AN EPIC STORY OF HERE, MADE HERE |
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) Director . . . . . . . . . . . . .Tanemahuta Gray Choreographer . . . . . . . Merenia Gray Assistant Director . . . . .Geoff Pinfield Climbing Director . . . . . Nick Creech Kapa haka . . . . . . . . . . . Tanemahuta Gray, Kereama Te Ua, Kura Te Ua, Tuirina Wehi at Westpac St James, Wellington From 9 May 2007 to 13 May 2007 Reviewed by Lynn Freeman, 16 May 2007 originally published in Capital Times |
Tanemahuta Gray shares some of those great qualities with his leading man, Maui - he's bold, courageous and unstoppable. This stage spectacular, and spectacular it is, has taken years to create and now to refine.
This is the third version of Maui I've seen, starting with a few scenes at Toi Whakaari as part of a Fringe Festival long ago. It had promise but where would they find the money to realise that promise? Version two was impressive but a little rough in places and needed some kind of narration to open it up to non-Te Reo audiences. Maui is now a polished and breathtaking show and must surely be destined for the West End and Broadway.
One of the most important changes is the introduction of a narrator - Maui's adopted father, Tama-Nui-Te Ra, played with godlike majesty by Te Kohe Tuhaka. Even with the very good English plot synopsis given to the audience, he helps keep non-Te Reo speakers on track, and his own near downfall is more poignant for knowing how much guilt he feels over Maui's actions.
Tamati Patuwai is a force to be reckoned with as Maui, always with a sense of mischief and naivety as he challenges the elements and the gods - he's more of a naughty boy than a hero and more endearing for it. The four brothers work well as a team, much needed comic relief amidst the intensity of the story.
This is as much of a musical as it is a dance/theatre work and the solos in particular by Toni Huata and Kirsteen Te Rito are emphatically operatic in their delivery.
'Big ups' to the flymen, who really get this production off the ground.
You'll never see a more beautiful and dazzling show on this epic scale - it's got the grace of ballet, the drama of a Greek tragedy, the spectacle of The Lion King, the athleticism of modern day circuses (the aerialists are unreal) and the added bonus of being a story of here, made here.
See also reviews by:
John Smythe
Melody Nixon (The Lumiere Reader);
Kate Ward-Smythe
Nik Smythe