Book-ended by Dave Dobbyn’s ‘Slice of Heaven’, Friday’s Flock offers Wellington audiences a slice of rural life via regular Friday visits to the Saleyards Café. Indeed the premiere of Reihana Haronga’s self-devised solo play, directed by Karla Haronga, was site specific: at the actual Saleyards Café by Feilding’s 130+ year-old Saleyards

BATS’ Heyday Dome space has been dressed to approximate the café (design by the Harongas), with the audience facing each other in the traverse. Fearing audience involvement, people back off into the seats behind those adjacent to the tables adorned with check cloths, salt & pepper shakers and tomato sauce. There is, however, no interaction with the audience, as such, although there is lots of direct address.  

The café owner, Sam, is a townie who almost made the mistake of upgrading the menu and décor, before his most regular customer, Walter, put him right. A farmer who couldn’t cope with the work after his wife died, Walter and his dog, Jack, have moved into town and both are trying to adjust.  

The Friday sales bring farmers to town, like young Joseph who is stuck on a farm he doesn’t know how to manage because his recently deceased father was too impatient, or something, to share his knowledge. Poor Joseph is always on his cellphone, fielding calls from creditors or seeking help with his myriad problems.  

Then there is the nostalgic woman, sharing her memories for us while keeping herself to herself as far as the others are concerned. The sense of mystery she engenders is nicely resolved.

Reihana embodies all these characters – including Jack the dog, plus an ex-model from Sweden (you have to be there) – with a light touch that belies the depth of the stories his deft script reveals. Over four seasons, marked with recurring motifs and running gags – literally in the case of Jack – we experience wry humour, sadness, pathos, romance, recovery and a sense of renewal, even in death (again: you have to be there); all in 45 minutes.

Those who know country life glow with recognition; those who don’t warm to this masterful evocation because none of us are far from these home truths.

What I find most remarkable as that even while evoking the languid pace of country life, Friday’s Flock serves up rich fusion fare imbued with the lives of three generations when the past and future are factored in.

As just one of the eight Kia Mau Festival events at BATS Theatre, it’s only on twice more. Treat yourselves. 

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Friday’s Flock is a small perfectly formed nugget of delight.

The opening night [November 17] audience filling Feilding’s Saleyards Cafe responded to actor Reihana Haronga’s 45-minute solo performance with a standing ovation.

For generations, farmers have made the weekly pilgrimage to the largest saleyards in the southern hemisphere to buy, sell and socialise.

Friday’s Flock is a heart-warming tribute to the character and the characters of the Manchester St cafe’s sale-day customers.

Within a pungent whiffing distance of the saleyards, the caff with a capacity of about 30, is a no-frills, Formica table, blackboard menu eatery that also has a distinct Brazilian flavour.

That pungency, according to Sam, its proprietor for the night and one of seven roles played by Haronga – “is the smell of money”.

After platters and drinks, Sam conducts the audience season by season through a year in the life of the cafe.

We meet Walter, a retired farmer who has recently lost his wife, and with his dog Jack, in a delightful anthropomorphic portrayal by Haronga, is always the morning’s first customer.

There’s Joseph, struggling to run the farm following the death of his father, and in need of sound advice.

While waiting for her husband to conclude his business at the yards, Nancy comes in to sip tea, to reflect on life, the neighbours they “only see in town”, and comment on the rubbish the men talk.

One hilarious interlude sees a stock agent lapsing into his auction spiel when searching through his pockets to pay for food.

Throughout, the good-natured humour is beautifully timed, while Haronga’s authentic characterisations skilfully evade the snare of caricature.

Not without its poignancy, this well-worked site-specific piece is an example of how, given the right performance conditions, anywhere can host a resonating and memorable theatre experience. 

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