Niu Sila - Auckland Theatre Company

Dave ARMSTRONG & oscar kightley's
EDUCATION PACK
SPonsors
Auckland Theatre Company
receives principal and core
funding from
Contents
CREDITS
4
ABOUT THE PLAY
6
SYNOPSIS
7
THEMES
8
WRITING NIU SILA
10
PLAYING MULTIPLE CHARACTERS
14
DESIGN ELEMENTS
Subsidised school matinees are
made possible by a grant from
ATC Education also thanks
the ATC Patrons and the ATC
Supporting Acts for their
ongoing generosity.
The NIU SILA Education Pack is
made possible by a grant from
2
Set & Costume
18
Lighting & Sound
20
PASIFIKA PLAYS IN NEW ZEALAND
22
PASIFIKA PLAYS BIBLIOGRAPHY
24
PLEASE NOTE:
FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
26
•Schools’ performances are followed
by a Q&A Forum lasting for 20 – 30
minutes in the theatre immediately
after the performance.
RESOURCES AND USEFUL LINKS
30
ABOUT ATC EDUCATION & CURRICULUM LINKS
31
•Eating and drinking in the auditorium is
strictly prohibited.
•Please make sure all cell phones are
turned off prior to the performance
and, if possible, please don’t bring
school bags to the theatre.
•Photography or recording of any kind is
STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
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Niu SILA CREDITS
Cast
Fasitua Amosa and David Van Horn
Creative
Production
Ben Crowder — Director
Paul Nicoll — Technical &
Dave Armstrong — Playwright
Production Manager
Oscar Kightley — Playwright
Fern Christie — Company Manager
John Parker — Set & Costume Designer
Jade Turrall — Stage Manager
Jane Hakaraia — Lighting Designer
Thomas Press — Touring Technical Operator
Thomas Press — Sound Designer
2Construct — Set Construction
BY ARRANGEMENT WITH
Education Pack
Lynne Cardy — Writer and Editor
Louise Tu’u and Tanya Muagututi’a — Contributing Writers
Michael Smith — Production Images
Claire Flynn — Graphic Design
4
5
About the Play
The award-winning NIU SILA premiered at Downstage Theatre,
Wellington, in 2003 and has since played all over New Zealand and
internationally. Auckland Theatre Company first staged NIU SILA
in 2005 with Damon Andrews and Dave Fane, directed by Conrad
Newport. The 2013 production stars real-life best friends, actors
Fasitua Amosa and David van Horn, and is directed by Ben Crowder.
The central device of NIU SILA is that two actors play an array of
multi-cultural characters without costume changes and with very
simple props, set and costumes. The abridged play script is a favourite
for high school productions, where the two-hander can be easily
expanded to accommodate a large cast.
Events in Niu Sila occur over a period of time from the late 1960’s to
the early 2000’s and the characters move in and out of a wide variety
of locations. Ioane and Peter attend school at a time before NCEA
(when School Certificate was the first secondary school qualification)
and when the intermediate to high school year levels started at Form
One (Year 7) and finished in 7th Form (Year 13).
NIU SILA is a unique New Zealand play and an excellent example
of Pasifika Theatre, with its mix of English and Samoan language,
contemporary slang, spoofing of stereotypes and physical theatre.
The play touches on issues of racism, cross-cultural freindships,
the importance of family, and makes allusions to the Dawn Raids
of the 1980s.
6
SYNOPSIS
In a suburban TAB, two childhood friends
meet up again as adult strangers. Thirty
years before hand, during the peak of
Polynesian immigration to Auckland, sixyear old Ioane Tafioka, recent immigrant
from the island of Atua, knocks on the
door of local boy, Peter Burton.
Ioane has decided that Peter is his friend
and he wins him over through sharing his
aspirations of owning a TV, the merits of
an umu over a hangi and by admonishing
him to never talk back to his parents.
affectionately known as ‘Criminal’ and Mrs
Tafioka, whose formidable role as a nononsense matriarch is matched only by
her unconditional love for both her ‘sons’.
