Review: Nga Manurere at TAPAC, Western Springs

Nicola Kawana, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Lana Garland and Renae Maihi play four non-stereotypical solo Maori mums finding their way. Photo / Ben Wood

The simple, heart-wrenching, low-lit climax of Nga Manurere is a reminder there can be more power in a quiet retelling than in a histrionic screaming match.

As such, it bucks family drama trends - a welcome relief. In just under 90 minutes, rather than bashing the audience over the head with a moral, young playwright Renae Maihi uses subtlety with a well-placed, mature confidence that deserves accolades.

Maihi also acts the role of Rina, one of four friends who take turns at leading, teasing and supporting one another like nga manurere - a flock of birds in flight.

The four are all Maori, all solo mums of one son each - but leave your stereotypes at the door: the play doesn't focus on social welfare, poverty or (not entirely anyway) on absent fathers.

Instead, Maihi allows her characters to be individuals, and acknowledges different families' call for different approaches. What is right for one mother isn't necessarily right for another - whether it is whangai (family adoption), staying at home, working as a lawyer, truth or lies.

The stylised staging is excellent, and the a cappella waiata and Ladi 6's Walk Right Up work as graceful scene frames.

The cast - including Keisha Castle-Hughes as the vulnerable Wai who got pregnant when she was "16, dumb and in love" - works together wonderfully under the sensitive direction of Katie Wolfe. William Davis as rural, elderly Uncle Rongo shifts gears between great comic relief and big-hearted poignancy with ease.

Danielle Cormack's costumes, mostly in traditional Maori black with touches of red, are well thought out.

Amusingly, the shoes are especially well-considered: Wai wears orthopaedic-fetish high heels; Rongo wears cowboy-like gumboots.

Moving and warm, Nga Manurere is worth far more than the $20 ticket price and, given we found out about it almost by chance, a very pleasant surprise. More of Maihi's mahi please.

THEATRE
What: Nga Manurere.
Where and when: TAPAC, Western Springs, to Saturday; then Waipapa Marae, University of Auckland.