Tag Archives: Jonathan Riley

April Fono

30/04/2013Boat Business, TheatreGeraldine Warren, JD Williams, Jonathan Riley, Leilani UnasaThe Administrative Banana

Fakaalofa lahi atu
Malo e lelei
Kia orana
Tena koutou
Ni sa bula
Talofa lava
Taloha ni

Welcome to a very late after-match report from Banana Boat’s April fono in Grey Lynn.

Present were Geraldine Warren, Jonathan Riley, JD Williams and Leilani Unasa.

Apologies were received from Grant Bayley and an in-production Jenni Heka and David Mamea.

BANANA BOAT BUSINESS

There was no business worth mentioning this month.

COMING UP

Eric Smith & Chetan Patel’s second mounting of I Don’t Do Coconut played at TAPAC, Western Springs.

David Mamea’s premiere season of Goodbye My Feleni played at Basement Theatre, Auckland City.

SCRIPT READINGS

Being a super-short meeting, there were no script readings this month.

NEXT FONO

– will be on Thursday 23 May 2013 at the Toi Ora Live Art Studio, 6 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn.

October Fono

25/10/2012Boat Business, TheatreArnette Arapai, Aroha Awarau, Bobby Romia, Chris Molloy, Church Street, D F Mamea, Frozen Smile, Grant Bayley, Jonathan Riley, Joy Vaele, Leilani Salesa, Leilani Unasa, LuncheonThe Administrative Banana

Ni sa bula
Talofa lava
Taloha ni
Fakaalofa lahi atu
Malo e lelei
Kia orana
Tena koutou

Welcome to the after-match report from Banana Boat’s October fono in Grey Lynn.

Present were Arnette Arapai, Aroha Awarau, Bobby Romia, Chris Molloy, Grant Bayley, Jonathan Riley, Joy Vaele, Leilani Salesa, Leilani Unasa, and David Mamea.

Apologies were received from a Nippon-travelling Louise Tu’u, an otherwise-engaged Geraldine Warren, and a dreadfully sick Jenni Heka.

BANANA BOAT BUSINESS

David was going to spring an annual general meeting on this fono… until he saw that the trust deed does not require an AGM. Still, we like to be transparent: Banana Boat’s maiden financial accounts are with the Charities Commission.

COMING UP

Ahi Karunaharan‘s one-man play, The Mourning After, is still playing at the Circa in Wellington.

SCRIPT READINGS

Bobby read his intriguing and absorbing monologue, Frozen Smile, which he’s planning to expand into a full-length play. We’re hooked.

Leilani‘s play-in-progress, Church Street, was read by the group, and she openly discussed her development process to date; its first appearance was at our August fono. We’re enchanted.

Aroha shared the first draft of his play, Luncheon, fulfilling the promise of his April fono teaser-reading. We’re riveted.

We here at Banana Boat count ourselves damnably honoured to be at the bleeding edge of Pasifika and Maori writing with our monthly fono. Luck has nothing to do with it.

NEXT FONO

– will be on Thursday 22 November at the Toi Ora Live Art Studio, 6 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn. This will be the last fono for 2012.

There is a high probability of a Festive Season Fa’afiafiaga sometime early in December – details will follow sometime in November.

August Fono

23/08/2012Boat Business, TheatreA Heart's Path, Asian Ink, Bonnie, Church St, Claire Noble, D F Mamea, Grant Bayley, Jenni Heka, Jonathan Riley, Kahurangi Carter, Leilani Unasa, Leroy Lakamu, Pollywood, Rick, Rob Mokaraka, Shona Tarai, Suli Moa, Tanya Muagututia, Teena Enoka, The Taro KingThe Administrative Banana

Kia orana
Tena koutou
Ni sa bula
Talofa lava
Taloha ni
Fakaalofa lahi atu
Malo e lelei

Welcome to the after-match report from Banana Boat’s August fono in Grey Lynn.