The play ends as it begins, back in the TAB
where Peter and Ioane are briefly reunited
and there is an abrupt twist to the story
when Peter learns the poignant truth
about the fate of his old friend, who has
recently returned to Atua.
Spanning three decades Peter narrates
the energetic and ultimately moving tale
of their shared experiences; at school, at
church, playing cricket, fishing for eels,
going to the orchestra, and eventually
dealing with the police and the justice
system. As the boys grow into young men
events and attitudes unfold to force their
friendship to end. Supported throughout
by unforgettable characters from a cross
section of New Zealand society; Frank
Burton, Peter’s father, an extreme leftwing, Bartok-loving social crusader, the
deceptively ill-dressed minister who is
7
THEMES
The dominant theme of NIU SILA is an exploration of friendship
how even the best of friendships can be torn apart by society. “This
play…” said Oscar Kightley, “is for anyone who ever wondered what
happened to that cool kid they made friends with in primary school”.
NIU SILA also raises ideas of cultural identity and changing social
perspectives in New Zealand by confounding stereotypes and
presenting an authentic relationship between a Pakeha (palagi)
character and a Pacific Islander. Much of the humour in the play arises
from cultural misunderstandings and confusions as well as from the
array of easily identifiable attitudes that the characters convey and
from the language they use.
The play inevitably raises current issues such as family violence,
racism (particularly within the police and justice system) and corrupt
use of power by the church. The end of Peter and Ioane’s friendship
is crucial to the story, not only as it highlights a loss of personal
innocence but because it also mirrors that loss in our society.
“…this play…is a requiem for a time in New Zealand that no
longer exists. Today, brown & white New Zealanders, with a few
exceptions, work in different jobs, live in separate suburbs and
send their kids to separate schools. That is not the New Zealand
of my childhood...” — Dave Armstrong
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9
WRITING
NIU SILA
is autobiographical so I guess if we left it till
we were seventy we would have written a
play spanning seven decades.
NIU SILA is written by two well-known New Zealand playwrights, Oscar
Kightley and Dave Armstrong. Oscar and Dave share their creative processes
when writing alone or in collaboration.
What got you into writing,
specifically the art of playwriting?
Have you collaborated on work
before?
Dave:
I’ve always loved plays. Initially I
was a musician but ended up writing bits of
shows I played the trumpet in.
Dave:
We worked together a lot on Skitz
– little sketches rather than a whole play.
Oscar: I enjoyed performing and
visualising a well-written scene in my head.
Being the writer of plays, you get to see it as
an audience member and relive the moment
of creation.
How did you two meet?
Dave:
I think we met when I was working
on TV3’s Skitz1. I went to Oscar’s play FRESH
OFF THE BOAT2 and was very impressed.
We had a meeting at a bad Turkish café in
Hataitai in Wellington. Once Oscar started
working on Skitz we saw more of each other,
we even played in a soccer team together a
couple to times until Oscar collapsed from
exhaustion.
10
Oscar: It was here (at Skitz) that Dave had
an idea for NIU SILA, based on an episode
in his life, of living next to a family from a
different culture and becoming friends.
I mean, when you think about it, everyone’s
got a mate like that. You may not necessarily
keep in contact, but the experience stays
with you.
What inspired you both to write
a play that spanned over three
decades?
Dave:
Most of NIU SILA was written
about seven years ago. Oscar and I were in
our thirties (well I was anyway, Os was late
twenties) when we wrote the story. Lots of it
Oscar: It was the obvious form, really.
Stylistically, the changes are easier to
facilitate in a play (and cheaper) than say, a
TV series or a film. As far as the thrust of the
story is concerned, it’s easier to be a mate
with someone when you’re five than when
you’re twenty-five.
Considering you both live in
different cities, how did you find
the process of collaboration?
