New star set to ride whale on stage

By MELISSA CLARKE

Joylene Davis and Keisha Castle-Hughes have a lot in common.

Both were born in Australia of Maori descent and neither had any acting experience before she landed the key role in Whale Rider.

The role of Paikea made Keisha famous and took her all the way to an Oscar nomination. Now Joylene, 13, who goes to Auckland Girls Grammar, is to play the part in the musical stage version, which opens at the Civic Theatre on August 21.

She's not worried about being compared with Keisha. "I'm just going to be myself."

The stage show has six major songs and a score including whale sounds recorded by Antarctic researchers. It will look at both the whale and human sides of the story, more so than the movie, says director Toby Gough.

"The story reflects two worlds, and the whales are an allegory to the human story. This tale is culturally specific but with universal themes."

He found both aspects of Witi Ihimaera's book more suitable for stage. "Theatre is a storytelling medium, whereas film is visual," said Mr Gough. "And Witi Ihimaera is a great storyteller. Witi is definitely up there with the Bard, in fact, I'd say Witi is New Zealand's Bard."

Also performing will be Joylene's grandmother Esther Davis, cast as her aunt.

Ihimaera never expected his work would reach the scale it has.

"In New York I wrote a short novel for my daughters ... Now we have a possibility of being on Broadway. When you give your work to other people with vision, it takes it to places you never imagine.

"It's not a story that belongs to me. We've had a glorious performance from Keisha and now we have an opportunity for another girl."

Mr Gough says the biggest challenge is filling the stage with whales convincingly. How will they do it? "That's the big surprise."