Present were Grant Bayley, Bonnie, Kahurangi Carter, Teena Enoka, Rob Mokaraka, Leroy Lakamu, Tanya Muagututia, Claire Noble, Rick, Jonathan Riley, Shona Tarai, Leilani Unasa, David Mamea, and Jenni Heka.

Apologies were received from James Nokise, Louise Tu’u, Kahurangi Carter, Arnette Arapai, Aroha Awarau, Jason Greenwood, and Geraldine Warren.

BANANA BOAT BUSINESS

Jenni spread the word on the Asian Ink initiative.

COMING UP

Jonathan’s got fingers in all sorts of pies. I quickly lost track of what he’s going up so I suggest you just Facebook him.

The Pollywood 2012 submission deadline is Friday 31 August. Get shootin’, rockin’ and choppin’.

Kila Kokonut Krew’s tenth anniversary remounting of The Taro King is in its last days – matter of fact, it closes on Friday 24 August 2012.

Suli Moa‘s A Heart’s Path is going up in October.

SCRIPT READINGS

Leilani’s Church St was read by Rob, Jenni, Jonathan and Tanya, with script directions read by Kahurangi. Everyone wanted more; David whined that it was unfinished but was a sole voice of whiney-bitchiness. The group was heartened by the Q&A that followed and look forward to its next stage of development.

NEXT FONO

– will be on Thursday 27 September at the Toi Ora Live Art Studio, 6 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn.

May Fono

13/06/2012Boat BusinessArnette Arapai, D F Mamea, Enter the Banana, Grant Bayley, Jonathan Riley, Kahurangi Carter, Ole Maiava, Rob Mokaraka, Suli MoaThe Administrative Banana

Talofa lava
Fakaalofa lahi atu
Malo e lelei
Kia orana
Tena koutou
Ni sa bula

Taloha ni

Welcome to a belated after-match report from Banana Boat’s May fono in Grey Lynn.

Present were GRANT BAYLEY, KAHURANGI CARTER, OLE MAIAVA, JONATHAN RILEY, ARNETTE ARAPAI and DAVID MAMEA.

Apologies were received from a Big Apple-devouring JENNI HEKA, a Wellington-swingin’ AROHA AWARAU, an ever-gigging JAMES NOKISE, a child-wrangling LEILANI UNASA, and a wish-I-was-there-but-I-am-writing GERALDINE WARREN.

My apologies if you were present but are not listed or gave apologies but are not listed – I have lost my notes, and my memory was never… something. Email me and I shall make the corrections.

16Jun12: My profuse apologies to the one, the only Ole for having forgotten his presence – an unexplainable mistake given how his reading of Jonathan‘s script had everyone in stitches.

BANANA BOAT BUSINESS

Enter the Banana‘s inaugural writers are Suli Moa and Rob Mokaraka. Go hard, boys! We look forward to your next reading at a future Banana Boat fono!

NEWS TO USE

Playmarket’s Brown Ink 2012 development programme is now open for applications – the deadline is Friday 1 June 2012.

COMING UP

GreyView Productions’ – that’s members Eric Smith & Chetan Patel – 3 Up season opens on 14 June and runs for a mere three nights until 16 June. 3 Up is three short plays by Chetan, David Mamea and Eric, all at the Herald Theatre, all that quality for a mere $25/$15/$15. Tickets can be bought online here. Details about the evening are rampant on Facebook, GreyView, and Chocolate Stigmata.

SCRIPT READING

Jonathan shared his latest script with those assembled, the prolific so-and-so. It was, as always with Mr Riley’s scribblings, a hoot to read and we look forward to it’s next stage of development… after his long-awaited Makigi has been staged.

18Jun12: My further apologies for the typos and ambiguous phrases that made this post so confusing, second-rate and potentially upsetting to those present. They have been fixed.

NEXT FONO

– will be on THURSDAY 28 JUNE, at Toi Ora Live Art Trust, 6 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn.