Oscar: Well, trans-city collaboration isn’t
as hard as you think.
Dave:
I did some preparatory stuff and
wrote a lot of notes in novel form based
on my early life living next to a PI family in
Wellington. I flew up to Auckland with the
aid of a Creative New Zealand grant, and
Oscar and I spent the weekend ‘dramatizing’
what I had written then writing scenes of
our own…
Oscar: We work-shopped and wrote
pretty much day and night.
Dave:
We almost had a finished draft. We
edited each others work then basically had a
working draft. I did a bit of editing after that
then it was ready to have its first workshop.
Oscar: Having the internet and cheap
airfares definitely helped the collaborative
process.
What was it like to work on an
intimate project, such as a play?
Dave:
It was real fun. Working with Os
(and also the Nakeds3 I’ve later discovered)
is different from working with other
writers. ‘The work’ as in the play, sits on the
computer and you have a turn at writing it,
maybe talking to your co-writer, maybe not.
Then you go and eat or go for a walk and
happily let the other guy write a scene. Dare
I say it it’s more of a relaxed ‘Polynesian’
style of writing than two uptight palagis
arguing over every syllable.
Oscar: It was cool, I mean it, the best
thing in the world. What really excites me
about a play is the immediacy.
How did your actors contribute in
the writing process?
Oscar: They didn’t. We wrote the script.
In rehearsals, the actors brought their ideas
but ultimately…we wrote the dialogue and
pieced the scenes together to form a story.
Dave:
We had two two-day workshops
before rehearsals started and I spent the first
week sitting in rehearsals making changes.
Both actors contributed to the script in
different ways. Damon was really helpful in
making the last scene believable, he kept
saying, ‘my character’s too much of a wimp’
and we changed quite a lot of that last scene
based on improvisations he and Dave did.
Dave Fane is a brilliant comic so he added
lots of funny stuff that we gladly accepted.
11
(He also added stuff we didn’t, for various
reasons including taste!) I find actors love
it if the writers are flexible and will use their
ideas. However, I also think you have to
put your foot down occasionally and say
‘No Fane, Mrs Tafioka would NOT say
‘hot tamale’.
Would you credit their offerings?
Oscar: No. All plays get work-shopped.
The actors contribute but the initial
inspiration to form a play out of their ideas,
experiences and memories remain the
writers own. I mean, if we as writers credit
the actors, where does it end? Keeping it
simple is paramount.
Having said all that, NIU SILA would not
have been the play it was were it not for the
incredible contribution to the script process
made by the director Conrad Newport, who
is an excellent actor and writer himself, and
the two actors.
What inspires you to write?
Oscar: I guess the joy of telling a story
and the joy of hearing one told. It’s such an
unbelievable feeling. Stories are great.
Dave:
Real life.
Skitz was a TV3 comedy show that screened from
the early to mid 1990s.
1
Dave:
This is a tricky area. You turn up
with a complete script, as we did with NIU
SILA, then an actor improvises a line or
changes it slightly, then suddenly you think,
should I credit them as a writer? I don’t agree
with that. As well as creating a minefield
with credit, it involves financial problems.
It would be different if an actor turned up
with a whole scene they had written, but
that didn’t happen.
During work-shopping many scenes were
‘tweaked’ and one or two scenes were
extensively rewritten, and improvisations
were carried out in the all-important last
scene in the TAB which had heaps of
rewrites and some scenes hardly changed
at all from pen to performance.
12
FRESH OFF THE BOAT was also a collaborative effort,
written by Oscar Kightley and Simon Small in 1993.
2
The Naked Samoans, a prominent comedy group
who premiered with their now legendary show Naked
Samoans talk about their knives, as part of the 1998
Laugh! Festival. Original cast members were Dave
Fane, Oscar Kightley, Shimpal Lelisi and Mario Gaoa,
now celebrated as the co-creators of hit animated
TV show Bro’town.
