Sal´s Song Tui´s Tale

In 1991 ¨Beyond 1990 - Fuzz Love - Sal´s Song Tui´s Tale¨ captured the attention of Simon Garrett, then chief dramaturg at Playmarket, an organ of state controlled Creative New Zealand.

Simon was credited privately by a Playmarket official with having emphatically highlighted the potential of that story to, ¨seize the initiative from the Maori theatre renaissance.¨

Of the playscript he wrote, ¨I was impressed and excited ... ¨

The references within this thoroughly modern love story to tragicomic armed chaos in the Ururewa mountains of New Zealand will be of interest also to today´s audiences.

The personal triumphs of mixed race characters with conflicting world views who manage to retain their steadfast commitment to nonviolent political action despite provocation gives this work an added layer of appeal.

¨Beyond 1990 - Fuzz Love - Sal´s Song Tui´s Tale¨ was first produced on stage in 1991 by The Step Ahead Company by Te Paki Cherrington and Don Selwyn of He Taonga Films.

• A multi-ethnic collaborative effort created and professionally staged in the impoverished, violent brown slums of Auckland City, in reaction to a Government race relations propaganda campaign of 1990 (the working title of the play was ¨Beyond 1990¨) with the assistance of the Otara Music and Arts Centre.

 

Well-known writers Riwia Brown, Apirana Taylor and award winning playwright James Beaumont were script advisers.

Barry Barclay of Pacific Films (Ngati) and Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors) were also closely involved in the creation of this moving story.

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