April 2010 Fono

10/05/2010Boat Business, TheatreChetan Patel, Chris Molloy, D F Mamea, Eric Smith, Jason Greenwood, Jay Williams, Johnny Sagala, Jonathan Riley, Leilani Unasa, Michael Rewiri-Thorsen, Rashmi Pilapitiya, Shona Tarai, Venus StephensThe Administrative Banana

Fakaalofa lahi atu
Malo e lelei
Kia orana
Tena koutou
Ni sa bula
Taloha ni
Talofa lava

Welcome to the after-match report.

Present

— were JASON GREENWOOD, CHRIS MOLLOY, CHETAN PATEL, RASHMI PILAPITIYA, MICHAEL REWIRI-THORSEN, JONATHAN RILEY, JOHNNY SAGALA, ERIC SMITH, VENUS STEPHENS, SHONA TARAI, LEILANI UNASA, JAY WILLIAMS and DAVID MAMEA.

Apologies

– were received from REVEREND MUA PUA, JAMES NOKISE, STAN WOLFGRAMM and JENNI HEKA.

News to Use

The Producers Workshop was judged a success, equipping attendees with the knowledge to take their scripts to stage. Feedback included “a good, fantastic workshop”, “maybe it could be a bit more practical”, and “[that there was] so much information it could easily have been three days”. A workshop-crashing JONATHAN was grateful for the good feed put on my the multi-talented Matene Karena. Something to be made available to Banana Boat’s target communities in 2011.

Coming Up

The Jukebox 2010 Season call-out has come and gone.

Anyone who takes their writing seriously are urged to attend the Wellington Matariki Hui which will take place sometime in June – details to follow, probably from JENNI.

To help defray travel costs for the abovementioned Hui, there will be some Fundraising in the throes of organisation by MICHAEL. Beware your Inboxes. Book some wallet- and purse-space.

Banana Boat is taking its Creative Clinics to Manukau on 1-2 July 2010. Watch your email Inboxes and ready your Forward-ing fingers.

Script Reading

— was replaced by dissection and discussion of a couple of two-minute scenes. Questions and answers flowed, including: How much information can you fit into dialogue without boring your audience to tears? More than you think. How much character can you show through action and with no dialogue? You’d be surprised.

DAVID then facilitated a session of spitballing ideas and methods of execution with the opening words, “I’ve got this idea for a project…” Possibly not as satisfying as his January foray because the project under discussion was at a very early conceptual stage. He should stop doing this as there are all sorts of intellectual property issues waiting to ambush him down the track. Unless of course he made the project up on the night and the whole thing was just, like, an exercise.

Next Meeting

— is THURSDAY 27 MAY 2010 at the usual time and place.

24 September 2009 Fono

07/10/2009Boat Business, TheatreChetan Patel, D F Mamea, Eric Smith, In a Box, Jenni Heka, Jonathan Riley, Le Va, Michelle Johansson, Ole Maiava, Vasiti PaliviThe Administrative Banana

Welcome to the after-match report, and my apologies for the delay.

The September fono marked the beginning of Banana Boat’s second year – long may Banana Boat sail into uncharted waters in search of tales short and tall, and all sorts of other adjectives.

Present were MICHELLE JOHANSSON, OLE MAIAVA, VASITI PALIVI, CHETAN PATEL, JONATHAN P RILEY, ERIC SMITH, JENNI HEKA and DAVID MAMEA.

Apologies were received from the island-hopping JAMES NOKISE and an either homework-marking- or just home-bound MATENE KARENA.

2009 BANANA BOAT JUKEBOX

Due to insufficient submissions, the 2009 Jukebox season was laid to rest. Maybe next year. ‘Nuff said.

2010 BANANA BOAT SEASON

JENNI HEKA exhorted those with projects on Banana Boat’s 2010 slate to apply for some development funding. The funders have the money. You have the story. Come together to make SOMETHING HAPPEN.

Jenni has been flat out writing funding proposals, which is preventing her from doing any creative writing of her own, so BACK OFF.

MEMBERS’ NEWS

OLE MAIAVA was roundly congratulated for being one of Radio New Zealand’s 2009 Short Drama Competition winners with “Skin Deep” – a theatrical version of which was read at the April 2009 meeting.