3
See page 28 follow-up activity for
writing exercises inspired by NIU SILA.
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JUMPING FROM ONE TO ANOTHER -
Fasitua and David shared their top tips for playing multiple characters with
ATC Associate Director, Lynne Cardy:
TWO ACTORS PLAY A MULTITUDE OF CHARACTERS
1 Find the truth in each character. Make them authentic and real.
Performing NIU SILA is a terrific
challenge for two actors. A physical
and mental workout, the play demands
lightening changes of character and
a vigorous focus between the actors.
Keeping the ball in the air throughout
the show is also highly rewarding
and an enormous amount of fun.
3 Similarly, find a different voice for each character. This doesn’t necessarily
mean putting on a parade of accents as you still need to find the truth in each
character. Concentrate instead on where you place your voice.
Fasitua Amosa and David Van Horn
play around thirty different characters
between them. Characters range in
ethnicity, age and gender and come
from all sectors of society. There are no
costume changes and the actors are
onstage throughout the play. Changing
characters happens before the
audience’s eyes and is an integral part
of the theatrical magic of the piece.
Amongst other characters, Fasitua plays
IOANE, his parents MR & MRS TAFIOKA
and all four of the schoolgirls who
discuss IOANE’S ponytail in a scene
set in the classroom of the strict and
fearsome MISS HAGEN (played by Van
Horn). David also plays the central role
of the narrator, PETER, Peter’s mother
MRS BURTON and THE JUDGE
amongst others.
One of the great challenges of NIU
SILA for the actors is delineating
between each character and making
the character shifts clean and clear for
themselves and for the audience.
2 Find one gesture for each character that is extremely different to the others –
these are physical hooks to hang the character on to and are especially useful
in fast changes.
4 Look for characters clues in the text. David is taking his lead for how to play
MISS HAGEN from Ioane’s description of her as ‘like the witch from Hansel and
Gretel’.
5 It can be useful to base physical or vocal characteristics on those of people
you know. Fasitua is basing the voice and demeanour of nosy neighbour MISS
HEATHCOTE on Youtube sensation ‘$20 Karen’. David is basing the kind and soft
MRS BURTON on his own mum.
6 Find a different centre of gravity within your body for each character. David
- who mostly goes from playing narrator PETER to YOUNG PETER to MRS
BURTON - uses different centres for each character. For PETER the narrator he
is relaxed and centred within himself. For the younger version of the character
he drops his centre and is floppy and loose, while for MRS BURTON he is upright
and held.
7 Practise jumping from character to character. Fasitua says ‘speed is your friend’
in this play. The more you practise, the easier it becomes to jump between
characters.
8 Finally, but most importantly, find the fun in each character.
Check the activities on page 26 for techniques on playing multiple characters.
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Design Elements
SET & COSTUME
One of the key considerations director
Ben Crowder and set and costume
designer John Parker had in mind when
approaching the design for NIU SILA,
was the touring nature of the production.
Travelling to eight different locations from
Kaitaia to Christchurch and performing
in at least eleven different venues, the set
needs to be easily transportable, relatively
flexible and sturdy.
Ben and John were also interested in
finding a new way to present NIU SILA
– which has traditionally been staged as
a ‘two men, one chair’ production. They
wanted to open up the possibilities of
the script and to give the play what Ben
describes as a ‘kinetic’ feel.
In order to try out some of these design
ideas Ben and John (along with sound
designer Thomas Press) took part in a
two-day workshop with the actors (eight
weeks prior to rehearsals starting) where
the team explored the physical and
visual language for the play. During this
workshop the foundation for the design
became clear.
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PORTABLE ISLANDS
In a happy coincidence portable risers
had just been installed in the Auckland
Theatre Company rehearsal room and the
cast enjoyed playing scenes out on the
various levels these risers created. Ben
also enjoyed watching the actors use the
risers like a playground. This was the initial
inspiration for the raised ‘islands’ that
comprise the set.
