Story of Parihaka coming to festival
Emotion washes over Mara TK when he hears the words once spoken by some of the most prominent Maori prophets. ‘‘Lay down your weapons,’’ his stage mate recites the famed instruction by revered Maori peace prophet Te Whiti O Rongomai of Parihaka, Taranaki. It is all TK can do but to break down.
In a modern Maori theatre piece which explores the idea of prophets in Maoridom, musician and beat-maker TK joins forces with theatre practitioner Tola Newbery, from the 2013 movie The Pa Boys.
The show Poropiti: Prophet focuses on leaders Te Whiti and Tohu Kakahi and the story of Parihaka – a coastal Taranaki settlement invaded by 1600 armed constabulary nearly 140 years ago. It comprises only TK and Newbery, who plays Te Whiti, and will soon feature in the upcoming Taranaki Arts Festival 2017.
The men recently staged the show, a performance that features theatre, song, sound and movement, at this year’s Auckland Arts Festival in the RAW season and later at the Auckland Matariki Festival.
It was during those performances in which TK struggled to hold it together.
‘‘I just sort of broke down,’’ he recalls.
It was a simple scene which sees Te Whiti instructing the people of Parihaka to lay down their weapons. War hasn’t been working with us, he said, and we need to try something new.
Among the people was Riwha Titokowaru, of Nga Ruahine, South Taranaki – a military leader, prophet, peacemaker and Parihaka supporter.
TK, of Ngati Maniapoto and Ngai Tahu, says Titokowaru, a man with the heart of a warrior who usually took a stand for what was right, responded to Te Whiti’s requests by laying down his weapons, giving himself up to colonial forces and allowing himself to be arrested.
‘‘Thinking about him in one of the scenes...I just couldn’t keep it together.
‘‘It’s asking a warrior race to completely give up their way of living...their way of approaching hostilities from another people.’’
Two years in the making, the show is the brainchild of Wellington-based TK, the son of psychedelic rock legend Billy TK.
It started as a performance piece which the men presented at City Gallery Wellington and has been developed over the years, more recently it was refined for presentation in a theatre setting.
TK, a multi-award winning artist fluent in voice and multiple instruments, says the inspiration came from watching a document series about the rise of capitalism and the nuclear family.
‘‘I got to thinking that that’s one of the really significant markers of western identity which Maori really don’t have that much in common with and maybe one of the things we’ve struggled with the most.
‘‘It led me to think about people in Maori history who have galvanised people and led these collectives.’’
He teamed up with best friend Newbery, producer Gareth Farry came on board and with the help of lighting and stage buffs his concept was given life.
TK says the stories of the prophets are inspiring but are also a keystone for Maori and Pakeha.
‘‘So much of the Pakeha identity is tied in with being here in New Zealand and thus the history of the land.
‘‘I think that’s still a key bit of information; that in a broad sense Pakeha understand we’re inextricably linked – Maori and Pakeha – in defining each other.’’
* Poropiti: Prophet is on at The Crystal Palace in New Plymouth as part of the Taranaki Arts Festival 2017 on Wednesday, August 23 at 8pm.
He may have a pretty sweet ‘‘walk run’’, but what new prime minister Bill English doesn’t have is a chart-hitting parody song – and it’s unlikely he’ll be getting one, musician Darren Watson says.
And it’s not because the Wellington singer songwriter is a lover of the blue team, although he could be – he was never asked otherwise – but rather Watson doesn’t have the time nor energy to relive the drama from the last general election.
‘‘No, no, no I’m staying away from that,’’ he said.
‘‘I don’t think I need another kind of two years of court battles.’’
During the 2014 election campaign the bluesman, together with video producer Jeremy Jones, put out a standalone single, titled Planet Key which satirically roasts former prime minister John Key’s fabled state-house upbringing.
It took the fifth spot for three weeks on the New Zealand singles chart but it was quickly placed under a gag order by the Electoral Commission.
The political song couldn’t be sold and radio stations and media outlets were advised from playing it because the Commission deemed it an ‘‘election programme’’ and so it could not go to air without an authorised promoter statement.
But Watson and Jones challenged the ban in the New Zealand High Court the following year and won. The ruling was further upheld by the Court of Appeal in October last year.
Watson and his band The Dangerous Experts play in New Plymouth next week, but whether he will perform the controversial song is up to the audience, he reckons.
‘‘I usually ask for a show of hands and get a vote from the crowd...it depends what part of the country I’m in, eh. Or I might get run out of town.’’
But political numbers aside, Watson is best known as an accomplished blues artist who has been in the business for more than 30 years, launching into the scene with his band Chicago Smokeshop, later just Smokeshop, in the 80s.
He’s shared a stage with a number of the industry’s big hitters including Jimmie Vaughan, Billy Boy Arnold, Koko Taylor, George Thorogood, Tony Joe White, Keb Mo, and Mavis Staples’ guitarist, Rick Holmstrom.
The full-time guitar teacher continues to live and breathe music and is currently looking for funding to get his sixth solo album underway, which will be all acoustic music.
In recent years Watson has mostly performed solo gigs around the county. He says it’s not always easy pulling band members together to hit the road.
Needless to say he’s relishing the upcoming gig in the ‘Naki, which will see him and his recently formed band play out a variety of tunes.
‘‘We do a more traditional set with double bass and piano, kind of old school 50s stuff, and then we do more contemporary stuff in the second set. ‘‘It’s going to be a bloody good night.’’
❚ Watson and The Dangerous Experts will play at Peggy Gordon’s Celtic Bar on Thursday, July 6 at 8pm. Tickets are $30.
Singer Songwriters New Plymouth is turning 12. The monthly music event started as an open mic night at the Basement Bar under Peggy Gordons in mid-2005 and in 2009 it shifted to New Plymouth Little Theatre. This month the popular gig, known for its intimate setting and live music, enters its twelfth season. Still well attended and showcasing the region’s finest musicians, a celebration of the event will take place at the Little Theatre on Friday, June 30 at 7pm, entry is free. The film Dancer takes a look into the life of Sergei Polunin who took the dance world by storm and became the Royal Ballet’s youngest ever principal. At the peak of his success, aged 25, he walked away, driven to the brink of self-destruction by stardom. Screening at the Len Lye Centre Cinema on Sunday July 2, 4pm, entry is $12 or $10 concession. Book at govettbrewster.com
A documentary about the life of New Plymouth artist Tom Kreisler (1938-2002) screens in the Len Lye Centre Cinema on Sunday July 2, in association with the current GovettBrewster Art Gallery exhibition Open Collection #3: Tom (until Sunday July 30). Entry is free.
Learn more about the exhibitions guided by a front of house staff member on Sunday, July 2 at 2pm. There is no charge but donations and notice of large groups are appreciated.