SCRIPT READINGS —

— were provided by ERIC SMITH and MICHELLE JOHANSSON.

Eric’s first act of “Le Va”, a scene of which had been read at the December 2008 meeting, was read and commented on by the group. We look forward to a complete script for its next group reading.

Michelle’s short piece, “In a Box”, was the second draft of a piece that had been read by the group in the previous month’s meeting. Discussion followed over what Michelle had added or taken away since the first draft’s reading, and what worked or didn’t work.

NEXT MEETING —

— is on THURSDAY 22 OCTOBER at the Toi Ora Live Art Trust, 6 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn.

SCRIPTS TO BE READ —

— at the October meeting are welcome on a first-in, first-served and time-permitting basis. To avoid disappointment, getting in touch with David or Jenni at least a week beforehand will increase the chances of your script being read.

25 June 2009 Meeting

08/07/2009Boat BusinessAlbert Belz, Amy Rountree, Arnette Arapai, Chetan Patel, D F Mamea, Devo, Eric Smith, Jenni Heka, Jonathan Riley, Matene Karena, Mua Pua, Ole Maiava, Raising the Titanics, Stan Wolfgramm, Wanjiku KiarieThe Administrative Banana

Welcome to the after-match report. Thank you for your patience.

Present were Arnette Arapai, Devo, Albert Belz, Matene Karena, Ole Maiava, Chetan Patel, Jonathan Riley, Amy Rountree, Eric Smith, Reverend Mua Strickson-Pua, Stan Wolfgramm, Jenni Heka and David Mamea.

Apologies were received from the still-globe-trotting Stacey Leilua, the enigmatic Nina Tapu, David Grierson, and the double-booked Michelle Johansson.

Stuff

Jenni kicked things off with reminders like:
– Matariki and all the theatre and writing opportunities available to the group during this auspicious time;
– Jukebox 2009 deadline is 31 July; and
– Banana Boat 2010 submissions have been received and are still being considered – expect an announcement by the next meeting.

Arnette followed up with an impassioned exhortation to the younger writers to do the Postgraduate Masters in Creative Writing at Victoria University in Wellington. What. Are. You. Waiting. For?

Guest Speakers

Wanjiku Kiarie shared her theatre experiences – both on- and behind-stage – from her early days in Kenya through to her time in New Zealand. She promoted the visit of Kenyan playwright Wakanyote Njuguna later in the year. Schedules permitting, Mr Njuguna could give a talk at the October Banana Boat meeting, or even hold a workshop on theatre with a unique perspective (at least for New Zealand). Watch this space.

Sydney resident Devo, in town for Matariki (among other things, I’m sure), is a member of Sydney writing group, Black Men Writing. He shared with the group the possibilities of staging shows: a space for an audience and actors is limited only by our imagination.

Reading

Albert shared the first act of his work in progress Raising the Titanics. The group was treated to a first draft chocker with solid characterisation and narrative through dialogue, behaviour and careful plotting.

Quote of the month goes to Mr Belz for his response to the question of how long it took him to write 35 pages of script: after thinking about it, he said, Since Monday.

Next Meeting —

— will be on Thursday, 23 July at the Toi Ora Live Art Trust, 6 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn.

Scripts to be Read —

— at the July meeting are welcome on a first-in, first-served and time-permitting basis. Only complete act/s for full-length plays, or complete one-act or short plays are read by the group. First-time attendees’ scripts will not be read. Contact David for further information.

ARCHIVE – 23 April 2009 meeting

04/05/2009Boat Business, TheatreAitu, Albert Belz, Arnette Arapai, Chetan Patel, D F Mamea, Eric Smith, Fasitua Amosa, Jenni Heka, Jonathan Riley, Matene Karena, Michelle Johansson, Ole Maiava, Skin Deep, Stacey Leilua, Stan Wolfgramm, Victoria SchmidtThe Administrative Banana

Autumn greetings and images of waving palm trees to you.