John designed angled risers in the
shape of New Zealand’s three islands.
They are angled in order to present the
actors effectively to the audience (more
effectively than if the actors were simply
standing, lying or sitting on flat risers or
the stage floor). Because the angles are
created by lowering or raising the riser
legs, it is possible to widen or flatten the
islands to suit each venue. And, as Ben
noticed in the initial workshop, the angled
risers offer the cast a variety of interesting
and dynamic levels, surfaces and playing
spaces that serve for the various
locations in the play.
Unusually for a rehearsal process and
crucial to the success of this production,
the set was in rehearsals from day one.
This meant Ben and the cast could
experiment with the set as much as
possible.
PROPS
In rehearsal the team experimented with
using a variety of iconic props throughout
the play. This is an unusual step for a
production of NIU SILA where traditionally
all props have been mimed. John and
Ben were interested in bringing in iconic
Pacific elements via the props, for example
MRS TAFIOKA’s white hat, as well as
surprising (and hopefully delighting) the
audience.
COSTUME
Like the set, costume for NIU SILA
needs to be simple, flexible and durable
to sustain through the extensive touring
period.
Whilst still experimenting during the
rehearsal period, John’s instinct is to
go with a ‘quasi school uniform’ base
costume that can represent the characters
as they go through the childhood years
and into adulthood. Because the actors
stay in the same costume throughout the
play and use body, voice and gesture to
convey their rapid character changes, the
base costume needs to have a subtlety
and simplicity that won’t over-clutter the
actors. To help achieve this John is using
a colour palette of greys and light browns,
like ‘an uncoloured colouring-in book’ .
This subtle colour palette can be aided by
lighting and will also stand out against the
vibrant green of the Astro Turf islands.
Each island is covered in AstroTurf –
recalling butcher’s shop window 'grass'
or a field, or even a school playground.
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LIGHTING AND SOUND
As there are no set or costume changes.
The sound track and lighting become the
chief means by which this passage of time
is marked in the play.
SOUND
Sound designer Thomas Press uses music
to establish time of day (cicadas chirping
at night) as well as different time periods;
from the traditional Pacific Island hymns
sung at the beginning of the play (in the
1970s) through to the music played at
Peter’s house in the early 2000s.
paired-back design for halls and libraries.
As a result Jane’s simple, uncluttered
lighting design supports the storytelling
and helps to establish time and location,
as well enhancing mood. Lights placed
underneath the island risers evoke the
feeling of floating islands and transport
us from Samoa to Niu Sila and back again,
whilst lighting that picks out specific areas
of the stage helps us to follow the changes
in character and location.
The soundtrack also marks locations; the
races running at the TAB, the school bell in
Miss Hagen’s classroom and the musicians
warming up at the visit to the orchestra.
An essential and key element in this
production, the soundtrack also enhances
the mood and atmosphere and even
injects extra humour, for example in the
Bollywood inspired backing track during
the cricket game.
LIGHTING
Lighting designer Jane Hakaria had to
be conscious of designing two different
lighting rigs for this busy touring
production; a full version suitable for
professional theatre venues and a simpler
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PASIFIKA Theatre in NEW ZEALAND
From as early as the 1970s, pioneer Pacific
practitioners in theatre (such as Nathaniel
Lees, Jay Laga’aia, Eteuati Ete, Lani Tupu,
Ole Maiava, Justine Simei-Barton and Erolia
Ifopo) laid the foundation for Pacific stories
to be told in a medium that exposed Pacific
Island culture to theatre audiences all over
New Zealand.
