Te Awa I Tahuti at Tapac Theatre

By PAUL SIMEI-BARTON

The Koanga Maori Theatre production of Rena Owen's play is a testament to the power of storytelling. The ancient impulse to find meaning by narrating experience is dramatised in the encounter between a prison inmate and her counsellor.

The inmate, Toni, is a young Maori woman serving time in an English prison. Mrs Bottomley, the down-to-earth counsellor, has a no-nonsense approach to therapy that is disarmingly effective.

Faced with hostility and mockery, her methods consist of nothing more than a dogged insistence that Toni must tell the story of her life.

Giving voice to the experience of an abusive upbringing requires a huge effort. But the exertion is rewarded when Toni discovers that by telling stories she is able to explain and exorcise the circumstances that led to her incarceration.

Te Awa I Tahuti touches on many of the themes explored in Once Were Warriors - although it was written and performed in England well before Alan Duff's novel was published.

The play is not presented as biography, but it does offer a tantalising insight into the emotional experiences Owen might have drawn on for her performance as the long-suffering Beth.

In keeping with the commitment to basic storytelling, first-time director Kim Cullen offers a sparse, well-crafted production. The prison setting is chillingly evoked by the clanging of metallic doors.

In the leading role of Toni, Natasha Keating conjures up her environment with lucid descriptions of the dents in her cell door and the 2021 bricks that make up the walls.

Her performance is utterly convincing in moments of emotional intensity, and her body language is particularly effective in revealing the emotional turmoil her words are trying to conceal.

Sian Jaquet as the counsellor delivers a powerful, low-key performance which underlies the conviction that every story requires the presence of someone who is prepared to listen.