Where autobiographical fact and fiction meet

By NIGEL GEARING

Mike Chunn's first play, The Orderly Business of Life, draws on the former Split Enz bass player's life as a child in the 1950s through to that of a young muso catapulted into a life most could only dream of in the 1970s - but not with the result many would expect.

"The sequence of events is very similar to my own, but there's no reference to anything in reality," he says. "The whole path of the sole character, Pete, is an escape. The young dreamer believes that what he needs is what he desires."

Fact and fiction come face to face near the end of the play when Pete reaches emotional meltdown in a New York hotel room.

"There's this huge expectation among everyone that the neon lights of Broadway really are bright, that life on that path is perfect. While I wasn't alone during that time, the fact I couldn't communicate to anyone sums up the decade I was growing up in. Discipline was instilled in 50s kids. I didn't know how to express my feelings because I was afraid to."

Expect to hear music that defined the times explored, and even some songs Pete's band has put together - but as for a Split Enz tribute, that's not Chunn's intention.

The 51-year-old father of five was the Enz bassist from 1972 to 1977. During that time he toured Australia, Britain and the United States before becoming the Citizen Band's bass player from 1977 to 1980. He then quit life on the road to scout talent for Sony Music and Mushroom Records. In 1992 he joined the Australasian Performing Rights Association, a position he still holds, representing the interests of music writers.

Although The Orderly Business of Life is his first play, Chunn is already a recognised - and published - writer. His biography of Split Enz, Stranger Than Fiction, came out in 1992, and he followed that up with another autobiographical collection in 1998, Seven Voices: Tales of Madness and Mirth. That book was serialised on National Radio, and last year Chunn was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to the music industry.

Chunn's inspiration to become a playwright came when he saw Master Class, a play about opera star Maria Callas. "There was a piano on stage and music throughout. I loved it."

He chucked his first attempt in the bin. Fellow band member of the time, actor Kevin Smith, who later died after a movie set accident in China, persuaded Chunn to send his debut effort to the Auckland Theatre Company and Playmarket. After initial encouragement to keep going by ATC director Oliver Driver, and seeing actor-director Stuart Devenie read Tom Scott's Daylight Atheist, a re-inspired Chunn decided to have another crack.

This time with success. The Orderly Business of Life was one of four plays selected for inclusion in the ATC's 2nd Unit Final Draft season, receiving a free playreading. On the strength of that script it was chosen for workshopping with Devenie, script consultant Kirsten Eidsmoe and actor Jeff Gane - and began a process he has loved every step of the way.

For a week the playwright, director and actor did nothing but sit around a table and talk. The result was a request for Chunn to cut a third off his 18,000-word script.

"They were right. I did it in a couple of hours. You are dealing with such big minds and acting is a craft. I love watching Jeff evolve into Pete. I get off on this process. In the music industry you don't hand over a demo tape and discuss it for a week. You can record a song in a short time. Then it enters people's lives by being heard over the radio.

"In the theatre there is so much discussion between handing over the script and opening night. I like collaborating. That's why I was a bass guitarist. If I didn't, I would have been a lead guitarist."

When Business is presented to the public for the first time on Tuesday night, it will be with no props, costumes, lighting or special effects. On each seat will be an audience feedback form.

So how will the man who used to be part of an act that dazzled crowds with every possible stage-enhancing effect fare sitting among an audience of potential critics in a bare-bones test setting?

"I'll be wetting my pants. But that will good for me.

"I am so spoilt to have been given this opportunity."

Performance

* Who: Playwright Mike Chunn

* What: The Orderly Business of Life

* Where: SiLo Theatre

* When: October 21 to November 2, 8pm