The very first full length Pacific play called
LE MATAU was written by Stephen Sinclair
and Samson Samasoni and staged by
Wellington’s Taki Rua in 1981. Thirty two
years later in 2013 South Auckland’s Kila
Kokonut Krew remounted the first Pacific
Island full-length musical THE FACTORY by
Anapela Polataivao and Vela Manusaute,
which has since been developed into an
online web series. In the 1990s a new generation of Pasifika
theatre makers emerged on to the scene,
including NIU SILA co-writer Oscar Kightley and playwrights Victor Rodger (SONS, MY
NAME IS GARY COOPER), John Kneubuhl
(THINK OF A GARDEN), Makerita Urale
(FRANGIPANI PERFUME), Shimpal Lelisi and
David Fane (A FRIGATE BIRD SINGS, The
Naked Samoans) and Toa Fraser (NO.2,
BARE). In the South Island Simon Small of
Christchurch based Whakarite Theatre
wrote HORIZONS in 1991 under the pen
name Francis Serra. The HORIZONS cast
(Erolia Ifopo, Simon Small, Michael Hodgson,
Mishelle Muagututi’a and Oscar Kightley)
were inspired to start their own theatre
company and they co-founded Pacific
Underground (PU) which remains the
longest running Pacific performing arts
organisation in New Zealand. FRESH OFF
THE BOAT was Oscar’s first play co-written
by Simon Small and directed by Nathaniel
Lees to critical acclaim and it became PU’s
flagship production. FRESH OFF THE BOAT
22
was adapted into an award winning radio
play produced by Radio New Zealand and
has since been published. Like NIU SILA,
FRESH OFF THE BOAT is a recommended
text for Drama in New Zealand Schools.
Whilst diversifying into producing music
shows, school tours, CDs and events PU
also produced five other full length plays
including Erolia Ifopo and Oscar Kightley’s
hugely popular comedy ROMEO AND TUSI
and ANGELS by Tanya Muagututi’a and Joy
Vaele which was presented in 2009 as a
co-production with Christchurch’s Court
Theatre. Humour (disguising serious cultural, social
and immigration issues) remains PU’s
signature flavour, a legacy handed down
by Oscar Kightley and Erolia Ifopo that can
also be seen in Oscar’s work with the Naked
Samoans.
HOOD IN MUMULAND by Lauren Jackson
and SINARELLA by Goretti Chadwick and
Sean Coyle, which were presented in 2011
and 2012 in collaboration with the Pacific
Institute of Performing Arts (PIPA).
Today the number of artists/playwrights and
companies currently creating, presenting
and producing new work gives some
indication of the fruitful development
of Pasifika Theatre in the last decade.
Companies like; Kila Kokonut Krew,
Nina Nawalowalo (The Conch), Dianna
Fuemana (BIRDS, FALEMALAMA, MAPAKI),
The Laughing Samoans (Eteuati Ete and
Tofiga Fepuleai), Miria George (AND WHAT
REMAINS, Tawata Productions), Louise
Tu’u (LE TAUVAGA: THE COMPETITION),
Goretti Chadwick (Pani and Pani, SINARELLA,
GALULOLO-TSUNAMI), Fiona Collins (MY
PENINA, FRANGIPANI PERFUME) and
Naked Samoan Iaheto Ah Hi (TAUTAI,
PLANTATION).
There is also a growing list of solid
emerging Pasifika theatre-makers, such
as; performance poet Tusiata Avia
(BLOODCLOT), playwrights Suli Moa
(KINGDOM OF LOTE), David Mamea
(GOODBYE MY FELENI), Leilani Unasa
(HER MOTHER’S SON) and Arnette Arapai
(LOVE HANDLES, TONGAN MORRIS
DANCERS),producer Jenni Heka (GOODBYE
MY FELENI), Auckland companies The
Blackfriars, Polynesian Laboratory (P-Lab),
Tongan Creative Collectives, Phoenix NZ
Young Performers, and Christchurch based
Judah Arts Productions (THE COST) and No Limits (SPEAK YOUR TRUTH).
Today’s Pasifika theatre-makers tour
nationally and internationally sharing our
stories around the country and to the world.
