Herald Theatre
October 18-27 | Reviewed by Renee Liang

WHAT DO you get when you cross Greek-tragi-comedy set in South Auckland, a twisted modern-day ghost story and a romance between a supermarket delivery boy and an agoraphobic has-been actress? PlayRight 07: The Season, of course.

&tThis annual offering of new work by Kiwi playwrights, now in its second year, has been brought to the stage by Smackbang, a theatre company founded by Aussie-turned-patriotic-Kiwi Jared Turner. His philosophy, as expounded on Smackbang’s website (myspace.com/smackbang) is to “help revive, encourage, and promote Auckland’s locally made theatre.” The PlayRight season in my opinion is a high-quality addition to the growing opportunities for new and emerging writers in New Zealand (others I can think of include Flip the Script for short short plays, and local small theatre start-ups such as The Rebel Alliance for full-length plays.) PlayRight 07 fits neatly into the picture as a forum for one-act plays, and in this season comes out swinging as a forum for edgy, bold drama in an explosive collaboration of writers, directors, actors and theatre designers.

No three more different plays could have been picked. Aroha by Michael Downey, directed by Glen Pickering, never quite gets out of its self-deprecating, sarcastic mode. The heroine of the title (a name not-quite-accidentally picked to coincide with the name of one of last year’s NZ Idol finalists) goes on an Olympian quest to fulfil her destiny as a singing star and transcend her South Auckland roots. Her path is manipulated by Zeus, portrayed as a politicising female bureaucrat, and her henpecked but ethical male sidekick, along with a hilarious all-singing, uncouth, cross-dressing trio of angels. The script is littered throughout with references to NZ pop culture (Dominic Bawden and Sue Bradford get particularly cruel sendups).

Although I found this a bold, cleverly executed concept when I first saw it as a ten-minute script at Flip the Script, in its longer form it loses focus. The story of Aroha and her pet lamb Harley surmounting various obstacles only to succumb to the lecherous attentions of the NZ Idol crew, is interrupted too frequently by the office tantrums of Zeus, who can only be described as an interfering bitch with her own agenda and serious relationship issues. However, as Aroha loses her way, so too does the play lose its way, with no satisfying resolution to the idea that Aroha must somehow gain enough agency to determine her own destiny. In the end, what the play achieves is barbed commentary on the shallowness of the Kiwi media machine and its assertions of representing the “national identity”.

Some of the jokes do require more than a passing familiarity with the banal programming on TV these days, however, and could be lost on those of us (ahem/angelic look to the sky) who are not regular TV watchers. That being said, there are some truly fantastic laugh-out-loud moments in the play. The actors clearly have a lot of fun with the completely non-PC dialogue, not to mention the (scanty) costumes – variations on a toga theme reminiscent of student parties, complete with a number eight wire mentality (Harley the Lamb’s costume being a particularly imaginative use of a toilet rug). In the end, this play was highly enjoyable for the sharpness of its dialogue, if not for the fuzziness of its plot.

Daddy’s Dollar by Kate Morris, directed by Lauren Jackson, is a mysterious play which skilfully weaves in elements of suspense, surprise plot reveals and fairytale/horror as a father is called to account for his horrendous actions. Although I found the action of the heroine (played with great commitment by Hannah Banks) a little too energetic at times for the story, overall it was a strong performance from three great actors. Jonathan Hodge and Tahi Mapp-Borren manage to pull off performances of subtlety and pathos throughout, despite being rather gorgeously dressed as teddy bears. The final plot twist (which I won’t reveal) occurs in an atmosphere of almost unbearable emotional intensity. The bold staging, by designers Estelle Macdonald and Kate Burton, who had to design a set to accommodate all three plays, complements the spareness of the dialogue perfectly. A bolt of red fabric (of the sort used by circus acrobats) hangs from the ceiling in the centre of the stage, a sort of dividing line between the real world and the fairytale world – or should that be the line between hope and truth? As reality increasingly impinges on a storybook world, the fabric is twisted, knotted, swung on and split in a striking visual metaphor for the action of the play. A striking use of the theatrical medium which I couldn’t help thinking about, well after the play ended.

The Bar at the End of the World, despite its title, is not some quirky Douglas Adams-inspired interrogation of life, the universe and everything. Written by expat NZer Sarah Robertson and directed by Edwin Wright, it’s a new take on the relationship-drama-set-in-a-lounge-with-a-TV type of play. What is interesting about this play is the constantly shifting nature of the relationship between the two protagonists (both of whom are trying to escape from the world in some way), and the quicksand plot, which we as audience are never left to get too comfortable in before we get that sinking feeling – do we really know what’s going on here? Sympathy for the characters (played with gentle comedy by Jonathan Brugh and Morgana O’Reilly) carries us through. To me, the play is a meditation on the human condition that never fully answers the questions it asks, but that’s okay. The warm, full feeling I had after watching was enough - rounding off what had, in general, been a very digestible evening of new theatre.

It is worthwhile saying that the plays I saw tonight are not the only result of the PlayRight 07 project. They are only the final part of a process which started in March when writers of all levels were asked to send in scripts, of which nine (out of 40) were chosen for rehearsed readings, discussion and further development by dramaturges. Of these, three were then picked for full production. The great thing about PlayRight (one of several such initiatives supported by Playmarket and others) is its focus on developing new writing talent. There is probably nothing that will provide more encouragement to a writer than the prospect of seeing their work professionally staged.

The high production values, excellent acting and professional staging I saw tonight is likely to provide ample encouragement to next year’s crop of eager wanna-be playwrights. Unlike other programs, there are no imposed entry limits (such as age, experience or ethnicity) to PlayRight. I heartily applaud this attempt to provide open-access for writers of all ages and backgrounds and challenge our theatre community to provide even more opportunities for writers, directors and actors at all levels of the craft.