Shortland Street actor returns to stage
Jarod Rawiri is returning to his inner clown.
The Shortland Street actor who plays character Mo Hannah is returning to the White Face Crew theatre group, for a performance of their original play La Vie Dans Une Marionette.
Formed in 2006 the White Face Crew consists of Rawiri, Tama Jarman and Justin Haiu.
The trio perform an idiosyncratic brand of physical theatre with influences from clowning, hip-hop and contemporary dance.
Rawiri says the three connected creatively over their shared sense of quirky humour.
‘‘Whenever we get together we’re always trying to make each other laugh, so we decided that maybe people would be interested in seeing us do our silly physical comedy.’’
The father of four says La Vie
is a show that harks back to the era of black-and-white Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton silent movies.
Despite playing a serious role on Shortland Street, Rawiri says he’s had an interest in comedy and mime since his days at drama school.
‘‘Movement has always been a huge part of the way that I like to work in terms of theatre and also film and television.’’
The Morningside resident has always made himself available to all types of genre.
‘‘I guess it’s little known that I’ve always had this interest in physical and improvised theatre.
‘‘The cast and crew here [at Shortland Street], whenever I tell them I’m doing this clown show they give me a sideways look a little bit….there’s a few clowns walking around Shortland Street in the cast already.’’
But he says the show is really not as far-fetched as people think.
The 36-year-old first pursued performing arts in 2002 and has appeared in The Almighty Johnsons and Taika Waititi’s critically acclaimed 2010 film Boy.
‘‘Taika is a visionary, he keeps making these great films. Hopefully we can work together again.’’
La Vie Dans Une Marionette
performs at The Basement Theatre from June 21 to 25 and is part of the venue’s inaugural Matariki Season. Visit basementtheatre.co.nz for more information.
‘‘I’ve always had this interest in physical and improvised theatre.’’ Jarod Rawiri