In the 2000s, Pasifika stories expanded onto
the small screen with shows such as hit
animated comedy BROTOWN, and Rene
Naufahu’s THE MARKET, TV2s FRESH TV
(producer, Lisa Taouma), and the latest TV
crime series HARRY co-written and starring
Oscar Kightley. BROTOWN had its origins
as a Naked Samoans theatre show and in
feature films NO.2 by Toa Fraser began life as
a solo show about a Mt. Roskill Fijian family
starring Madeleine Sami (Super City, Sione’s
Wedding).
Auckland Theatre Company has
commissioned several new Pasifika plays,
from Albert Wendt’s THE SONGMAKER’S
CHAIR in 2004, through to Victor Rodger’s
MY NAME IS GARY COOPER in 2007 and
WHERE WE ONCE BELONGED in 2008,
adapted for the stage by NIU SILA cowriter Dave Armstrong from the awardwinning Samoan novel by Sia Figel. Most
recently Auckland Theatre Company
commissioned the family shows POLY
Circa 1994 by Evotia Tamua,. PU Fresh Off The Boat Cast.
Left to Right – Michael Hodgson, Erolia Ifopo, Tanya Muagututi’a, David Fane,
Mishelle Muagututi’a, Oscar Kightley
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PAsifika Plays - BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pacific Island theatre is going from strength to strength and a range of plays are
available. Some may be suitable for use in class exercises.
This selection of contemporary Pacific Island plays includes other works by NIU SILA
co-writer, the prolific Oscar Kightley, and you will find other examples via Playmarket.
PLAYMARKET
www.playmarket.org.nz is an excellent
resource for information about New
Zealand playwrights and plays. You can
also order scripts online and receive
information regarding obtaining
performance rights.
Fraser, Toa
Bare (1998)
No.2 (1999)
Paradise (2000)
Fuemana, Diana
Mapaki (2004) (published)
The Packer (2003)
Jingle Bells (2001)
Kightley, Oscar
Fresh off The Boat (1993) with
Simon Small
A Frigate Bird Sings (1996) with
Dave Fane
Dawn Raids (1997)
Naked Samoans Talk About Their Knives
(1997) with Dave Fane
Eulogy (1998)
Romeo and Tusi (1999)
Naked Samoans Go To Hollywood
Urale, Makerita
Frangipani Perfume (2004) (published)
Wendt, Albert
The Songmaker’s Chair, Huia Publishers,
Wellington, NZ (2004)
Rodger, Victor
Sons (1995)
Cunning Stunts (1997)
Ranterstantrum (2002)
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FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES
Playing multiple characters
Explore the one of the challenges facing the actors in NIU SILA –
changing from one character to another in rapid succession and in
one scene of dialogue.
Working in pairs, use the ‘pony-tail scene’ excerpt (opposite) and start
from Peter’s direct address to the audience, “For weeks the whole school
discussed Ioane’s ponytail…” Decide how as two actors you will divide the
five roles on the page between you.
Think about the physical qualities of each character you are playing.
Experiment with gestures, postures and habits.
Explore a distinctive voice for each character.
Visualise the character – do you know someone like this character?
The more fully you imagine the character you are playing, the more
clearly that character will come alive for the audience.
Be aware of where the ‘invisible’ characters are in space as you move
between characters you are playing and as you continue to address
characters that are still there in the scene, although you (or your partner)
are no longer playing them.
Present your scene and listen to the feedback from your audience.
26
NIU SILA - script excerpt
PETER
ol discussed
(To audience) For weeks the whole scho
though
on,
reas
the
Ioane’s pony-tail. No one knew
Veronica Crombie had a theory.
VERONICA
It’s simple, he wants to be a girl.
PETER (To audience) Stephanie Arlington agre
STEPHANIE
Islanders wear
You might be right, Veronica, because
dresses around the house.
