Snapshots from the past inspire solo play

By NIGEL GEARING

The impetus for Kip Chapman's first solo performance came from a collection of 200 slides found in a Wellington junk shop last year.

Scenes of bashful blokes in front of their beloved gleaming cars and smartly frocked women exhibiting a plate were the same kind of images his co-writer Paul Rothwell also found when he picked up a collection of slides in a Levin junk shop.

"They were the exactly the same stories being told in two totally different locations," Chapman says. "These images of ordinary New Zealanders' lives in the 60s made me realise the tiniest things make us so proud. The amount of cakes and committees in this country is incredible."

Chapman and Rothwell both graduated from the Unitec Screen and Performing Arts degree in 2002. They joined forces with musician James Milne who has been a friend of Chapman's since their school days in Christchurch.

Their collaborative Arohaotearoa is the result, one third of the SiLo's Season of One. After culling and the addition of 10 new slides, 150 images remain. The 50-minute show has 21 scenes depicting slices of New Zealand life from the 1840s through to Franklin District's "Most Beautiful Family" show in 1993.

Taking his cue from one of the slides, Chapman has recreated a New Zealand living room in the SiLo Theatre, complete with floral carpet, radiogram and, of course, the slide projector. "I wanted to evoke a feeling of nostalgia for our culture," he says.

While researching some of the sketches he made some surprising discoveries. "When [pioneering aviator] Jean Batten arrived home the mayor of the day told her she had been a very naughty girl who deserved a good spanking for giving us all such an anxious time. After the Wahine hit the reef, passengers were given icecream and soft drinks by the crew. A group of RNZAF women sang Michael Row the Boat Ashore and when it came time to abandon ship the captain told everyone to move to starboard or the left.

"News reports of the time quoted one passenger as saying he was impressed with the level of calm and comradeship on board. This is all in the transcripts. Our director [Jennifer Ward Lealand] found some of our findings a little hard to believe, but it's all true."

Also on offer in Season of One are Bruised and A Star is Torn. Edwin Wright first performed Richard Huber's Bruised as a drama student in Dunedin in 2000. He adapted the three-person performance with seven characters into a solo show which he has since taken to Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland where it played at the SiLo in 2001.

"It's the story of a guy who gets too stoned and goes to an Irish pub where he descends into his own paranoia and to escape runs to the toilet," Wright says. "He accidentally enters the women's loo and is encircled by six other characters, including the woman he has just become infatuated with.

"It's a funny look at what takes place in the stoned mind."

SiLo director Shane Bosher's creation, A Star is Torn, has been performed more than 100 times at theatres around the country since 2000.

"It's the story of a terribly untalented egomaniac who gets passed over for a role in the New Plymouth production of Les Miserables, so seeks revenge in a solo show," says Bosher.

Performance

* What: Season of One

* Where and when: SiLo Theatre, March 31-April 10: Arohaotearoa, Mon to Sat, 7pm; Bruised, Mon to Sat, 8pm; A Star is Torn, Mon to Sat, 9pm