

Tu Tangata, Issue 18, 1 June 1984, Page 30

Waituhi - the life of the village

A New Zealand opera with a maori setting Waituhi, with a libretto by Witi Ihimaera and music by Ross Harris, opens in September in Wellington.

Directed by Adrian Kiernander, it is an adaption of Ihimaera’s novel Whanau. It’s set in a small maori community near Gisborne and looks at the people struggling to preserve their way of life. The events include personal rivalry and jealousy and the lure of the big city for young people. Disputes over land ownership and the loss of traditional knowledge and history are also explored. The music includes maori styles and the orchestral music of composers like Douglas Lilburn. The opera Waituhi comes at a time for Ihimaera when he is making a return to the literary world after a

writing absence of around ten years. Waituhi combines his ability to create memorable characters together with a strong sense of theatre. His love of opera and knowledge of the art-form is reflected in the opera. Ross Harris was commissioned to write the score for television’s “The Governor”. He has worked on the production of many operas at Victoria University where he wrote the music for The Clockmake r, a chamber opera performed at the university in 1979. The director, Adrian Kiernander was resident producer for the National Opera of New Zealand for three years, working on the productions of Cosi Fan Tutte, La Boheme and The Marriage of Figaro. He has also studied production at Covent Garden, the Australian Opera and the Scottish Opera. Last year he directed the Victoria University outdoor production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.