PETER
(To audience) Andrea Tudor had the
ANDREA
they grow their hair
It’s really hot in the islands, right, so
really long, cos, it’s like an umbrella.
PETER
(To audience) But Lorraine Carroll’s
rapidly accepted.
LORRAINE
y poor and they can’t
Dummies. In the islands they’re reall
afford scissors.
PETER
Lorraine, you spaz, they live in New
LORRAINE
they spend all their
And they still can’t afford scissors cos
there.
money at the TAB and on booze. So
ed.
real answer.
theory was the most
Zealand now.
27
Writing about ` real life´
Dave Armstrong has said that he enjoys writing about real life, and the
characters in NIU SILA represent real life characters both he and co-writer
Oscar Kightley encountered as they were growing up.
Write about a moment in your life when something happened that changed
you. You might want to write about this occasion first as a story and then
write it as a scene, or series of scenes.
You might want to explore using a narrator, like Peter in NIU SILA, to move
your story along. The narrator character needn’t be you and it might be
interesting to make the narrator another character from your story, who
might have a different point of view from yourself.
28
29
Additional Reading /
Resources
ABOUT ATC
EDUCATION
CURRICULUM
LINKS
There are two published editions of NIU SILA.
ATC Education promotes and encourages
teaching and participation in theatre and
acts as a resource for secondary and
tertiary educators. It is a comprehensive
and innovative education programme
designed to nurture young theatre
practitioners and future audiences.
All drama students are expected to
study NZ Drama at every level, with an
emphasis on challenging social and
cultural discourses at Level 3.
1. NIU SILA by Dave Armstrong and Oscar Kightley, Nelson Cengage Learning
New Zealand, 2007. The abridged School’s version, rewritten for use in
secondary schools and reworked to be performed by large school casts.
Includes comprehensive teaching notes - for both drama and English classes.
2. The full play script, published in 2009 in the PLAYMARKET PLAY SERIES with
THE TUTOR, available from Playmarket.
Check these links to Pasifika theatre-makers:
Kila Kokonut Krew
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kila-Kokonut-Krew/92837192322
http://thefactorystory.co.nz/
Pacific Underground
https://www.facebook.com/pu.performingarts
Hekama Creative
http://www.hekamacreative.co.nz/
Tawata Productions
http://tawata.wordpress.com/
P.I.P.A
http://www.pipa.ac.nz/
Dianna Fuemana – Niu Way Theatre
http://www.playmarket.org.nz/playwrights/dianna-fuemana
The Laughing Samoans
http://www.laughingsamoans.com/
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ATC Education has direct contact with
secondary school students throughout
the greater Auckland region with a
focus on delivering an exciting and
popular programme that supports the
Arts education of Auckland students
and which focuses on curriculum
development, literacy and the Arts.
Auckland Theatre Company
acknowledges that the experiences
enjoyed by the youth of today are
reflected in the vibrancy of
theatre in the future.
ATC Education activities relate directly
to the PK, UC and CI strands of the NZ
Curriculum from levels 5 to 8. They also
have direct relevance to many of the
NCEA achievement standards at all three
levels.
All secondary school Drama students
(Years 9 to 13) should be experiencing
live theatre as a part of their course
work, Understanding the Arts in Context.
Curriculum levels 6, 7 and 8 (equivalent to
years 11, 12 and 13) require the inclusion
of New Zealand drama in their course of
work.
The NCEA external examinations at
each level (Level 1 – AS90011, Level
2 – AS91219, Level 3 – AS91518) require
students to write about live theatre they
have seen. Students who are able to
experience fully produced, professional
theatre are generally advantaged in
answering these questions.
31
ENGAGE
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Places to find out more about ATC and
engage with us:
www.atc.co.nz
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@akldtheatreco
AUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY
32
487 Dominion Road, Mt Eden PO Box 96002, Balmoral, Auckland 1342
Ph: 09 309 0390 Fax: 09 309 0391 Email: atc@atc.co.nz