Tag Archives: Tanya Muagututia

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.

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.

ARCHIVE – 4 December 2008 meeting

13/12/2008Boat Business, TheatreArnette Arapai, Aroha Awarau, Bronwen Judd, Chetan Patel, D F Mamea, Eric Smith, Ezekiel Kennedy, Fale of Troy, Jay Williams, Jenni Heka, Jonathan Riley, Le Va, Nina Tapu, Ole Maiava, Phieng Phongsa, Reading, Skyblue, Stacey Leilua, Stan Wolfgramm, Tanya MuagututiaThe Administrative Banana

Season’s greetings to you all.

Thursday 4 December saw the Pasifika Playwrights Group meet for the last time for 2008. Welcome to the after-match report.

Present at the meeting were: Arnette Arapai, Aroha Awarau, Jenni Heka, Bronwen Judd, Ezekiel Kennedy, Stacey Leilua, Ole Maiava, Tanya Muagututia, Chetan Patel, Phieng Phongsa, Jonathan Riley, Phoenix Seve, Eric Smith, Nina Tapu, Stan Wolfgramm and David Mamea.

Apologies were received from Michelle Johannson and Sandra Kailahi.

Group Name

After a few months of operating under the descriptive but mouthful of “Pasifika Playwrights Group”, a new, ideally sexier, name has been mooted since September. Despite some last-second suggestions by Jonathan – the highlight being “Shak(in)spears” replete with Pasifika-style hunting/fishing spears in its emblem – BANANA BOAT garnered the most votes.

And then on the brink of ratification, Stan rightly pointed out that maybe BANANA BOAT should mean something – at the moment, it’s just a name. With September 2009 screaming towards the group, it was agreed that BANANA BOAT be a working title of sorts, and open to change.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 22 January 2009 at the Toi Ora Live Art Studio, 19 Putiki Street, Grey Lynn.

2009

David and Jenni spoke about the challenges confronting the group, uppermost being that the inaugural BANANA BOAT SEASON is a mere ten months away. Things have to happen, like:
– scripts, if they’re not already in progress, need to start now;
– full-length plays are not the only way to go – one act plays, short pieces and anything else in between (within reason) are welcome for consideration;
– the selection process will be done by assessors who will be independent of the group and/or its participants (ie., likely to be Palagi, male and middle-aged).

(There was also some discussion of The Edge’s offer of The Basement as a venue but this has changed substantially since the 4 December meeting. Updates to follow.)

This is our tentative timeline:
– 22 JANUARY 2009 – monthly meetings resume
– MARCH – official call for submissions
– MAY – submissions close
– JUNE – selections made; teams are formed
– JULY – pre-production commences
– AUGUST – rehearsals commence
– SEPTEMBER – inaugural 2009 Banana Boat Season

‘Ka fefe! E faigofie!

Readings

Scenes were read by the group and discussed in depth. Material was generously supplied by:
– Phoenix, from his play-in-development, “Fale of Troy”;
– Eric, from his play-in-progress, “Le Va”; and
– David, from his radio-play-in-progress, “Skyblue”.

Speaking of Eric and Phoenix’s scenes – and all the other writing we’ve read at earlier meetings – the quality of writing we have amongst our group continues to astound me. The inaugural Banana Boat season is going to knock some socks (and jandals) off. I’m excited. Aren’t you excited?

Scenes to be read at the next meeting are due to David by end of day Thursday 15 January 2009. Readings will be changing up a gear: no single scenes, please – either a complete act for full-length plays or complete one-act and shorter plays.

Jenni’s busy with the Christmas spirit at the moment but I’m sure she’d like to spread the news that Arnette has been accepted onto the 2009 intake of prestigious Masters in Creative Writing Course (Scriptwriting) at Victoria University in Wellington.