Paea Slade as Othello and Nikki Shields who plays Deborah-Rose in the Whangārei Girls' High School adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Paea Slade as Othello and Nikki Shields who plays Deborah-Rose in the Whangārei Girls' High School adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Whangārei Girls' High School drama students hope their graduation production will do more than just entertain - they hope it will start conversations.
Rewritten and directed by the school's head of drama, Bill Walker - it's Othello, but not as you know it.
Elizabethan English has been replaced with Kiwi vernacular, it is set in Vietnam in the 60s, and Othello is a Māori man serving in the war as a general.
"Me and another girl, we entered the Shakespeare Festival and we did a five-minute piece for Othello and the Year 13 English class was studying Othello at the time," said Paea Slade, who plays Othello.
"So we thought it would be a great idea, and then our teacher put a little twist on it and changed it into a New Zealand theme of the 1960s Vietnam War."
Walker was inspired by Brian Poananga - the first Māori commander of general army troops who was appointed in 1965 to command the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment.
He led the battalion during its second tour of Borneo and in 1967 he continued to command the battalion in Malaysia when the initial infantry companies were deployed to South Vietnam.
Walker's favourite uncle in his early childhood, Huani Hapata, died in Malaya while serving under Poananga.
That connection, and the fact Walker was brought up around the corner from Trentham Army Camp, inspired him to rewrite the entire play, complete with iambic pentameter (a line of verse with five metrical feet, each consisting of one short (or unstressed) syllable followed by one long (or stressed) syllable, for example: "Two households, both alike in dignity").
Chloe Smith in character as a sergeant in Whangārei Girls' High School's play Othello, a Māori in Vietnam. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Lexi Laybourn, who plays Deborah-Rose (Desdemona), said the plot is very similar to the original but with some key differences.
"In our version Othello is called Oliver and he goes to Vietnam to serve in the war as general and he brings his wife along. Throughout the play one of the characters, Iago - a conniving character - lies and uses other characters to his advantage to make one character look bad," she said.
Maggie Mcleod, who plays Cassio, said the play tackles issues like violence, misogyny and racism.
"While those are uncomfortable topics, it's definitely something that is still rife in our society. There are definitely uncomfortable times but it is important to acknowledge that it is still completely relevant to where we are in New Zealand."
The girls also acknowledged the females in this Othello have a lot more power and strength.
"That was important with us being an all-girls school. We wanted to try and get that woman voice to show women have a say and they can be strong too in these situations," said Slade.
With the production being delayed due to Covid-19, the girls were looking forward to the debut last night
.
"We really want to make sure we get these messages across to our audience and that it does have an impact on them and when they go home after the show, they have a conversation about how they felt. Or just have an emotional response from the play," said Laybourn.
