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4-18 April 1998, Nga Hau e Wha Marae
* If you have a photo from this production please get in touch - [email protected] / 021 025 61384
Mervyn Thompson’s “most controversial theatre piece,” Songs to the Judges, will be presented by the Free Theatre at Nga Hau E Wha National Marae, 250 Pages Road, from 4 to 18 April.
Songs to the Judges, composed by William Dart, is a songplay created from stories from people throughout Aotearoa. Each of the nineteen songs is about a different era of New Zealand history and its relationship to Maori and Pakeha, especially over land ownership and justice. The Musical Director for the production is local musician, Andy Thompson, brother of the playwright. Following Thompson’s statement that “a healthy theatre is one which, while never losing its concern with standards, is vitally connected to its community,” the director, Cherie Hart, is presenting the piece as marae theatre. This is a new experience for Christchurch and “seeks to offer theatre to the public in the space of the marae, as a place of meeting for all the community,” Ms Hart said. There will be refreshments after the performance and the opportunity to talk with the actors who have been working as an ensemble learning from each other through the process of rehearsal and performance. Cherie’s desire to direct Songs to the Judges came from attending a hui at Parihaka in 1994 where she first heard about the confiscation of land in Taranaki and Te Whiti’s peaceful protest. “Songs rewrites the New Zealand history from the margins - that which is often glossed over in the school curriculum,” she said. The satirical songs are entertaining, often beautiful, but raise questions challenging apathy and indifference, rather than supplying ready-made answers. It is a multi-media production including historical slide material with experimental theatre techniques. Cherie has been directing in Christchurch and Hamilton since 1991 and is currently studying towards a PhD, in intercultural theatre in Aotearoa, at the University of Canterbury’s Department of Theatre and Film Studies. ResearchLilicherie McGregor used this production as part of her research for her PhD The Praxis of Postcolonial Intercultural Theatre in Aotearoa New Zealand, University of Canterbury, 2004.
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PublicityReviewsOn arrival, feeling like a hooker in a convent, I stood around waiting for others to make the decisions for me.... Marae Theatre was thrust on me be a strange series of events. I had a very good time. I would have automatically assumed this was not my cup of tea and not gone, I am glad I did. |
Don't expect to be comfortable. The content is so harsh at times that the word satirical, used in the press release, is almost too mild. Credit for much of this unity must go, at least in part, to director Cherie Hart. Her emotional integrity was reflected in the outpouring of genuine goodwill which followed the performance. Simply, the audience could not remain detached.
Free Theatre's Songs to the Judges
Michelle Burstein, The Press, Wed 8 April 1998
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