'Today the river in my head whispered a memory.'
Young greenstone carver Potiki knows there is a dark secret surrounding his childhood. Twenty years ago, on the South Island West Coast, two Maori carvers, Tam and Manaaki went searching for a sacred greenstone boulder. They took Potiki, Manaaki's little son with them. Something terrible happened that day that wreaked havoc on all involved.
'The worst memory you can have is a memory of love.'
Last night I went to see Potiki’s Memory of Stone, by Briar Grace Smith. It’s a powerful story. The soundscape, composed by Gillian Whitehead and featuring Richard Nunns playing Taonga Puoro, is haunting and evocative. And the set design is simple, but beautifully effective. And the actors… are brilliant. Yeah, you should go. I laughed until my belly ached, and then shook with silent tears.
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John Katipa, the actor who played Potiki, also stared in Blue Orange. He was absolutely brilliant – his character was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, which is one of the many psychiatric labels I’ve been lumped with over the years.
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If you’ve ever acted, you’ll know what it’s like to crash after a show. I used to crash real bad. I’ve been known to try to slit my wrists after the last performance. Well, I still seem to crash like that even when I’m not acting in the play. Went for a walk round the waterfront last night. I couldn’t seem to pull the pieces of myself together. I couldn’t break free from the lives in the play… and then I got wrapped up in my own regrets and mistakes and foolish deals and might-have-beens.
Sometimes, I think too much.
Posted by Fionnaigh at August 26, 2003 09:46 AM