Taylor-Rose Terekia
It always excites me to see emerging Māori artists presenting new work, and Hāpaitia by two descendants of Tūwharetoa is a double bill show that gives you plenty to feast on.
Entering Tāpere Nui, Te Auaha, the first thing you see is soil trickling from the ceiling and landing in a vintage suitcase centre stage. Already, I’m thinking about whenua, it’s importance to Māori identity and how no matter where we go we carry home with us. Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitū te whenua.
This imagery opens the show where co-creators and cousins Raureti Ormond and Parekawa Finlay transport us to the sacred lands of Ngāti Te Maunga. The theme of whenua helps to connect and contextualise these two artists, who seek to honour their namesakes through their respective storytelling. As they describe contrasting stories of burying whenua (placenta), they speak in layers: Finlay is frustrated and discontent, Ormond is gentle and yearning. The contrast sets the tone of both performers and the two very different shows about to unfold, ‘Te Kaikohi’ followed by ‘Te Whio’ as noted in the programme.
Starting us off is Finlay’s solo piece ‘Te Kaikohi’ (The Collector), an evolution of a solo she previously wrote and performed about Horatio Robley, an early colonial settler, soldier, artist, and collector of ‘Moko mokai’. Finlay feels her initial research was one-sided, and this rewrite takes a new approach by exploring the context of ‘Moko mokai’ through a Māori-worldview while critiquing her previous beliefs surrounding Horatio Robley.
As a performer, Finlay’s courage and vulnerability holds the audience captive in the relentless investigation of her own Māori and Pākehā whakapapa. At times confronting and other times mournful, the work offers a number of provocations around self-determination, story sovereignty, post-colonial identity in Aotearoa that is all too relevant in our current political climate.
Ultimately, I felt joy in seeing this young wahine Māori stand proudly in her Māoritanga. Yet a part of me wonders if the investigation is truly over. I take away from ‘Te Kaikohi’ the reminder that whakapapa is complex, and that decolonisation and reclamation of ancestral knowledge is a necessary but never-ending journey.
In considering some of the heavy content matter, a karakia or another form of whakanoa could also be incorporated to manaaki those in the audience who may need it.
Where ‘Te Kaikohi’ provided bountiful food for thought, ‘Te Whio’ followed after to feed the soul.
‘Te Whio’ (The Whistle) is a musical from the perspective of those who lost their lives in the Tangiwai railway disaster of Christmas Eve, 1953. Empty chairs are brought on to the stage and an old radio broadcast plays the announcement of the accident, immediately putting us on edge. I listen to Ormond talk about home and I wonder if his suitcase still carries the soil and hue.
Out emerges a whole ensemble dressed in beautiful costumes of the era. When they begin to sing a warm wave washes over the audience, helping to lift the heaviness of the previous piece. Without giving too much attention to the actual disaster, the incredible original compositions tug at the heartstrings and urges us to remember the human lives behind the tragedy.
The stripped-back and nostalgic sound of the acoustic accompaniment by musicians Mackenzie Htay and Kate Marshall-Crowe, combined with the lighting design by Ezra Jones-Moki, perfectly conveyed the sense of travelling through the Aotearoa countryside. With the simple but effective choreography, we’re on the train ride with them experiencing every emotional bump in the track. Each talented member of the beautifully diverse chorus has their moment to shine, adding their own unique layer and driving home universal emotions of hope, loneliness, fear and longing. All of this combined left no dry eye in the theatre. Ormond has the perfect recipe for a homegrown musical that will connect with anyone in Aotearoa, and abroad.
‘Te Whio’ is the perfect name as a symbol of Ormond’s intentions. It’s a resounding declaration that these events should not be forgotten, and through the style of a musical, the power of music will ensure its message rings on for generations to come. This needs to go on and develop into a fully fledged production, if not a Spotify album so I can at least relisten to all the songs.
As Ormond and Finlay once again share the stage, the importance of the frames that have been hanging on either side of the stage become clear. It is reminiscent of the photos within wharenui that honour tipuna who have passed. When one performs their show, a single frame is lit on one side, and when both share the space, a frame on each side is lit. The responsibility they both feel to honour their namesakes and shared whakapapa through this double bill is a beautiful thing to witness. It’s that thread that leads back to whenua, to home, to identity that makes Hāpaitia a fulfilling experience that will both challenge and heal you.
I have no doubt their tīpuna are proudly watching as their mokopuna told their stories with conviction and mana. Me tiro whakamuri, kia anga whakamua.