Family conflict,drama in college production
Tawa College students are taking the stage in a production they have written, directed and built the set for.
First time assistant director Shania Lahina said the production was very much ‘student led’ and although she and teacher Nick Brown wrote most of the original script the actors change their lines to suit themselves.
‘‘What you write down can be completely different to how you would act so if there’s a problem in the script we can change it to how it works for us.’’
Harris Findlater plays the part of Kingi, a soldier, and between studying for exams wrote the monologue his character delivers.
‘‘The production is just before our mock exams so it’s been a balance of learning the lines and balancing my study.’’
He said the production tells the story of a conflict between family members about selling a house and whether it’s the right time to do so.
‘‘We want them to think about it and figure it out for themselves, we give multiple hints for the audience, we show, not tell.’’
Shania Bailey-Edmonds plays Ngaire, a mother and wife, and said the use of the set will help the audience understand the family dynamics.
‘‘It helps enhance the idea that the relationship between each family member isn’t quite the public image, it looks into it and gives some understanding to their flaws.
‘‘Through the family conflict they try and find their glue again... even if it’s a different type of glue.’’
She said the play is set in Mahia on the east coast of the North Island and strongly reflects the area and the iwi that calls it home.
‘‘It’s a bit of a Maori play, Paratiho means ‘paradise’ in Maori and we’ve incorporated a good amount of tikanga and te reo in there.
‘‘It has a lot of Maori kaupapa, you have to be careful when you create a play with cultural aspects because there’s a lot of wormholes you could fall into without knowing.
‘‘We’ve had a lot of cultural advice from my family... I have high expectations for myself.’’
The show runs from August 11 until August 13 in the Tawa College Hall, tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for students and are available from the Tawa College office and Drummond’s Pharmacy.