Welcome to a late after-match report for the 23 April Banana Boat meeting.

Present were Matene, Ole Maiava, Chetan Patel, Stacey Leilua, Jonathan P Riley, Fasitua Amosa, Jenni Heka, Michelle Johansson, Eric Smith, Albert Belz, Stan Wolfgramm, Arnette Arapai, Victoria Schmidt and David Mamea.

Apologies were received from Lee Aholima and Nina Tapu.

Guest speaker playwright Albert Belz gave an inspiring talk to the group about his career to date, including his tour of duty with “Shortland Street”, his process of writing and rewriting, and challenging being pigeonholed as ‘a Maori playwright’.

Housekeeping included:
– a BIG REMINDER that the 2009 Pasifika Playwright Development Forum takes place on Saturday, 2 May;
– the weekend 2-3 May is the deadline for the 2010 Banana Boat season;
– a gentle reminder that Massive will have Lennie James in the country, a resource that Banana Boat would be silly to ignore;
– and a gentle reminder that the Jukebox deadline is a mere three months away.

Readings were generously provided by Ole Maiava and Eric Smith.

Ole’s third draft of his Jukebox submission, “Skin Deep”, showed the group how much a script can change through drafts.

Eric’s own Jukebox submission, “Aitu”, showed how some stories and inspiration can come from the strangest of places.

We had a further two scripts available for reading, by Chetan Patel and Phoenix Seve, but we had run out of time; they now have first dibs for the next meeting.

The next meeting will be on Thursday 28 May at the Toi Ora Live Art Studio, 6 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn. Please note the new street number – Toi Ora has shifted up the road, directly (and by destiny’s hand) behind McDonalds Family Restaurant on Great North Road.

Scripts to be read at the May meeting are welcome on a first-in, first-served and time-permitting basis. If you want them printed beforehand, they must by forwarded to David by end of day Thursday 21 May. Scripts emailed after this date will need to be printed and copied at the author’s expense. Only complete act for a full-length play, or complete one-act or short plays are read by the group.

ARCHIVE – 26 February 2009 meeting

08/03/2009Boat Business, TheatreBen, Chetan Patel, D F Mamea, Eric Smith, Jay Williams, Jenni Heka, Jonathan Riley, Lee Aholima, Misa Tupou, Stacey Leilua, Stan WolfgrammThe Administrative Banana

Welcome to the 26 February after-match report.

Present at the meeting were: Lee Aholima, Ben, Jenni Heka, Stacey Leilua, David Mamea, Chetan Patel, Jonathan Riley, Phoenix Seve, Eric Smith, Misa Tupou, Stan Wolfgramm.

Apologies were received from Ali Foa’i, Michelle Johansen, Ezekiel Kennedy and Zora.

Housekeeping The group can look forward to the following guest speakers this year, schedules permitting and stars aligning: Hone Kouka, Oscar Kightley, Albert Belz, and others.

2009-2010 Banana Boat Seasons

David Mamea did an awful job of pitching the following proposals to the group (just as well he has this after-match report to make sense with).

As noted in the January 2009 meeting, Jenni, David and Michelle Johannson drew up a two-year plan for the Banana Boat:
– the 2009 Banana Boat Jukebox Season where group members will write, develop and produce 10-minute plays to premiere in a revue-style show to premiere in November as part of the Manukau Festival;
– and the 2010 Banana Boat Season where the group can showcase full-length plays, but with development starting now.

The 2009 Banana Boat Jukebox Season:
– a revue of short plays by Banana Boat writers premiering in November 2009;
– each play must be ten minutes long; have a maximum of four actors; and contain 1 x banana, 1 x boat, and 1 x “Day-o”;
– each revue night will show between four and five short plays;
– the season will be over three or four nights, in November 2009;
– any writer who has attended at least one Banana Boat meeting can enter;
– all writers who enter will be required to pull together a production crew (producer, director, actors) who will turn their script into a play.

