Amateur actors hit all the right buttons

Before the Birds
Massey University Hokowhitu Campus, Drama Workshop, runs September 17 to 26.
Written by Angie Farrow, directed by Amanda McRaven.
Reviewed by MICHELLE DUFF.

I can't remember the last time live theatre brought a tear to my eye.

But it happened last night, in a university drama lab watching a bunch of actors who were largely amateurs.

Before the Birds was brought to the stage by Dr Angie Farrow, Massey University's doyenne of drama, and Fulbright scholar Amanda McRaven.

Farrow wrote the play 10 years ago, calling it Paradise. Although the play won awards, it never saw production and was shelved for a decade.

History is what this play is all about. There are four or five storylines entwining to tell a tale both about the past and the present of the Manawatu region, and what it means to its people.

Aiden, the main character, is played by local thespian Kane Parsons. The high-flying businessman has been brought back to his hometown of Palmerston North by friend Ivan (Reihana Haronga) who needs his help on a project to promote the city.

Arriving back in the Manawatu, Aiden is greeted by ghosts of a past he's tried to forget. Meanwhile, city archivist Miriama is trying to reconnect with her turangawaewae, while a group of disenfranchised residents find themselves joining together to build a fountain.

The actors are all local, with only a couple of professionals and a bunch who have never acted before. But the script is lively and the delivery energetic. You get a real sense that the actors feel a connection with what they are saying.

Some moments are uproariously funny, like when a Palmerston North Girls' High School student tries to crack on to one of the fountain builders "You're like, the Brad Pitt of Palmerston North" and when Ivan's promotion launch goes awry, as illustrated by a trio of merciless mimes.

This play has Palmerston North written all over it, and that's what makes it so fantastic.

Never was this more obvious than at the end, when the actors left the stage and didn't realise that, when the audience keep applauding, it meant they were supposed to come back out.

Yes, we loved you guys. Your acting wasn't perfect, and you didn't hit every note.

But neither do people, and neither does this place.

But it's still home.

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