The timeline is as follows (more specific dates will be advised soon):
– February-September – entries open
– September – deadline for all scripts
– October – deadline for crews to be in place
– November – Banana Boat Jukebox season!

The 2010 Banana Boat Season
– a possible double-bill of full-length plays to premiere in late 2010;
– this will be the platform from which any/all members can premiere their long-form plays;
– development starts now.

The 2010 season is open to all Banana Boat members. An eighteen-month development period is envisaged where plays will go from first draft, through to workshops, dramaturgy, and readings, until production and premieres in late 2010.

The timeline is as follows (proper dates will be advised soon):
– February-May 2009 – entries open
– June 2009 – candidates for official development announced
– July 2009-July 2010 – workshops and development
– November 2010 – Banana Boat season!

A document detailing both seasons will be emailed out soon.

The script reading for February was kindly provided by Eric Smith. Two snap-shots of male-bonding and -dynamics, the group forced Eric to dig deep with his writing and characterisations. Props to Eric for sharing, and we look forward to the next draft!

The whip-’round – a new feature of Banana Boat meetings – was introduced with no consultation by David. It’s essentially a ‘whatchabinupto?’ for all in attendance. And it’s great to see that most everyone is writing.

The next meeting will be on Thursday 26 March at the Toi Ora Live Art Studio, 19 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn.

Scripts to be read at the February meeting should be emailed to David by end of day Thursday 19 March. Don’t forget: only a complete act for a full-length play, or complete one-act or short plays will be read by the group.

ARCHIVE – 22 January 2009 meeting

15/02/2009Boat Business, TheatreAli Foai, Arnette Arapai, Barbs Carpenter, D F Mamea, Dianna Fuemana, Eric Smith, Jenni Heka, Jonathan Riley, Katrina Chandra, Michelle Johansson, Ole Maiava, Playmarket, Reading, Skin Deep, Stacey Leilua, Stan Wolfgramm, Tanya MuagututiaThe Administrative Banana

Hot and sweaty Pasifika greetings to you all.

Our 22 January meeting saw the Banana Boat meet for the first time in 2009. Welcome to the after-match report.

Present at the meeting were: Arnette Arapai, Barbs Carpenter, Katrina Chandra, Ali Foai, Dianna Fuemana, Jenni Heka, Michelle Johanssen, Stacey Leilua, Ole Maiava, Tanya Muagututia, Jonathan P Riley, Eric Smith, Stan Wolfgramm and David Mamea.

Apologies were received from Bronwen Judd, Nina Tapu, Chetan Patel and Phoenix Seve.

Guest speaker duties were very kindly provided by Katrina Chandra, Agency Coordinator for Playmarket, who talked to the group about finding ideas, writing them into plays, and getting your plays out there to an audience – with Playmarket playing a role in representation and licensing, among other things. There followed some lively discussion around “not what [writers] can do for Playmarket, but what Playmarket can do for [writers]”.

Housekeeping this month was covered by David Mamea who reported that, besides his usual tussles with Jenni over making-a-big-splash versus taking-the-long-term-view, and (her) reality checks versus (his) I-have-a-dream, at the moment, Banana Boat ’09 comes down to:
– in order to put any production on, the group needs money;
– in order to get money from a funder like Creative New Zealand, the group needs something tangible like completed scripts to submit;
– and, as far as he was aware, the group has no completed scripts to apply for funding with.

In short, the group has a goal but, aside from a heap of talent and promise, nothing in place to achieve that goal. So. Jenni Heka, Michelle Johansson and David volunteered to meet before the February meeting to formulate a Real Plan for 2009 for the group to consider.

The script reading for January was courtesy of Ole Maiava. A short tale of preconceptions and familial love, the group enjoyed the reading, provided thorough feedback for Ole to play with, and look forward to the next draft.

The next meeting will be on Thursday 26 February at the Toi Ora Live Art Studio, 19 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn.

Scripts to be read at the February meeting should be emailed to David by end of day Thursday 19 February. Don’t forget: only a complete act for a full-length play, or complete one-act or short plays will be read by the group.